Ebay

Quick answer: Just bid on the cue as if he were the most honest guy in the world. Then, after you win, tell him you're 15 minutes away, and you intend to come pay for it in person.

Now, if he's a good guy, he'll let you come pick it up. If he's not a good guy, he will make a fuss, and you tell him that that's just the way it's gotta be, sorry.

It should be absolutely no problem if he has the cue and it is in the condition advertised. Good luck. If I were you, I would not even ask him if you could pick it up in person, I would just bid and win the auction, and then he'll have to let you come pick it up. Some people fudge a little on the shipping to make a few extra bucks on the auction items..

Russ
 
Russ,

I disagree wholeheartedly with your advice.

If the seller doesn't specifically offer local pickup, nor does he offer it when asked, it's absurd to try to force him into it. You might get lucky, but if he denies you the local pickup you don't have a leg to stand on.

I'd also say it's a bad sign if he doesn't respond to the inquiry in the first place.
 
Buying something over $100 on EBay is like a crap shoot at best. If you buy two things and they are a good deal, watch out for the next one because your probably going to get screwed w/o a kiss. Johnnyt
 
Buying anything from a respected seller with lots of positive feedback is no crapshoot. I know people who've made hundreds of purchases on ebay for over 100 bucks each and never gotten screwed. Don't buy into any ebay phobia, just check out the guy's feedback and if it's overwhelmingly positive, go for it.

Normally I'd be wary of anyone who won't answer repeated messages, but this guy has 43 feedbacks, every single one is positive. You're not gonna get screwed here.
 
shinobi said:
Russ,

I disagree wholeheartedly with your advice.

If the seller doesn't specifically offer local pickup, nor does he offer it when asked, it's absurd to try to force him into it. You might get lucky, but if he denies you the local pickup you don't have a leg to stand on.

I'd also say it's a bad sign if he doesn't respond to the inquiry in the first place.
Click to expand...

What could you possibly have to lose? Bad rep? Ooooooooooh no!

If you have a lot of positive rep yourself, and he tries to screw you over, then that's fine too. If he refuses local pickup, and tries to give bad rep on top of that for you not completing the deal online, then you get to send feedback back his way saying he refused local pickup, which will look EXTREMELY shady to any regular Ebay user. He won't give you bad rep for not following thru with the deal if he refuses local pickup, for fear of how you will respond to his feedback.

I've bought items/packages as large as $2,000.00 on Ebay, and never had a problem. For someone not familiar with how to protect onesself online, the idea of this local pickup and payment is probably the absolute safest way to buy an expensive cue.

If you used an escrow service, you are still going to have a lot more hassle than meeting face to face and doing business.

Russ
 
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