Ebay'ing big ticket items?

Munro

Specifically, I'm shopping around for HDTVs and a nice digital (piano) keyboard. I've used Ebay in the past for minor purchases, but spending a thousand bucks or more online makes me a little wary. I'm not sure if a good deal is worth risking getting scammed on something. How do I protect myself against fraudulent sellers? Say, I buy a television and the picture goes out within 24 hours or something? Or if it's cracked during shipping? Does anyone with any experience buying expensive products from Ebay have anything, good or bad, to share?

Hlubocky

I personally wouldn't use ebay for buying big ticket items unless I was specifically looking to buy used. Even then I would probably look at craigslist. There are just too many things that could go wrong, including events outside of both the buyer and seller's control (shipping problems, etc). I just don't feel that the money you would save is worth the risk.

AtomBomb

I would consider looking at the keyboard on ebay. I don't think I would get the HDTV from there, mostly because of shipping concerns. Actually, I would use it if the person selling was close enough to me for me to go look at it and pick it up if I won (use the "look for items within X miles of zip code" option). The cost of shipping most HDTV's and the potential for damage are too high for my tastes.

EggyToast

As the weight/bulk of an item goes up, the quality of the deal you can get on eBay goes down, quite dramatically in my opinion. There's a reason that Best Buy sells more TVs than Amazon -- it's a lot better just paying tax and a small delivery charge and having some guys bring it right into your house, compared to a shipping company dropping off a huge box that may or may not be damaged (and there's little they can do about it, unless you open it right there and test it out). Same reason why cars are usually only sold with a certain mile radius for delivery, or other large/heavy items are typically sold as "pickup only."

Craigslist may be worthwhile if there's a listing for your region, since it's all local, and there's typically fewer scammers (or they're blatantly obvious). As far as things like breakage or warranties, the likelihood is that if you don't buy new, you should assume it's used, even if it says "new." You probably won't receive the original purchase receipts, and if you do you'll have to deal directly with the manufacturer, not a retailer. That can lead to some serious drawbacks for things like TVs.

So, unless you're looking for a small-ish TV (like a 32" LCD or something), you should probably buy locally.

As for the piano, if you're looking for essentially a keyboard, there are good deals on eBay. I've bought a fair amount of musical equipment through eBay, ranging from $100 to $1000, and I've also sold in similar price ranges. The key to both finding a good deal as well as making sure you're less likely to be ripped off is to read the descriptions and check out the feedback, and try to figure out if it's a guy selling stuff, or what amounts to a glorified pawn shop. If it's just a regular joe, he or she will likely say things like "from a smoke free studio" or "I bought this a few years ago and upgraded my shit." If it reads just like the copy from, say, the Korg or Yamaha website, with some obnoxious graphics and incredibly high shipping, you shouldn't bother (you'll probably not get a good price and the likelihood of it being flaky is increased).

Honestly, I've had about 300 transactions on eBay with the majority being towards the low end, but some notable big-money transactions, and the only time I got stiffed or ended up with shit was when I was a teenager and dealing with Magic cards. That's when I developed an eye for both the wording of an auction, and whether or not the person has a picture of the actual item for sale. Generally if you stick to the people auctions, and not the business or scam auctions (which do tend to stand out, if you actually read the copy instead of focus on the price), you can get a good deal with less anxiety.

Remember, though, that eBay has become a massive market. Most prices will be bid up to a price that's fair for the item, so if you see an obvious deal that's ending in the next few minutes (and it's not for, say, a pair of shoes in size 17 that you're pretty sure simply has no one else interested in the thing), there's usually a reason why other bidders aren't bidding on the thing. There's enough tools and notifications that most people who are looking for certain items will put in a few feeler bids early on.