Your On-line parts buys? the Good the Bad and the Ugly

[RootOfAllEVO]

Thought I'd open a channel where we could all discuss our on-line parts purchases, and just maybe get a little smarter along the way. It's a leap of faith to buy any second hand or factory refurbished part from eBay, Craig's list, or on a factory web site. I've been the gamut, and hoped to share some of what I experienced and get the same from you all.

The Good:  J&P Cycles "scratch and dent" section. Usually these parts are not nearly as damaged as they let on. I bought a $300.00+ retail set of forward controls with what they described as a large scratch and a missing piece of billet. When I opened them, I had to roll them around several times to find out where the problem was, and it was tiny. $70 bucks plus shipping to my door. Good experience.

The Bad? I ordered a set of handlebar controls from an outfit called wegotcycleparts in August. Their command of the English language should have been my first clue. After ignoring numerous emails from me, they finally arrived a month later, packed with all the loving care of a defective horseshoe. How they got here undamaged is beyond me. These guys are obviously practicing "list everything on eBay, and then order what we sold from our upstream supplier". This leads to long delivery times, and occasional flat out refunds for stuff they sold but didn't actually have and can't get now. All the while your money sits in their hands. And keep in mind that a huge eBay seller with a 98% positive feedback out of several thousand trades still means several hundred pissed off people on the other side. Count me as one.

The Ugly? That would be a 200mm softail frame I bought on eBay. I'll end up with a rideable motorcycle out of this pile of pipes, but it hasn't been easy. The swing arm and side-plates on the frame seriously had to have been cut out by a plasma-cutter wielding Stevie Wonder.  Not even remotely symmetrical. Motor mounts and tranny mounts are somehow miraculously perpendicular to the frame and axles, but the bolt pattern is unfortunately splayed out, so I've had to whittle and whittle at the motor mount holes to get alignment. I am now tempted to go back in and back fill with a TIG welder. Oh, the MSO? It took me 8 months of emails, mail, phone calls, etc. to get this all important document delivered to me.  Memo to self; don't buy a frame from somebody named after one of the three stooges.

So let the thread roll . . . How were you treated on line? Where will you buy from, and where will you never do business again?

[Panzer]

Root,
THE GOOD:
I've had pretty good luck on E-Bay so far.
Haven't been stuck yet, I have a Paypal account and that kinda protects me.
I know the sellers don't like it but I do.
I've purchased, crash bars listed for $199.00, paid $125.00
Security system for the bike, list $99.00, paid $45.00
Hiway pegs, list $65.00, paid $28.00
Throw-over saddle bags, paid $55.00.
All above in good condition, but they were purchased as "new".
From other venders, I've purchased gun parts and all was in order.
So far .... so good.
If it sounds to good to be true.................  buyer beware.

The Bad:
             Can't comment, haven't been stung. (yet)
The Ugly:   

[RootOfAllEVO]

Thanks for the update, Panzer. Yep, the savings on-line are hard to beat. And it sounds like you've had mostly good experiences. Maybe I got "educated" for both of us.

[Flat Dog]

Lately I have bought from Ebayers that have things listed, but not in stock. One outfit in Florida really hosed me on a set of pushrods and lifters...an expensive lesson which is still a freakin mess. Another BIG Florida HD dealer sold me a seat they didn't even have. Amazing, eh? Oh, both offered discounts on future purchases. Yeah, right! LOL

All in all tho, I have been able to do my hot rod evo build for close to 1/2 the price I was anticipating thanks to a few good Ebay sellers, Zippers (awesome!!!), Zanotti, and some good advice from members here.

Got a great deal from a Chicago HD dealer on a pro pipe thru Ebay-I suspect I got it for his cost or even a little below.

[reg_beagle]

Been buying parts on E-bay for a couple of years, mostly older NOS stuff. Almost uniformly a great experience and cheaper (and sometimes faster) than local dealerships, and I don't have to deal with the 'don't bother me' attitude that's apparent at some parts counters. But one big lesson: If you live in Canada, don't get anything delivered by UPS. They'll bore you a new one with excessive customs charges, and then some.

As for great service and quality on E-bay, I'll never pass up a chance to recommend Bill's Custom Cycles in Bloomsburg, Pa. (also O/A Zimalady cycle parts). Best people you could ever want to deal with.

Sometimes E-bay provides simple, low cost solutions. I wanted a pair of long-stem mirrors for my FXDXT so I could see past my elbows, and found a nice shiney new chrome pair for about $25 including shipping. Didn't have any regrets about taking the steel wool to them and painting them black to match the FXDXT.
Al

[Molly]

I've used M&M in, I think, Ohio. They're a 'mom and pop' store. Their service has always been good and their prices very reasonable.

[Sonny S.]

I got a few good deals on HTT swap meet   

[PoorUB]

I usually don't buy on the 'net something I can not afford to get stuck on. My Ebay purchases are kept around $100 max. I have spent a bit more buying stuff of for sale sections on groups, but generally have not spent that much money either. I bought my cams and tensioner upgrade parts from Herko, something like $750 and that went smoother than I ever expected. I bought a $10 palstic fender on Ebay, advertised as perfect, no cracks, that had cracks around the mounting holes. I bitched to the seller and they offered to take it back if I paid return shipping! I gave the a negative feed back and an explaination why. I bought two HD headsets from a guy of a group, brand new in the boxes for $125 shipped! Most everyone sells the for $125 each plus shipping.
I probably would never buy something worth several hundreds of dollars, or more on Ebay, unless I know the seller quite well. Such as a seller with regular retail operations, with a legitimate store.

[Ultrashovel]

I sell motorcycle parts on eBay from time to time and I always take good care of a bidder and treat them right. I describe items carefully and accurately, I pack items carefully, I ship promptly and I communicate with my bidders. No one has ever had a problem with anything they bought from me on eBay.

As far as buying on eBay. I've had some bad deals, so I'm pretty careful. Anymore, I try to communuicate with a seller before I place a bid. If I don't hear back immediately, I don't bid.

As to buying new parts online, the only ones I've used are Baisley and Zanotti. They are both terrific sellers.

I'm sure there are other good ones too but I don't know which they might be. With the high price of new HD parts, I always try to go online though, so I'll probably try some others in the future.

[HeritageSpecial]

The Good:
Discountbiker.com   Mom and Pop-- don't be put off by the plain and simple website-- you do the legwork and plug in the HD part numbers and you get an email back with the price less 20-25% in most cases. He can't do that on everything but you get a quote to check for yourself. I think there was only 2 items I ordered where the discount was slightly less than 20%.

The Better:
Had a large order sent to Australia-- quick response, postage reasonable, and marked "second hand parts" (so no Customs Duty).

I ran a spreadsheet on the parts ordered and compared to Chicago HD/Zannotis/and book retail. Discount Biker beat the lot..

Cheers,
HS

[Flat Dog]

HS-thanks for the tip. I love to support the Mom&Pop shop/small business owners out there!

[HeritageSpecial]

Photo John, You're welcome- when I first saw their site-- and just from the way it looks-- I thought "uh-oh- do I really want to order here" as the site is very plain and kind of amateurish, but the clincher is you see the quotation first, then supply ordering details if happy.

Regards,
HS

[RootOfAllEVO]

Heritage:

I'm all over that discountbiker site you suggest, thank you very much for the tip. I'm sick of the MoCO attitude when I try to order parts off their counter, they'd rather sign me up for a new $30 grand bagger I guess. Anytime I can buy factory part numbers from a Mom & Pop and get a discount, I'm in. Thanks again.

[Big_Bulky_RK]

I agree with Molly,  M&M is in Sandusky,OH.  Mark and Linda (AKA Mom and Pop) have been more than fair with my friends and I.  They work with many brands of bike parts and including,    Genuine Harley Davidson  Drag Specialties  Custom Chrome  V-Twin   Kuryakyn  Mustang   Rinehart  Vance & Hines  Samson  S&S  Revtech  Andrews  Mikuni  Santee  Performance Machine  Arlen Ness  D&D.  Great pricing, fast shipping and best of all if you call,  you get to talk to a real person that lets you know where you stand.  Their website is   www.mandmcycles.com.

[bouncingVman]

I've had good luck buying exhaust pipes and such at Dennis Kirk. They beat any other online competitor by a buck and it gets shipped out the same day. No questions asked return policy... except you have to pay return shipping.

[EagleFTE]

I've had a lot of good buys on Ebay.  Discontinued V logo leather sadle bags, brand new for half price.  A used saddlemen profiler seat in great condition for $100 ($300 retail).  I had a used Road King that only came with the four channel luggage rack and passenger back rest combo.  I wanted to turn it into a bar hopper so was looking for the u bracket license plate holder to clean up the rear end.  I was high bid for one on Ebay for $1.25 plus $5.00 shipping.  I imagine the seller was not happy but .....great deal.  I used to buy quite a bit from a dealer in Nashville but can't remember their name, C&S I think.

No bad experiences that come to mind.

[ukrmh]

I have had good luck buying and selling on ebay.  No problems at all buying.  I sold a HD speedo 6 years ago and got my only negative feedback, even though I described it "as is" (because it was electrical, not becasue it did not work-it worked fine).  It sold really cheap ($35), and the buyer waited 89 days and left me negative feedback. I gave him positive feedback the day he paid and I shipped it.  I took it to ebay mediation (cost me $20), and offered the buyer a full refund, including shipping, if he would retract the negative, but never heard back.  It really p*&^%$d me off, but that's life!
I'm surprised no one mentioned craigslist??  I have found some real bargains there, and you deal directly with the seller (or buyer).  Best of all, it is free!  Most items are local so you just pick them up and pay after you decide they are as stated.
Bob

[HeritageSpecial]

Root-- no worries-- glad it's working for you. Real nice people to boot.

Best,
HS