Who are these Hams who pay way too much on Ebay?

I was in want of a Yaesu MD-100abx microphone, so I looked on Ebay and found them for $159.95, and $179.95. When I double checked the price at Ham Radio Outlet, it was $138.95 and free shipping. I kept a watch on the same microphones that were on Ebay, and some people were buying them. Do they not know how to look at the biggest dealers in Ham radio first? I check AES, HRO, and Gigaparts, and nearly every time, HRO blows the rest out of the water.

Anyone know any other place that can beat HRO, and even has free shipping?

Depends on what you are buying, but I have always had good luck with DX Engineering. (DX Engineering - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99) They are generally competitive with the other major dealers, but if you are wanting jumper cables, do not go anywhere else! The quality of their cable is outstanding and just as important, their connectors are fantastic.... both in the quality of the connector itself but also in the workmanship in attaching them.

Amateur radio dealers

I have found Universal Radio to be reliable and reasonable.

jaspence said:

I have found Universal Radio to be reliable and reasonable.

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Me too. Whenever I need something, I give them my business. I once ordered a Larsen mobile antenna. They taped it to a 1x2 piece of wood to make sure it was not damaged in shipping. I once needed a small antenna adapter worth maybe $2, & they didn't try to rape me on shipping. I once needed 2 antenna mounts, & they only had 1 in stock. So they sent me the one they had, & when they received, & sent me the 2nd one, they only charged me shipping for the 1st one. Really nice people to do business with, & since they are not in Florida, I don't have to pay tax like I have to with other companies.

KQ4BX said:

I was in want of a Yaesu MD-100abx microphone, so I looked on Ebay and found them for $159.95, and $179.95. When I double checked the price at Ham Radio Outlet, it was $138.95 and free shipping. I kept a watch on the same microphones that were on Ebay, and some people were buying them. Do they not know how to look at the biggest dealers in Ham radio first? I check AES, HRO, and Gigaparts, and nearly every time, HRO blows the rest out of the water.

Anyone know any other place that can beat HRO, and even has free shipping?

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HRO has price matched for me in a couple of instances. Free shipping on most everything over $100. To answer your question, no I don't know of anyone who can beat HRO.

I find HRO to be about the most expensive and lease flexible of the big ham dealers, especially when shopping at the Dayton Hamfest. I had a cheaper price from AES on a major item and when I asked HRO if they would match it they said take a hike back over to the AES area because they weren't budging on their price.

The last few ham items I bought were a Mirage B-310G amplifier and some GPS accys for a Yaesu VX-8R and Gigaparts had the very best price over AES, HRO, Universal Radio, R&L Electronics and a few others. They even supplied a free extended warranty that protected my items well beyond the mfrs warranty.

As always, buyer beware on Ebay, people ask more for some stuff used than it cost new.
prcguy

It's PayBay. People will go out of their way to be USED, NO WARRANTY AS-IS stuff they could easily buy NEW elsewhere.

I know of a ham who sold a high hour FT-8900 on PayBay for the same price as a NEW one with a full warranty. Buyer was glad to pay it. Now the seller had the same radio at a much LOWER more realistic price on local swap nets for MONTHS. Put up up for auction and it went through the roof.

Same thing happened when he put up a UHF GM300. Had offered it locally for weeks at $75. Not one taker or offer. He puts it on PAYBAY and up up up it went: to the tune of $230! for a 20 year old, used and non-narrowband commercial radio.

It's all in what someone is willing to pay. Sure, we all despise PayBay for their batty buyers, high FVF' fees, being forced to take and deal with PayFraud, but at the end of the day, PayBay is where one can easily separate a fool from his or her money to the max.

In my experience, I have had good dealings with HRO and Universal Radio for buying new product. eBay has been hit or miss. Some of my best deals have come from there though. My last UHF tacsat antenna came brand new in the box with accessories, for what most people were paying for used and abused versions with no accessories.

HRO has been great at shipping here on the west coast. Very fast and packaged well. Universal Radio once sent me a discone antenna to an obscure address during post Hurricane Katrina clean up.

I have unloaded some older radios on auction sites, not always eBay. Some of the local ones cause buyers to go crazy as well. Must be the thrill of the hunt.

I wonder if the folks buying items on eBay that are available elsewhere, sometimes for lower prices, are in a financial situation that makes it difficult to buy from brick & mortar stores. Just about every purchase on eBay can be paid for using PayPal. Your PayPal account can be linked directly to your personal checking account. No credit card required. OTOH, some traditional retailers will only take a credit card for on-line purchases. If the buyer doesn't have a credit card, they can't readily buy from that retailer.

Then, there's the possibility that the items we see sold on eBay are being bought by shills just so the seller can show that he's sold lots of stuff on eBay and gotten good seller reviews.

As for on-line retailers, I generally check three sites: R&L Electronics (generally good prices and if they have it in stock, I'll usually get it the next day), GigaParts (always competitive prices, occasional special deals that the other sellers don't offer, and free shipping on many items), and HRO (also competitive prices and free shipping on many items). If it's an item that DX Engineering stocks, I'll check them, too (their prices are generally competitive, they have free shipping for orders over $100, and I'll usually get the item in 1-2 days).

I believe people who pay more for an item on E-bay get caught up in the auction type setting, like people who pay insane prices at the Barrett Jackson auctions. The few items I've picked up were great deals, but I post the highest I would pay, & if I win, I win, but if I get out bid, then I don't get the item. I don't even follow the bidding as it builds up. I just get a notification if I won, or an outbid notice if I didn't.

KQ4BX said:

I was in want of a Yaesu MD-100abx microphone, so I looked on Ebay and found them for $159.95, and $179.95. When I double checked the price at Ham Radio Outlet, it was $138.95 and free shipping. I kept a watch on the same microphones that were on Ebay, and some people were buying them. Do they not know how to look at the biggest dealers in Ham radio first?)))

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Ebay has the reputation of being the cheapest place to buy a lot of things so people assume that it is and do not check prices. Although it's not the cheapest places to buy everything necessarily.

It's like momma said, you better shop around.

KQ4BX said:

(( I check AES, HRO, and Gigaparts, and nearly every time, HRO blows the rest out of the water.

Anyone know any other place that can beat HRO, and even has free shipping?

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There are some dealers that can beat HRO's price but they can't beat HRO's service. I would suggest contacting HRO and see if they'll at least match the price before tax.

What gets me is these hams who buy HF dipole antennas on eBay. What can be more simple than a center-fed dipole antenna?

The other possiblility is perhaps they are international buyers purchasing items that arent available to them in their country, or they are highly expensive due to import fees and their economy, it may very well be cheaper for some people to buy these items from ebay than from a local retailer.

RC286 said:

The other possiblility is perhaps they are international buyers purchasing items that arent available to them in their country, or they are highly expensive due to import fees and their economy, it may very well be cheaper for some people to buy these items from ebay than from a local retailer.

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Maybe, but those same import fees would have to be paid to get those E-bay purchases into their country.

A previous post reminded me of when I sold a bunch of old Icom IC-U400 radios to a guy in Australia. They were almost worthless in the U.S. But could be programmed for "CB" in Australia. (CB is UHF in Australia.)

The prices paid seemed way too high, but then seeing what they went for overseas, it made sense. I also sold some Panasonic computers and handheld devices to Europe, and it was the same situation.

I compare prices before I purchase from ebay. Sometimes its cheaper on ebay and sometimes not, and most of the time not.
kb0vwg
wqoi992

I do agree though, most of the amateur radios and accessories I have been watching on ebay go for near or over retail, even for used items. Some times it pays to lay low and watch the local swap shops though. I just last weekend came home with a very nice (cosmetically and functionally) TS-830S transceiver from a local online swap sale. I had been watching these go for over $500 (Canadian) on ebay not including the shipping fees (I was actually surprised how much this radio actually weighs, I knew it would be heavy, but I didn't think it would be THAT heavy) or import fees. Not to mention I was able to see it actually functioning an make contacts on multiple bands. Walked away with it for $300. More than half what I would have paid on ebay once shipping and import fees were factored in, and that would have been for a radio that I would be placing my faith in the seller to be honest about its condition. The radio I bought has a scratchy tone control and an weak relay. nothing serious, and easily and cheaply repaired.

Here is a great example of one of the most absurd auctions on a piece of 17 year old ham gear. Seller started this auction out at a penny.

The FT-3000 is one of the strangest radios, a "half a dual bander" 2 meter rig with a 440 receiver. The idea is you use a dual band portable (such as a VX-1R which was popular when this radio was new) and crossband repeat in one direction only.

70 watts. No big deal, a new Icom V-8000 has 75 watts and sells for just over two bills NEW with a WARRANTY. Or a Kenwood TM-281A for under a buck and a half (65 watts out), again, BRAND NEW.

This radio CLOSED AT $560

Yaesu ft 3000M 2 Meter VHF 70W Radio | eBay

Now this doesn't mean someone actually PAID that much for a 17 year old radio, if they did, then they are truly stupid, as one could have bought a NEW WITH WARRANTY DIGITAL MOBILE such as a Yaesu System Fusion FTM-400DR or Icom ID-880 for that much.

But it goes to show you, the sky's the limit when it comes to the auction site known as PAYBAY. Even after PAYBAY takes their cut (10 percent of 560 is $56) and Paypal (3 percent is another 15 bucks), plus shipping (say a good $15-18 if packed right), the seller will still walk away with:
just over 450 dollars for a well used, almost two decade old 2 meter radio.

Now...who wants to bet this one will be relisted due to "non paying bidder"

I've always thought of eBay as a company built on the same principle that made P.T. Barnum so rich - there's a sucker born every minute.

-AZ

AZScanner said:

I've always thought of eBay as a company built on the same principle that made P.T. Barnum so rich - there's a sucker born every minute.

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You got that right. While we are on the subject of FT-3000Ms, take a look at this current auction for one. Again, a used radio, no box, no manual (which you WILL need for this radio), already sky high up to $225as of this writing with over 3 days left:
Yaesu ft 3000M 2 Meter VHF 70W Radio | eBay

Now, I have owned one of these before. It's nothing special, really. I paid $75 for mine about 5 years ago.

It had the worst user interface of any Yaesu radio I've ever used, and good luck finding a complete download of a PDF of the user manual, which you WILL need to perform basic functions. IIRC it did not have a particularly good receiver front end, and scan speed was slow. Never could get the crossband repeat to work (but without a complete manual, couldn't figure it out).

IIRC, tone decode was optional, and it the radio did not do narrowband.

$262 can buy one a good used true dual bander like a TM-V71 or FT-8800, or a high end high powered 2 meter radio like the Icom V-8000, or one of many fine superior quality commercial rigs like a Kenwood TK-7180H or Icom IC-F5061.

We'll see how high the idiots drive this one up to.