Buying new equipment off of ebay - advice?

[rizorith 10+ year member]

I'm probably going to be purchasing a Pioneer DEH-860MP (or 960) off of ebay next week. I'm a bit concerned about a few things though.

1. Warranty. Will I even get the factory warranty? What about if I purchase the 8600 instead. Those seem more expensive and I can't figure out why since the 860 is actually a higher model but I figure it may have to do with warranty.

2. Quality. Is the quality usually the same when you purchase something new like a head unit on ebay? I know it varies from reseller to reseller but I was wondering what others experience is.

3. Any other advice on buying equiptment from ebay? I may buy a sub also but because of the crappy shipping charges it may be the same price to just get it from a reputable dealer.

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[rippinitup7 10+ year member]

1. alot of the bigger sellers will give you a warranty, read the description completely to figure this out, it varies by seller.

2. yes.

3. review their feedback. usually if their rating is above 90% i would buy something from them no questions asked.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

also read there feedback and how much feedback they have. also, if your buying something read the feedback from buyers. sellers on ebay can have a high feedback rating because they buy a lot and don't sell a lot.

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

i've had some very good experiences with ebay, but there are some things to consider: most audio manufacturers will not honor a warranty if if was not purchased from an authorized dealer. to offset this, reputable dealers on ebay will offer a warranty through their own company. before spending the money on an auction----read all the fine print and call them if you have any questions.

 

[OLD_SCHOOL 10+ year member]

the only time i have recived bad stuff was not from ebay.....

 

[rizorith 10+ year member]

i've had some very good experiences with ebay, but there are some things to consider: most audio manufacturers will not honor a warranty if if was not purchased from an authorized dealer. to offset this, reputable dealers on ebay will offer a warranty through their own company. before spending the money on an auction----read all the fine print and call them if you have any questions.

Most of the ones I've seen offer like a 7 or 14 day warranty which isn't worth much unless it's DOA. I've seen a few that offer a 1 year ebay warranty for like an extra $50. Is that about all I can expect?

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

just depends on the dealer, i've seen alot with 90 day up to a 1 year. shop around

 

[rippinitup7 10+ year member]

take for example, audiovibrations, whose a hifonics dealer on ebay offers a 1 year warranty on the stuff they sell. theres a bunch more that have similar warranties.

 

[Professor Fate 10+ year member]

All in all, I recomend Ebay, especialy since you can get an 860 960 for a savings of about $200+. I bought a 960 and I love it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/handclap.gif.0c301076f534e244f0460706894f19e0.gif

 

[altico 10+ year member]

That "ebay warranty" is offered by N.E.W. through ebay... you can buy it for any peice of electronics you get on ebay. I did some research a while back and found a couple of people with good experiences with this deal. Easy to deal with and they honor your claims. I'd take advantage if I were buying something over a couple hundred from ebay. I have the link on one of my old posts... just search for "ebay" and "warranty"

 

[LIGHTBEING 10+ year member]

Got my new Kenwood CD/DVD/MP3/Sirius ready DD player off ebay with a 1 yr warranty for about $350 cheaper. And I also bought 2 new Soundstream amps with a 1 yr warranty for about half the price I would have spent at an authorized dealer. Each seller I went through had a 95 or higher rating, spent a good hour reading over all the reviews. Make sure the action clearly states "New" and "Not refurbished" and take a screen shot of this> save to HD just to protect yourself.

It really comes down to how much a factory warranty is worth to you. I saved over $1000 going through ebay and honestly for me, a warranty is not worth that much to me. I need all the money I can get to build my system. As long as it is good quality "New" equipment generally it should hold up. And if they are duds you will notice this within the 1st yr I would think, so the 1 yr ebay company warranty serves it purpose.