Ebay For Harley Motorcycles & Harley Parts? - Harley Forum

Buzz Kanter · #1 04-14-2009, 09:09 PM

I am curious how many forum members here use ebay to search for motorcycles collectibles, Harley motorcycles and Harley parts?

I find myself wandering over there more than I should and end up buying motorcycle parts and even complete motorcycles on line. While some of the motorcycles collectibles and parts I need and would have a hard time finding elsewhere, I also find I am buying Harley motorcycles and parts I really don't need but got caught up in the action.

Anyone else?

Tbone · #2 04-14-2009, 09:18 PM

You must exercise control.
Look for what you want.
Search completed auctions for the going prices of that item.
Decide how much it is worth to you.
Bid that amount.
If you lose, you lose.
Repeat.

Bigincher · #3 04-14-2009, 10:50 PM

I am restoring a '52 FL, and eBay has a been a valuable resource for many of the OEM parts that I needed. The trick is to try to determine what is good and what is junk, and how much I am willing to pay for it. I get costs for aftermarket equivelant parts so I know how much the worthless Taiwan crap costs for the same part, and I go from there. Sometimes there are other bidders getting into a crazy bid war, so that's a good time to drop out. A couple things I've learned is this; If you don't win an auction, don't sweat it, there will be another one right around the corner. And--- as soon as you buy something, a much nicer one will come up for auction as soon as you're done. That's just how it goes....
Oh---- don't let it become an addiction. It's easy to get carried away.

unfknblvbl · #4 04-15-2009, 11:01 AM

I am always on eBay looking to score a good deal for parts/pieces/bikes. Here lately I've been digging deep to find a killer deal on an early 70's FLH. I have been able to find parts that I'm looking for in particular on eBay that are not in the catalogs and the prices are a lot more fair. I am, however, a little skeptical of eBay with all the crooks out there looking to just take your money.

Bigincher · #5 04-15-2009, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unfknblvbl

I am, however, a little skeptical of eBay with all the crooks out there looking to just take your money.

Boy, that's a fact. When buying motocycles on eBay, you have to be very careful, and do a lot of homework, ask a lot of questions, and if a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is.......!

But in all fairness, the crooks are a very small percentage of the sellers.

sgtcowboyusmc · #6 04-15-2009, 12:45 PM

I have bought a ton of stuff off E Bay.
As bigincher said If you don't get it there will be another one up for bid. Unless it is for a really old bike then there might not be another for a while.
It took a while but I got a set of cylinders for under $50.00 and that included shipping. I probably bid on 20+ sets before I caught them napping and I got it. Same with heads, I spent $75.00 including shipping for a set of heads that look new. Seller claimed they were taken off at 2500 miles and Screaming Eagle were put on. Again I had bid on numerous ones that went for more than twice that and didn't get any of them. There are times to bid that are good also. Right after Christmas is when I got the heads. I got several great deals either after Christmas or after labor day.

Set your max price and don't go over it and you will be OK. Like they say on E Bay:
HAPPY BIDDING!

I forgot to add:Like it was said earlier, Be Very Careful when buying whole bikes. There have been a number of scams on E Bay with whole bikes.

48panshovel · #7 04-15-2009, 05:24 PM

I've bought a few parts on ebay and been outbid on a few but like it was said before there are always more coming up. Just decide on how high you want to go and stay with that price. Haven't had any bad experiences on it yet and hope I don't.

Bigincher · #8 04-15-2009, 05:35 PM

The best thing when buying parts on eBay is to study the photos real well, read the description over and over and over again, then ask the seller tons of questions. Get all the info you can before you make the purchase. If the part isn't what was shown or described, or misrepresented, the buyer has some recourse and usually return the item. Most sellers are so freaked out about getting Negative feedback, they do anything to make a transaction 'right'.

T Bird · #9 05-10-2009, 06:25 PM

I pretty much agree with all that has been said. As both a buyer and seller, I know that honest sellers do exist and do not defraud anyone intentionally. Seems to me the biggest scam is overpriced shipping costs. But here again, there are a fair bit of honest sellers out there. Lately due to the economy, people are having a difficult time parting with their cash. I understand this as it is one of the reasons I sell -to try to make some cash so I can still spend $100 at the Harley shop for a piece of Korean crap. Whatever happened to "Made in America".

chipster · #10 05-24-2009, 12:56 AM

Within the last week I've been on both sides of the coin, seller and buyer. I sold the OE seat from my Wide Glide, got a fair price for it. As a buyer, I found a brand new set of Harley hard saddlebags for $850. They retail for about $1400. I believe that I came out ahead in both counts.

T Bird commented about inflated shipping costs. I think that the seller of the bags is hosing me on the shipping. For my sale I went by the shipping costs quoted in the shipping calculator. It was over $7.00 too low. So maybe that is why some sellers state higher shipping costs.