# Any tips for a newbie on purchasing from ebay?



## davidf (Oct 12, 2016)

I'm on a limited budget and hoping to pick up a La Pavoni Europiccola secondhand and wondering if anyone can offer any tips:

* Is ebay a sensible place to be looking? What would be alternatives?

* Any advice on spotting obvious problems from photos/descriptions etc

* Any tips on bidding tactics etc?

* Any particular questions you would recommend asking the seller?


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Hi David

sign up for an account with auction sniper - they will automatically bid in the last 5 seconds of the ebay auction up to an amount you set

Your alternative is to look on gumtree - but they are quite rare

add a few La pav auctions to your watch list in ebay so you can monitor what they sell for.

Ive not owned a la pavoni , so I cant tell you about condition etc - but look for something that's in use or be prepared to do a little work on it when you get it - parts are not too expensive and there are plenty of guides.

also look out for the gaggia g105 - which are almost identical but attract less bidders.

the cheapest machines will be collect only - so be prepared to travel to pick it up within reason

hope these help - cheers Jim

ps look for auctions that end mid week as they get less bidders - the worst time to buy is on a sat or sun pm ( also the best time to list an item)


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## Robbo (Feb 17, 2016)

There is a good one on the for sale section here which you will be able go see once you have 5 posts.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

I suggest @coffeechap, the resident lever man might be able to sort you out. State your budget on here. The main advantage is we all know him, some of us know where he lives, but joking aside, he will service the machine properly for you prior to receiving it, and you will know it has been in good hands


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

There are loads of bargains to be had with la pavonis on eBay, some are badly listed some for spares or repair, a better place is to get one from here, as a above there is a good one in the for sale section


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## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

If you are technically minded then you can get some real bargains off eBay. I bought a Fracino Heavenly off eBay for under £200. It was sold as faulty, pump wouldn't fill the boiler. Turned out to be a very badly scaled up pump. A lot of cleaning and descaling and its a perfectly good working machine.

If you buy off someone on coffeeforums then its far more likely to be a well cared for machine. You take your chances on eBay. My advice would be to simply be aware of that.


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

davidf said:


> I'm on a limited budget and hoping to pick up a La Pavoni Europiccola secondhand and wondering if anyone can offer any tips:
> 
> * Is ebay a sensible place to be looking? What would be alternatives?
> 
> ...


If it helps, I'll be selling mine in mid November and it'll be the same price I got it for on here a few months back (it was very reasonable).


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## bonneech (Nov 16, 2016)

Hi David,

just wondering if u had any success on eBay. I too am looking to purchase from eBay and I'm intrigued to know how u got on.


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## jimbocz (Jun 5, 2015)

With Ebay, you must decide the highest price that the item is worth, then just bid that. Ebay will not use more than of your bid than it needs to win the item. For example, if an item is currently 5 and you bid 10, then the bid will go up to something like 5.50. If someone else bids 6, then ebay will automatically bid 7 for you. If the item eventually goes over 10, then ebay will not automatically bid more. If the bidding stops at 7.50, then your final bid is 7.50 and you win the item.

Sniping is sometimes useful, I like to use ezsnipe, but if you want your life to be simple just use the advice above. When sniping, the same rule applies, just bid the max amount you will pay for the item. Sniping only works against people who don't do that.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

A tactic i deploy on ebay is find an item that is listed as collection only.

The audience for collection only is way smaller, so less bidders.

I then send a message to the seller asking if they would consider posting.

Assuming they get back to me and say YES, they will post it I then decide how much im willing to pay top end and place an automatic bid for up to that much in the last 5 seconds of the live auction. This doesnt allow some one else to place a higher bid, they simply havent got the time unless someone else has placed an automatic bid that is higher than mine.

if that is the case then they are welcome to it as I have decided how much it is worth to me. This also stops me becoming desparate and getting into a bidding war and paying over the odds


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## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Ebay is a great place to buy and sell things. I've bought everything over the years from Cars to camera equipment to razor blades and yesterday picked up what will hopefully be a bargain of a La Pavoni Europiccola (we'll see when it turns up).

My eBay advice is buy from someone who has very good feedback. Those that do don't want it tarnished with a bad review and therefore are usually very honest about the condition of what they are selling. Do a saved search for whatever you are looking to buy so you get an idea of what they go for before you find the right one to bid on. If you can monitor it things that end in the day usually go for less then those items ending at night as bidders aren't on eBay to snipe.


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