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Quote: Originally posted by Safeway56 on 23/5/2007

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How can anybody *sell* things to their children ? I would give my kids my last penny and the clothes off my back but I'd never EVER sell them anything.

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We bought our sunncamp 12xp tent from a seller on ebay and absolutely love it!!

Paid £100 for it - really wanted this tent but couldn't afford it brand new,but is like new as seller hardly used it!

We used it for the first time a couple of weeks ago.It withstood rain,winds etc etc kept us lovely and dry,really pleased.

The best tip of all with buying off ebay is check feedback.We've had so many bargain buys from there,but always check the seller out first before buying.

I bought a Sun valley 8 from ebay last year, when i could not justify another new tent.  More than pleased with what we got.  Read the descrition carefully and checked the buyer feedback. 

now this is what   I call an ebay tent !

I guess you know my tale of woe already, but here goes:

Bought a Khyam Frontier from ebay seller, advertised as new and unused. No pics, but that didn't surprise me as they said they had only pitched it to colour-code the poles. Seller had 100% feedback as a buyer only. Asked questions before purchase, seller wrote that there was 'absolutely no damage whatsoever'; 'only pitched  to colour code poles' and 'I guarantee you will not be disappointed with your purchase'. We knew we would not be able to pitch prior to purchase as garden was too small, so paid via paypal with the stipulation in the comments box that purchase was subject to the tent being new and unused, as stated in ebay ad.

When we got there, the people seemed reasonable, the tent bag was on the picnic table outside and sellers pulled out a section (of door) to illustrate the newness of the fabric. They gave absolute assurances that it was new and never used, giving the tale that they had bought it after their folding camper but then felt tent security was not as good as they would like for their little girl, so had decided to sell. We were taken in, and took the tent (which the guy helpfully carried to our car for us and put in the boot). Told to ring them if there were any problems, off we toddled.

To be fair, a bit I haven't added before, this guy had a dreadful habit of snorting (does not adequately describe - lets just say he took repeated sharp intakes of snot) so we didn't feel we could hang around any longer than strictly necessary!

Got home to find the tent fabric had a tear, lots of scruffed bits, poles rusty and paint bubbling, pole joint snapped. Seller told us to get lost, and that we wouldn't get a penny back so we lodged a paypal claim, then escalated it to a complaint and, a month and a half later we were awarded a full refund (all minus a tenner, which wasn't in their accound - must have been ebay fees deducted from the sale amount).

All in all, not a happy experience.

However, around the same time, we also bought a canvas frame tent from another ebay seller, again we asked questions and response inspired confidence. We were not able to see it pitched but, again, the guy seemed reasonable and told us there were no probs with the tent. He was telling the truth, tent was in great condition we were very happy with our purchase.

So, you win some, you lose some. It is not always easy to see tents pitched, to properly assess, so sometimes I guess you just have to judge the seller. And that is a little harder to do.

Four experiences of Ebay tents.
We bought our Sunncamp Holiday trailer tent off Ebay - no problems what so ever.   OK some of the poles needed respringing but nothing major.

I've just got a Sunncamp Continental 4 from EBay - not used it on site yet, but tetsted in the garden and it seems fine.

Then there is the little Coleman 2 man tent.     Long story, somebody I knew bought it from Ebay, asked could I weather it as they didn't have a garden.   At this point her hubby's health took a turn for the worse, and they moved out of the area.    I still have the tent. 
About 10 days ago I put this up in my garden to store stuff in while I did some sorting.    Its been up in wind, rain and sunshine, and has been great.

Almost forgot my 1970 frame tent - again no problem - make unknown.

I got my first tent from ebay. Can't remember the make but it's a 2 bedroom (pro evolution I think). It cost £100 new and it was brilliant. It's been to 5 Reading festivals and many camping trips and has been great. Had a bit of a leak last time in torrential rain but that's because I've lost the cover that goes over the pole at the top!!

I've just bought a campus breckenridge for £75 from a private seller. I'm going to pitch it tonight so I'll let you know how I get on. The seller did however do a diagram for pitching as he said the instructions were a bit hard to understand.

I like ebay and buy all sorts of things (just bought my third car from ebay and all have been great!) Just make sure that you always do your research

We bought a Stormproof New Jersey from Tentastic, we thought it was badly stitched as the seams were out of line, didn't look too bad when erected so we thought "what the hell, at the price we paid, £48, lets do it" we spent a week in it, it did ok in a light shower but as soon as it rained properly we got the dreaded drip drip drip, and the dome bent over in the wind, even with it double guyed

Second tent came off Ebay, four berth relum Frame, we paid £62-01p for it and it's brand new, absolute bargain, perfect for two of us, so yes there are good tents to be had on Ebay and some not so good, unless you do your research, as we did on here before looking for a second tent, it can be a gamble

We have done both buying and selling on ebay- we have bought from recognised dealers, bothr ecognised brands, and had great deals- usually only save a tenner or so from shop price but hey its a few beers! (quite a few in the student bar LOL)

We sold 2 on Ebay as well, never heard back about the first one so assume it was fine- was a cheap Argos proaction, 'first tent' when we were strapped for cash; second was a 1 year old gelert athoma and the new owner ahs raved about it.

Having said that ahd there been any issues we would have refunded (DH does a lot of ebay business and always does, if things get damaged in post etc).  You need to check that out first.

RE: the Rage tents etc- wouldn't necessarily buy one myself (ours get a lot of use so need to be A1 and we have to feel we can trust it) BUT last year we were in a troorential downpour- thunder the lot- at Nodes on IoW and we were quite surprised by how well the Rage tent close by stood up to it, in all fairness.

Quote: Originally posted by Safeway56 on 23/5/2007

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How can anybody *sell* things to their children ? I would give my kids my last penny and the clothes off my back but I'd never EVER sell them anything.

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Hi safeway, do you mean me? It wasn't my tent, it was my boys'.

sorry if I didn't make it clear, But  I didn't sell the tent to them, they bought it off ebay themselves, and 4 of their mates chipped in with them. they aren't exactly children, they were 18 and 21 at the time.

Quote: Originally posted by caster on 24/5/2007

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We bought a Stormproof New Jersey from Tentastic, we thought it was badly stitched as the seams were out of line, didn't look too bad when erected so we thought "what the hell, at the price we paid, £48, lets do it" we spent a week in it, it did ok in a light shower but as soon as it rained properly we got the dreaded drip drip drip, and the dome bent over in the wind, even with it double guyed

 

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