Buying cards on Ebay

[Leet0nee]

I bought a NIB ( new in box ) Powercolor Radeon HD6850 from ebay for about $140.00

It's at the post office and I am going to go pick it up in roughly an hour and a half ( im at work )

What are your experiences buying cards from ebay? I am a little nervous as its my first computer part purchase ever and I am afraid of a defected product I will be stuck with since I bought it from ebay.

 

[RavenSEAL]

My opinion is...

You could have gotten at HD 6870 at that price (after rebate)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131378

 

[Leet0nee]

I wasn't eligable for that offer. I had a max of 140$ to spend, and was limited to ebay due to different reasons.

I had to use a prepaid credit card as I don't have one.

Back on topic please.

 

[stahlhart]

I've bought several second-hand cards from eBay, but have only gotten a bad one once, an Audigy 2ZS that, if I remember correctly, had a crackling issue in one channel. Every video card I've ever acquired has turned out great, though, for what it was. I got an All-In-Wonder X800XT a couple of years ago for $35 that works perfectly; just needed to get a breakout cable for it separately. And several years before that a 9500Pro that I used for a long time.

So you pretty much pays your money and takes your chances.

 

[Insomniator]

I don't have anything specifically against it besides the fact that there is no reason to buy from ebay most of the time...

Its either the same price or cheaper at reputable places or you can get deals on forums like this from people that actually might not be trying to screw you.

 

[jackstar7]

If you have the means to just run diagnostics once you have it installed you can pretty quickly confirm that it's all ship-shape.

I understand being concerned, but a videocard is easy to package safely and doesn't run the same shipping concerns as something like a monitor or other bulkier online purchases. It being NIB means even fewer worries.

You should be good. And if you aren't for some reason, then paypal/ebay is quick to take the buyers side and most sellers won't screw up their reps over a DOA product. So worst case scenario is the same risk as buying from a B&M store, only a bit more hassle to get it replaced if something's wrong... basically the same as any other online purchase...

 

[Leet0nee]

Thanks for the replies, makes me feel abit more comfortable before I face the beast at the post office. Now to survive the rest of my 8hour shift at work so I can actually install it.

Any tips on uninstalling the x1900gt drivers I have currently to install the 6850, I know they both use catalyst so just wondering about that.

 

[dakU7]

If you're buying from eBay, you should generally look for MSI or ASUS. They're the only brands who will not ask you for an invoice in-case of an RMA. They have a serial-based warranty.

 

[stahlhart]

Any tips on uninstalling the x1900gt drivers I have currently to install the 6850, I know they both use catalyst so just wondering about that.

Something like Driver Cleaner or Driver Sweeper run in Safe Mode ought to do it.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

just run some benchmarks on it. Kombustor, Heaven, Furmark, whatever.

 

[sm625]

I just bought a 4650 for $27. This is my 4th card. All great deals, all work without trouble. I dont think I'll ever buy a cpu or video card new again. I'm a little more skittish about motherboards, but the ASUS P7Q57M-DO I bought for $30 also works great.

 

[Black-Wolf]

I wouldn't buy a used video card on ebay, but ebay does have have some ligitimate retailers. Check their feedback if they have feed back in thousands and 99% positive they are probably legit. Also some of these sellers are very good with RMA's. Paying with PayPal makes it even safer. I have bought items and never received them and PayPal refunded my money.

 

[nyker96]

I got a x800xl or something like that few years back, worked fine. In fact a used card isn't too bad since they tested it out for a while. Get a working pull, it's probably better than one that they haven't really used for a while. You can cut down on DOAs.

 

[Fallengod]

Yeah, just remember one thing buying stuff on ebay, and this is true for anything you buy on ebay if new. You wont get any warranty at all buying new stuff on ebay unless A) It is a company that does not require receipt or be original purchaser B)Allows transferable warranty (XFX), C) Has serial number based warranty (Asus, MSI, Western digital, etc).

Besides that, there shouldnt be any issue buying something on ebay. You should be fairly protected this day and age. Just buy from reputable people who allow returns and all should be fine.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Buying used high-performance cards on eBay can be risky. You don't know what torture they have been through. Regardless, of what the description says.

I have had 2 top cards die on me shortly after I got them (within 6 months).