Missed a Deal Scared of Buying Blind

[Brinormeg]

So annoyed I missed what I thought could have been a decent deal on my first sib.
Guy wanted £1700 for everything below but because I couldn’t actually go and see the set up first I hesitated too long and now its sold.
Ok it was a lot of money to take a chance on everything being ok and buying basically blind.
Plus it would have cost a lot (£100 per pallet was one online quote ) to get a pallet delivery because of the weight.
But figured most of this be fine for a starter set up with a radio and would feel safer with a second outboard when finances allow.

For sale:

Honwave T35 with new Launch wheels. Unused.
Tohatsu 9.8 2 Stroke 2006 model with fuel tank.
Garmin Striker Plus 4 CV and Tranducer. New
Bravo BP12 air pump. New
Tiller extension. New
Swivel seat (for the better half). New
Anchor. New
Life Jacket. New
Couple of new rod holders. New

Kicking myself….

[beamishken]

You did exactly the right thing not buying blind, if you'd realy wanted it and it was an absolute bargain jump in your car or hire a van and go straight there and see it then hand over the money. Probably more folk crying because they never saw the bargain item they paid for up front than those who cry they missed it.
There may be the odd occasion where buying blind is ok IE if someone you trust vouches for the seller or its a well known dealer. But generaly its imperative you see the item & hear the engine running,preferably on the water but if not then in a tank or on muffs.
Anything larger than a sib or portable engine I'd want to try on the water under load

[smallribber]

That lot was an absolute bargain. Depending on how much money is say £2000 to you as an individual I would not hesitate to buy 'blind' (assuming you have pics and have spoken to the person). At the moment things are in short supply and the saying if you snooze you loose is very true. You have to take a leap of faith with anything second hand and usually in my experience you finish up happy. If you are a very particular or even OCD type of a person you will want to look in great detail, feel and touch etc. At the moment that is not easy and there will be many others that will just buy on impulse

[smallribber]

I recently bought a 15 hp 2 Stroke Yam Short shaft that is to many the holy grail for sibbing and I spotted it on gumtree, contacted the guy immediately, spoke to him, He whatsapped me some pics and a short video and I agreed the sale 2 mins later. I collected the next day. He was a very nice and fair guy and he told me when I collected that he could have sold the item 5 times over. I am very pleased with the engine and yes it has a scratch here and there on the cowl but it is second hand and to be expected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr-ajcwZslg

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by smallribber

I recently bought a 15 hp 2 Stroke Yam Short shaft that is to many the holy grail for sibbing and I spotted it on gumtree, contacted the guy immediately, spoke to him, He whatsapped me some pics and a short video and I agreed the sale 2 mins later. I collected the next day. He was a very nice and fair guy and he told me when I collected that he could have sold the item 5 times over. I am very pleased with the engine and yes it has a scratch here and there on the cowl but it is second hand and to be expected.

Exactly the way to ALL Private Internet business
Nice one...Enjoy!

[Ribtecer]

Originally Posted by beamishken

You did exactly the right thing not buying blind, if you'd realy wanted it and it was an absolute bargain jump in your car or hire a van and go straight there and see it then hand over the money. Probably more folk crying because they never saw the bargain item they paid for up front than those who cry they missed it.
There may be the odd occasion where buying blind is ok IE if someone you trust vouches for the seller or its a well known dealer. But generaly its imperative you see the item & hear the engine running,preferably on the water but if not then in a tank or on muffs.
Anything larger than a sib or portable engine I'd want to try on the water under load

q

This is exactly what I do (except a sea trial), go and see it and take a view on the kit and the seller.

So far I've always been happy.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by smallribber

I recently bought a 15 hp 2 Stroke Yam Short shaft that is to many the holy grail for sibbing and I spotted it on gumtree, contacted the guy immediately, spoke to him, He whatsapped me some pics and a short video and I agreed the sale 2 mins later. I collected the next day. He was a very nice and fair guy and he told me when I collected that he could have sold the item 5 times over. I am very pleased with the engine and yes it has a scratch here and there on the cowl but it is second hand and to be expected.

But you didnt buy blind you went to see it which is the key to a safe transaction. In the ops case he would have had to send the guy the money & hope it arrived on the pallet.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by smallribber

That lot was an absolute bargain. Depending on how much money is say £2000 to you as an individual I would not hesitate to buy 'blind' (assuming you have pics and have spoken to the person). At the moment things are in short supply and the saying if you snooze you loose is very true. You have to take a leap of faith with anything second hand and usually in my experience you finish up happy. If you are a very particular or even OCD type of a person you will want to look in great detail, feel and touch etc. At the moment that is not easy and there will be many others that will just buy on impulse

Many who buy on impulse end up sending their money to a stranger & never see the goods
Not a good idea to encourage that kind of foolish behaviour

[Steve509926]

Hi Brinomeg, looks to me like your asking for confirmation that you did the right thing

As you can tell by the comments you've had, there's no one answer to that - "yes you've done exactly the right thing, you've not lost any money" - "no you should be angry with yourself, you've missed out on an incredible bargain". Who's right and who's wrong?, only the seller and the buyer know the answer to that.

Some will view it as a gamble worth taking, which maybe if you have a spare £2000 and can afford to lose it, it is. Others on a budget have to spend money wisely as they do not have unlimited funds and have to be more cautious.

Personally, I would have been sceptical without seeing the OB running and T35 inflated at least on a video and preferably in person. Then I would want to talk to the seller (not text/email) to find out why he/she is selling. Everything is new/unused apart from the OB and T35 which would lead me to belive he/she has bought it 2nd hand recently - two owners in very quick succesion rings alarm bells for me.

So don't beat yourself up about it, something else will come along.

[willk]

Originally Posted by beamishken

Many who buy on impulse end up sending their money to a stranger & never see the goods
Not a good idea to encourage that kind of foolish behaviour

Yes, and you noticed that despite using the engine purchase as an example - he actually didn't buy it unseen for delivery - he drove, viewed and THEN bought it.

[treerat]

Unless it's a dealer purchase, and then only if it's a known dealer or its from a person well known, I'd not be parting with that much cash for something that I hope turns up!!

[Poly]

Originally Posted by smallribber

That lot was an absolute bargain.

Or it was a scam relying on the fact people can’t travel in the hope you will pay for it to be delivered and it never appears...

[Fenlander]

My advice to others is don’t but it’s something I’ve done quite a bit myself to varying degrees and I’m well ahead so far.

First step is to establish to your own satisfaction it’s not an outright scam where the goods don’t exist and a few basic questions will weed out most true scams.

Second and usually most pertinent is are the goods going to be what you expect. This has to be a risk vs reward decision and not to hard to make for your own personal circumstances.

[jakew009]

Originally Posted by beamishken

Many who buy on impulse end up sending their money to a stranger & never see the goods
Not a good idea to encourage that kind of foolish behaviour

Tricky one, sometimes if you see a bargain you’ve just got to do a bit of internet stalking and then go for it.

I’ve spent 10s of thousands before buying machinery without seeing it and have never had a problem but I am a lazy bastard and can’t think of anything worse than traipsing across the country to meet some eBay seller.
A pallet collection from anywhere in the country is just a click away and arrives 24 hours later...

Most people out there are genuine and it’s normally pretty easy to spot the fraudsters.

[jakew009]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

My advice to others is don’t but it’s something I’ve done quite a bit myself to varying degrees and I’m well ahead so far.

First step is to establish to your own satisfaction it’s not an outright scam where the goods don’t exist and a few basic questions will weed out most true scams.

Second and usually most pertinent is are the goods going to be what you expect. This has to be a risk vs reward decision and not to hard to make for your own personal circumstances.

This x1000.

It’s very very dangerous to buy from online sellers who have bargains for sale. Send them to me first to check out

[A1an]

Originally Posted by Brinormeg

So annoyed I missed what I thought could have been a decent deal on my first sib.
Guy wanted £1700 for everything below but because I couldn’t actually go and see the set up first I hesitated too long and now its sold.
Ok it was a lot of money to take a chance on everything being ok and buying basically blind.
Plus it would have cost a lot (£100 per pallet was one online quote ) to get a pallet delivery because of the weight.
But figured most of this be fine for a starter set up with a radio and would feel safer with a second outboard when finances allow.

For sale:

Honwave T35 with new Launch wheels. Unused.
Tohatsu 9.8 2 Stroke 2006 model with fuel tank.
Garmin Striker Plus 4 CV and Tranducer. New
Bravo BP12 air pump. New
Tiller extension. New
Swivel seat (for the better half). New
Anchor. New
Life Jacket. New
Couple of new rod holders. New

Kicking myself….

Are you still looking for this type of setup?

I’ve got a Honwave T38 here with a 2007 Honda 20hp

[Steve509926]

Oh please say yes! I do love a happy ending

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by willk

Yes, and you noticed that despite using the engine purchase as an example - he actually didn't buy it unseen for delivery - he drove, viewed and THEN bought it.

Nope.

Spoke to the Guy. Saw video, Paid then collected

[chipko]

T35 not a scam. A member and advertised on the other channel. Started off at £2400 for all kit including two outboards. Eventually reduced to £1600 so offered to buy the lot unseen just for the 9.8. Transpired the reduced price didn’t include the 9.8, just some ancient 5hp so walked away. Wanted £2200 to include the 9.8!

Seventeen hundred quid and now including said Tohatsu an absolute steal. Seller seemed a bit of a dick tbh reducing price but omitting to be clear on what’s included, but hey ho. Somebody’s now got a good buy.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by smallribber

Nope.

Spoke to the Guy. Saw video, Paid then collected

Still a huge difference to getting something picked up on a pallet, at least you had the opportunity to call him a lying twot if it was a shitter. I know a dealer bought an outboard engine off a guy, arranged pallet collection he received a nicely wrapped pallet containing two knackerd hoovers and a couple of breeze blocks.
If you use any of the Facebook selling sites there are daily threads of folk getting ripped off for anything from a chart plotter to a jcb digger.
I've sent big money abroad to buy a couple of boat £15k for one and £50k for another that I've only seen pictures of but I did my checks on the company's involved & was confident the boat would be as described when they arrived & they were. Would I send £1500 for a honwave and outboard from a guy in the Midlands I'd never met? not unless I was 100% confident he was genuine & the goods existed and worked as they should
The op wasnt sure about the deal & went with his instincts & shouldnt beat himself up about it there will be plenty others.