[kak39]

I swear I get so temped everytime i'm on ebay.com , ebay.uk and ebay.de to buy a RNS-E unit off there. I see so many sold each day ranging from $700 - $900.

Can anyone share if they did purchase their units off ebay and if everything has worked out with it?

I'm debating on going with a seller on this board for a new unit for $1400 + shipping or trying my chance at a high ranking sellers units on ebay.

 

[Haaggie]

As with everything in this world: you get what you pay for, that's the only thing I can say to you. When a price sounds to good to be true, it isn't true.

 

[kak39]

ebay horror stories?

I just havent' read any threads of people talking about their ebay horror stories? I mean people are buying these things. Each one I see gets sold? So you would think people would come here complaing about their broken units they bought?

So any stories?

 

[Haaggie]

I get almost daily mails of buyers that bought a unit from non trusted eBay sellers with problems like broken corners, scratched screens, wrong codes, bad eeproms, broken dvd players, wrong cables, wrong keys, wrong antenna adapters and so further. I'm not gonna help them anymore. Search for ebay on this forum, and you can find the stories you are searching for.

 

[benw123]

Well, I'm happy to post some good news about eBay RNS-E purchases - I collected mine from a vendor in West London last Saturday, after winning an auction the previous week.

I'm also quite mindful of big eBay purchases - especially because in the UK, there are LOTS of RNS-E units available from Poland and Lithuania - and so when I saw one based in London offering a collection in person, I took interest.

The great thing was, when I arrived the guy had a custom harness plugged into the RNS-E to be able to demo it to me which was good. If a vendor is willing to invite you into their home, he or she must have some degree of trust and since my install last Sunday, it's a case of so far, so good.

Like Haagie though, I would be wary of buying from Eastern Europe. For some reason there seems to be a lot of used units for sale there and many are only offered for sale in the UK (probably because this is where demand is greatest and where they'll make the most money).

The vendor I bought from is called topsatnav and the guy's name is Paul. Well worth a look - he also sold me the adapter, a new GPS antenna and a 2005 DVD.

 

[TeddyBGame]

Re: ebay horror stories?

I just havent' read any threads of people talking about their ebay horror stories? I mean people are buying these things. Each one I see gets sold? So you would think people would come here complaing about their broken units they bought?

So any stories?

Probably because they couldn't get their screen name registered here....so they got discouraged.

 

[PROXUS]

Re: ebay horror stories?

I just havent' read any threads of people talking about their ebay horror stories? I mean people are buying these things. Each one I see gets sold? So you would think people would come here complaing about their broken units they bought?

So any stories?

those are just few of many:
http://www.navplus.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3533
http://www.navplus.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3275
http://www.navplus.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3026
http://www.navplus.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2267
http://www.navplus.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1551

and this list go on and on....

I recently fixed 6 units bought on eBay by some guys from this forum as well as from Audiworld and Audizine. I understand that few hundreds price difference could be really tempting but I charged them in range of $400-700 so after all they paid more then they would pay buying from trusted sellers. I would also mention that I received at least 4 units which I was unable to fix because damage to EEPROM was to severe and replacing and coding new board is very expensive.

I always say if you have enough money so you can risk it....do it. But only safe way is to buy complete packages with warranty and support. And this is not eBay for sure

 

[kak39]

used

Good stuff. But, many of the resellers on here sell Units for great prices, but they are all listed as "Euro used RNS-E units". How do you guys buy your units used then?

 

[PROXUS]

You can get them from Audi parts wholesellers in Germany/Belgium or Austria but they require high volume orders. Good thing is that big suppliers will offer warranties which is very important because those units are not "bulletproof"

 

[kak39]

warrenties

So you purchase used Nav units from wholesalers in euro? Also, how long are the warranties?

 

[JCRS4]

I just got my RNS-E from eBay and although the unit seems to be OK I would have definitely purchased it here had I found this forum sooner.
I ended up paying for an adapter from here anyway since one was not supplied as stated in listing and the guy is in Germany so I am not getting support from him.

 

[takuem]

I bought my unit from the US (ebay), but the gent who sold it to me had got it from Europe. He also bought in on ebay. It was not yet coded for the US, he didn't even know how to test the unit on a 12V supply.

I asked him to Escrow the unit to me, and he was happy with the thought. I had 6 days in which to test the unit, which I did extensively, and besides the ocassional nav DVD not read (which could be big with my luck!), I have no complaints 3 months later.

 

[otisore]

I agree with Proxus. If you're willing to take the risk and lose the money then go for it.

I purchased a unit on ebay from a U.S. seller and it was broken. The cables connecting the back of the unit looked like they were ripped out, which leads me to believe it was stolen. Proxus took a look at it for me and could not get the disc that was inside the unit to eject. Ebay takes no responsibility in trying to get your money back, and PayPal will only give you $175 back...IF (that's a VERY big IF) they decide in your favor. The $900 I spent is gone unless my credit card company is able to do something about it. I will NEVER use ebay for a high priced purchase again. I expected more security from a site like , but they were absolutely no help whatsoever.

 

[kak39]

escrow

I've done a bought/sold many high value items. I always use escrow services on anything above $300 and if the buyer/seller wants too. I've sold alot of musical equipment like guitars/amps that are very expensive and gave the buyers a week or two to try out the item while their money is sitting in the escrow account. You can't go wrong using that service.

I think many of the bad purchase might sometimes be the buyers fault. If it's too good a deal it can't be true...but when every unit sold on ebay.uk/de/com goes for around $700-$800. They all can't be bad deals....and use escrow services to do your own testing of the device.

 

[benw123]

Re: escrow

I think many of the bad purchase might sometimes be the buyers fault. If it's too good a deal it can't be true...but when every unit sold on ebay.uk/de/com goes for around $700-$800. They all can't be bad deals....and use escrow services to do your own testing of the device.

There's a lot of truth in that. I think many people think that because they're buying something on eBay, it's got to be a really good deal where the buyer always ends up with perfect goods at knock-down prices.

As I said, I was lucky to mitigate against this somewhat by meeting the vendor in person who demonstrated the unit to me. No different to answering a classified advert I suppose, but he was confident enough to invite me into his home so he must have been confident about his product.

 

[takuem]

Re: escrow

I think many of the bad purchase might sometimes be the buyers fault. If it's too good a deal it can't be true...but when every unit sold on ebay.uk/de/com goes for around $700-$800. They all can't be bad deals....and use escrow services to do your own testing of the device.

There's a lot of truth in that. I think many people think that because they're buying something on eBay, it's got to be a really good deal where the buyer always ends up with perfect goods at knock-down prices.

As I said, I was lucky to mitigate against this somewhat by meeting the vendor in person who demonstrated the unit to me. No different to answering a classified advert I suppose, but he was confident enough to invite me into his home so he must have been confident about his product.

I agree. The best bet is to take every possible precaution, and avoid anyone who even raises your eyebrows a little.

 

[kak39]

money

I have just seen another RNS-E unit go on ebay.uk for $750. This is half the price of the cheapest units i've found from the sellers on this forum. I know there is risk involved, but with using escrow and not buying from polish/Lithuanian sellers you have a much better chance.

And hey...you could buy 2 units for the price of buying one from the sellers on here. Hell I got quoted by a guy saying it would be $1850 for the RNS-E....maybe even almost 3!!

 

[FreddieS3]

I bought my RNS-E unit last december on germen Ebay from a guy called Nika2051. Everythng worked great! Shipping was fast, great response and the unit worked a 100%.

The key to a sucessful purchase on ebay (europe) in my opinion is:

-Read feedback and feedbackscore
-At least 99% positive feedbackscore and at least 100 feedbacks
-A plus if the seller is a Powerseller
-Paypal coverege upto $1000
-Don't buy from the eastern europe only UK, Austria and Germany

And remember, If the price sounds to good to be true; don't buy it.

 

[kak39]

note

could you share the price USD you got it for on ebay?

 

[FreddieS3]

It think I paid 1100 EURO (december 2005), but when I asked him yesterday the price was a bit lower, around 850 EURO. Guess its because the competition against lower priced units.