Buying Direct vs buying on Ebay

[FoGbOx]

Well i'm torn between saving money and buying what i know is good.

below are listed few parts that i found from sciko suporters and similiar product on ebay. cause Ebay is so cheap i'm scared to buy cause i'm afraid i will get junk and not the real deal otherwise how can it be so cheap?


Dealer - Craven Speed xA.xB/tC Adjustable Shifter $184.95
Ebay - 04 05 06 07 Scion XA XB JDM Racing Short Shifter US $38.00

Dealer - STRUP Header over $200
Ebay - starting at $36 to $100

Scion xA/xB 04-07 Stoptech Slotted and Drilled Front (Pair) $171.10
Ebay - $50-80

Name:
Competition Clutch Stage 2 Clutch Kit-xA/xB 04-07 (80% TQ increase over stock)
Your Price:
$387

Ebay - Starting at $72 and around $150


So can someone explain how can they sell stuff so cheap?

[THansenite]

Cheap eBay stuff is usually just that....cheap.

The short shifter would be fine to buy off eBay since there isn't much that can go wrong with it. It is pretty much a machined piece of metal.

The rest of the stuff, I wouldn't touch. EBay exhausts are notorious for sounding like complete crap. Acceleration with it typically sounds like a pissed off hive of bees chasing after your car.

Strup headers are flow tested and quality controlled to provide decent gains and are warrantied. Headers from eBay are notorious for cracking and rusting.

As for brakes, do you really want to go cheap on the thing that stops your car? EBay rotors have been known to crack, rust, and not provide very good stopping power. When you need to make an emergency stop while going at highway speeds, it will be nice knowing you have quality brake components on your corners instead of rear ending the car in front of you.

Clutch quality is a big difference. You have to tear apart the subframe of your car to even get to the clutch. It is a pretty involved process change it. EBay clutches typically wear out very quickly and can have chatter or be unbalanced. I have also seen where they scratched the hell out of the flywheel. Replacing the flywheel and having to replace the cheap clutch will cost a lot more than simply buying a good clutch in the first place.

Another big reason these parts are so cheap is that they didn't do the research and development the other companies did. They looked at the design from a reputable company, made their own copy, and said "this looks pretty close". They don't have nearly the quality or performance as the higher priced counterparts. They are higher priced because of the work that went into them.

Please, save your money and get the quality parts despite the cost. I promise you'll be glad you did. :up:

[AceStyle]

There are tons of knock-off ebay companies...to the point where they use very similar stickers for logos and stuff. I remember a tuner magazine (forget which one) did an article about this and they bought a bunch of different things...directly and the same things off ebay.....they found that most of the ebay stuff was far worse quality.

[THansenite]

Yea, I think I saw the same article. It was about counterfeit parts being sold on eBay. The parts even had the correct logos on them, but they were counterfeit parts and performed horribly compared to the authentic ones.

[um_lunchbox]

Here is my take on that;

You cannot go to ebay for a warranty
You cannot expect any customer service from ebay
You get what you pay for ... always true

Buy from a Vendor;

You get a warranty
You help keep the market moving forward
Yes you paid a little more, but you keep that vendor open one more day and able to sell another quality product to another customer.


Think of all the good vendors that have been driven out of business because of circumstances like Ebay. Lowering your price is not always the answer ....

Ebay is great for used stuff ... I always buy new from Vendors

[MrHat]

is it worth it to save 100$ on brakes than have the ebay brakes not work when u need them? I like ebay but not for things for my car like brakes/header/exhaust.

sure is tempting.

[scikosomatic]

go with an online vendor...its a great middle ground between ebay and the dealer

[FoGbOx]

i did not wanted to buy from ebay but just wanted to hear other people opinions,

i pretty much figured the same thing, save $100 now and having to pay twice as much down the road.

but since i heard everything that you guys said it is safe to say that i will stick with online vendors and support "scikotics supporters"

[Aurora]

Honestly bro, and this is no offense to Sciko peeps at all, but ther's no loyalty when it comes to getting stuff for your ride. You get what is good for you. Now, as a fellow Sciko, I'd check out the supports first though.

When comparing stuff on ebay to known vendors...I'd side with wha Tony said on the second post, gotta weight things out. If its LED's, some cosmetic add on (i.e. bodykit, etc. etc.) those are things you could chance if you wanted to on ebay. There are actual genuine sellser on there, just got to find them. But yeah, brakes....I'd buy those from a vendor. Same goes for performance upgrades of any kind.

[Dezod]

Here is my take on that;

You cannot go to ebay for a warranty
You cannot expect any customer service from ebay
You get what you pay for ... always true

Buy from a Vendor;

You get a warranty
You help keep the market moving forward
Yes you paid a little more, but you keep that vendor open one more day and able to sell another quality product to another customer.


Think of all the good vendors that have been driven out of business because of circumstances like Ebay. Lowering your price is not always the answer ....

Ebay is great for used stuff ... I always buy new from Vendors

100% correct. Could not have answered it better myself

[naptownballer]

three words shits from china

[Krazylowgsx]

not everything on ebay is junk. there is ALLLLOOOOTTT of cheap ass shit on there, but there is also brand name stuff. i would highly advise you NOT to buy some cheap ebay piece for your car. you can't compare a strup header to an ebay header.

[FoGbOx]

well i already bought Header from STRUP and quick shifter from NURSPEC

[Krazylowgsx]

^^^ good choices

[Ed CMS]

I like to say you get what you pay for!

We only sell quality products, that is why you wont see "Cheap" parts on our website. All of the parts we sell we stand behind, and use them on our own cars.

[ntwrkguru]

not everything on ebay is junk. there is ALLLLOOOOTTT of cheap ass shit on there, but there is also brand name stuff. i would highly advise you NOT to buy some cheap ebay piece for your car. you can't compare a strup header to an ebay header.

x2. Plus, there are a LOT of brick and mortar shops that also sell on eBay. You just have to be careful and check the feedback. If it's also a real shop and not some kid working out of his garage, there should be a link to their website and/or a customer service phone number.

[CXTKRS1]

If it is a TRD part or something like that being sold on E-bay then I will buy from the bay. If I cannot find what I want through Ebay then I will buy from a vendor.

[michael.brook51]

I have very limited time, i will go for ebay.