Rant: Junk has invaded ebay pretty badly...

[Robert Mayer]

Anyone tried to look for some deals on ebay and get nothing but cheap imitation chinese tools? These idiots are posting a million auctions for the same junk and making it really hard to find real tools. Do a search of biscuit joiner and see how many are cheap imitations.

okay im done complaining.

[Tim Morton]

I wish there was a way to filter that crap out too, I sometimes search for 6" Jointers and come up with the same crap you must be coming up with, I can't remember the last thing I bought from ebay or sold either. I used to buy and sell alot years ago.

[Steve Clardy]

I hear you. Try a search on clamps. Sheeesh. Most all are junk. Very few well made clamps.

[Dan Mages]

You can do an advanced search on ebay and exclude words by putting a - before the word. If you search biscuit jointer -chisel -4" -4in -case -planer, you will exclude results that have chisel, 4", 4in, case, and planer.

Dan

[Scott Loven]

I sort by price, highest to lowest.
Scott

[Troy Wilkins]

I also sort by price, that way the junk pretty much ends up at the bottom of the list. I normally use ebay to get a look at what is available and get an idea of the market prices for used tools. When looking for something new I have pretty much abandoned ebay. You can usually find prices that are as good if not better from a normal online retailer without having to jump through all of the auction transaction hoops.

[Robert Mayer]

I posted this last year....

[Anthony Anderson]

Since it is a year later, Is your ebay experience any better? Bill

[Robert Mayer]

Since it is a year later, Is your ebay experience any better? Bill

actually i havent even searched for tools on ebay since then. i just pull out my lee valley catalog and im usually good to go.

[Frank Hagan]

I tend to limit the search in "advanced" to a certain distance from my zip code ... especially if I'm looking for a jointer, etc. that I know I don't want to ship. I did get a good deal on an old drill press that I love. But there is a lot of junk.

Craig's List is another good source though ... more like a classifieds section in your local newspaper. http://www.craigslist.org ... then select the city nearest you. You'll find a link for tools that show what people are selling.

[Kenny King]

Try craigslist... i haven't found anything good on ebay recently... i guess it jumped the shark!

http://www.craigslist.com

Then select your region. i usually check deleware, phildalphia, and new jersey... regions are listed by state or big city.

- ken

[Brad Knabel]

To add to Frank's post: you can subscribe to specific categories in Craigslist. I get 1-2 messages a day from the Pittsburgh Tools section. Most of it is stuff I have no interest in. But it's worth getting these for the little gems that show up occasionally. I recently picked up a 2-3 year old Foredom carving tool for $125.00. It was new in the box and had never been used. (She had the receipt...no, it wasn't stolen.)

This just makes it easy to wade through the listings without having to remember to go to Craigslist every once in a while.

[Sam Chambers]

If you ever post something for sale there, be prepared to receive scam offers. Those of us who have been around the Internet for awhile have heard of these scams, but the uninitiated might be taken in.

Example: When I posted a table saw for sale there, I received an offer for my full asking price, sight unseen. The guy wanted to send me a cashier's check for $8,000 (because his banker supposedly owed him some money). I was to deposit the cashier's check in my bank account, and send him what was left of the $8,000, after deducting the price of the saw and an additional $300 for my trouble. He would arrange for his local "agent" to pick up the saw.

Needless to say, I didn't fall for that scam...it's been around for some time. I've never encountered this from any other site where I've posted things for sale. Just a word to the wise.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree Robert most of the tools it seems like any more are just plain junk. The last time I bought on ebay were some clamps. The guy said these were as good as any you could buy at an borg. So I bit. I had to twist most of them to get the jaws square. I just needed some extra clamps around the shop and now they hang most of the time.

[Curt Harms]

I did purchase a 23 ga. pinner through a guy that has an ebay store. In terms of quality, it's probably a step above harbor freight which for pneumatic tools is acceptable to me (hobbyist). I didn't want to spend $150 or more on a tool that probably won't fire 100 pins/year, but when I need it I need it. It did seem to have a burr in the magazine which caused the pins to feed erratically. I removed the nose piece, removed the burr with a thin knife blade, and it's been fine since. I don't discount Fleabay entirely, but I don't expect Lee Valley quality and service either. YMMV.

Curt