Skip to main content
8:39

Buying kit off E Bay, what to look for .Comments welcome.

Lesson Beginner Stage 0: Before You Start November 2007

Contents of the video

0:00 The first two important factors, one is feedback here

Alright folks, quite a few people have asked me to give them advice on buying stuff off eBay. Now I can't tell them what to buy and I can't say yes buy it or no buy it. At the end of the day it is your choice. What I can do is give you a bit of advice on the things to look for. Now then, the first two important factors, one is feedback here. Now then this guy here has got 99.4% feedback which is pretty good. They've actually had 165 transactions, which is pretty good as well. The first thing you need to do is you need to check the transactions. Most importantly, you need to see if most of the transactions are stuff, items that they've actually sold and not bought. Because at the end of the day, someone could say, let's say, have sold 100 items, had 100 positive feedbacks, now that's brilliant.

But, on the other hand, someone could have bought a hundred items for ten pence, have a hundred positive feedbacks, and then all of a sudden they may decide to sell something for a thousand pounds and like get your money and leave the country. Now I'm not saying they would, but you need to check very important feedback. In other words, what I'm saying is this, if you think you would like to buy say a very expensive mixer, something like that, okay? Now that is a Pioneer DJM600 mixer. They're not cheap to buy. Now I would not, I'm not saying you wouldn't, but I would not buy something like that off someone, off eBay, who's got three feedbacks and they've only been on eBay say for about two weeks. I would be a bit weary because, you know, you need to get an element of trust. Now also the other thing to look at...

Is this here postage, alright? Now the postage here is 20 quid, which is pretty decent, alright? That's not too bad. Check the postage. I've done it before where I bid on something, this is years ago, I thought great, I've got a bargain, 10 quid. And then you look at the postage and the postage is about 30 quid. Also, before you bid, you need to check, when I say postage, check that because sometimes it will be collection. Alright, so if all of a sudden you see something, wow look at that, that's fantastic, what a good price, bid on it and then afterwards you think, oh shoot, it's collection. And it's either the other side of the world or it's about 300 miles away. So please check. Now then, there's something here, it's called email the seller. Alright, now then, if you've got any queries or questions...

2:46 Try and keep your questions

Thanks for watching. But of course, try and make a note. Try and keep your questions. Try and sort of just download them onto your PC or just print them off because then it's just proof that you have asked those questions. So if we get rid of that one, and hold on, you don't want to look at that one do you? We look at that one there, right? Now this is a couple of turntables here. These decks, two bids. At the moment it's £51 and now bearing in mind this is for a set of Technics and a mixer. Now feedbacks are 53. Now here it says we'll arrange for local pickup only, no postage. Now if we scroll down and we have a look at the turntables and the description. These are Technics SL1200 Mark II decks with needles, stanton cartridges.

They have a purpose-built wooden flight case, also for easy mobility. It also comes with a Gemini PS626 Pro Mixer. Happy bidding! OK, now then, the trouble is with these pictures here. You can't really see much. You know, we want to actually look. If I was going to buy those decks, I'd want to look at the turntables. I'd want to have a good close look at them. And even the other picture isn't fantastic. You know, you can't really see much. You want to get a good, close look at what you're buying, alright? Now personally, that's a pretty good price, but bearing in mind there is three days and eight hours left. So there is quite a bit of time left before the price starts going up. And again, it will arrange for local pickup only, no postage. So, you know, don't start bidding hundreds of pounds and then realise you've got to collect the things.

Also, the guy's only got 53 feedbacks. So, again, not disrespecting the person, but from a buyer's point of view, that's what we're looking at. From you actually thinking about buying an item like this, check that out first, alright? I'm just going to pause this now and I'm going to look for something that I would class as a sure thing. Not so much to buy, but a sure thing in... Invest in your money knowing that you are going to get that item through the post and the seller can be trusted. Bear with me. Okay, right now I've found this here. A couple of techniques. It's the SL1200 Mark 5 turntables. Now then, there's a bite an hour price of £699 but also there's a make a best offer. Now this is in the UK so postage there is £40.

5:58 Please be aware, sorry, that the hinges for the lids are missing

So again, you know, they get through the post. The seller information here, okay, 103 feedbacks, 99% positive, which isn't too bad to be quite honest, but this is what I like. Now, all the information here is precise, concise and they've given all the relevant information here of the turntables, but this is what I like here. Please be aware that the... Please be aware, sorry, that the hinges for the lids are missing. These can easily be replaced. So again, you know, they're showing you all relevant information. Here, they've actually shown you that the hinges are missing. But then this is what I like as well. A proper decent picture, OK? You can see what's going on. Another picture. Now, quite often with Technics turntables, as they start getting older and worn, where I'm scrolling along here, this area starts to get worn.

And also the paint starts disappearing here. And you can see that that's in really good condition, OK? The style looks in good condition as well. So it says here, make an offer. Now if I was buying a set of turntables, I would first of all check the actual price to buy brand new from a shop. I'm not sure exactly for the Mark 5s. Not sure, but if it was close to that sort of price, let's say for example, to buy them from a shop, it was 750 quid. Then I would straight away buy from the shop and not from here because I would know buying from a shop, I will get a year's guarantee. Quite often they will send them for free as well and I have peace of mind. If they were let's say £800 or £900 then I'd be thinking right, so buy it now of £700 here, make an offer, I could put an offer of £500 to see what happens. If they say no then I could make another offer of £520, £530, £540 till eventually they would probably say yes but I would always have to bear in mind to add that £40 there because that also is a cost you have to consider.

Alright, so I hope this has been a help. This is a basic look into eBay. So bearing in mind, look at the seller's information on the basis of how many feedbacks they've got. Bearing in mind also the postage. Postage is very important because that can up the price up. Always check VAT as well because sometimes VAT can be added to the end price. Hope this has been a help. Thanks for watching. Practice and enjoy.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.

The stages are the way through

Below this line is the back catalogue, newest first. Useful for browsing, but it is not a course - the videos are in the order they were filmed, not the order to learn them in. Work the stages instead: each one assumes the one before it.

Latest DJ Tutor Videos