Buying from Ebay

Some do deal with e-bay, I never will.

Several reasons not to. First, Garmin will not honor the warranty for a unit purchased off an auction site. Second, the unit could be stolen, and if Garmin Lock was used on the unit, you'd never get it unlocked. Also, if the seller does not transfer the unit to you, you won't be able to update the mapset on it. Generally, the best advice is not to purchase any GPS device off ebay.

Joel

my experience with buying from e-bay has been very good. I have Purchased 2 Garmins - BOTH NEW - and had no problems, Garmin honor the warranty without any question when i had a problem (screen just died one day) with the first one. I wouldn't buy a used unit though,

I've purchased both a 660 and a 680 (refurbished) on eBay, both from the same seller.

No problems with either one. With the latest one, I bid on a 660, and they shipped me a 680 -- fine with me.

It had older maps on it, and when I tried to do the online update thing, its first-fix date was too old. I opened a support ticket with Garmin, telling them I'd just bought a refurb on eBay, and giving them the serial number and all the details.

Three days later, I got a map DVD in the mail.

Look at the reputation of the seller -- there are a few folks on eBay that do a high volume in refurbished Garmin units.

I've purchased three Garmin's via eBay with no problems at all. Two were refurbs the third was owned by someone who found it too complicated. The latter had been registered so the PO wrote to Garmin telling support he'd sold the unit to me and providing my 'MyGarmin' login name. Garmin transferred the data from his account to mine.

You can tell a lot from seller feedback. If they've been doing business on eBay quite awhile and have a good score it's unlikely you'll have a problem.

I also purchased my new Nuvi 680 on Ebay, over a year ago. I registered my unit after getting it. I had 2 problems requiring warranty assistance. Both times, Garmin was very helpful and replaced the power/antenna unit and the mount.

there is nothing wrong with ebay if you know what to look for make sure the feed back is high and good and if a price is to good to then it is i have been using ebay from 2001 and never a real bad problem so if you do use ebay you are miss out on a lot

nuvi 5000 & nuvi 200w
(lifetime maps)

Get a good feedback on the seller and the score
rating. Have a friend still waiting for a computer he paid for 3 years ago. Others I know have had no problems.

Thanks all for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

i have also bought a unit off ebay and never had a problem with it. i recommend it as long as it is refurb or new.

I buy/sell stuff on eBay all the time. Don't deal with anyone with a score of less than 99%.

If you're buying new, be certain the seller is an authorized Garmin dealer.

If the price you see on eBay is within $10 - $20 of Amazon, I'd buy from Amazon or equivalent and not have any hassles should you need to return it. Amazon can have unbeatable pricing on these things.

We've purchased a couple of refurb'd Garmins on eBay. One of them did have a problem but the seller was very good about replacing it and it was loaded with the newest maps.

is selling the 765T for $433 this morning.

FWIW, I purchased the 760 on Amazon two weeks ago @ $250 incl shipping. That is a very sweet deal.

On a new or refurb unit, make sure the e-bay seller or store provides a hard-copy or printable receipt/invoice that can be used as proof of purchase for Garmin warranty service.

-

have I had a problem. I have bought three (Nuvi's 350 & 360 & 370)using e-bay. Have also bought a number of other Nuvi items. Just beware of poor feedback from the seller...AND ALEWAYS insist on insurance....

Good luck!

Although I've never bought a GPS on Ebay, I've bought and sold a lot of Electronic Equipment ... never had a problem buying or selling. If you use credit card through Paypal, you have the best of both worlds ... easy payment with the credit card's purchase protection.

RT

So much of your eBay experience depends on the seller. Their feedback rating helps, somewhat

When shopping for my 660 on eBay, I ended up having to sue the first seller in small claims court (we both live in Florida, lucky for me).

My second attempt at buying a 660 went very smooth.

Both seller's had excellent feedback ratings at the time of purchase.

I have bought quite a few items from Ebay, not a GPS though.

I have not had much of a problem except with a DVD I ordered from Half.com (owned by Ebay) which I never received. It took me months to get a refund which is a problem.

You do have some protection if you pay by Paypal. Be aware though as mentioned above it can take quite awhile to deal with Ebay.

Try to only deal with a sellers that have sold a lot of items and have a rating of very close to 100%.

As a side note check prices and shipping carefully. I notice a lot of items sold on Ebay are actually cheaper to buy at Amazon.com and other major e-commerce sites that are easier for returns and refunds if there are a problem. If the price isn't much lower than the major sites, it's probably better to buy from the e-commerce site.

Recently I bought a PS3 and have bought a lot of new and used games for the PS3.

I saved about $60 over retail price for the PS3 and it arrived new in the box in perfect condition. The games I have saved even more about 50-75% of what they charge on Amazon. I have not had a problem yet and every game has worked perfectly. I did have one person in a great hurry for me to pay for the game and I have not received it yet...am beginning to wonder.

I also bought a new SanDisk Extreme III SDHC card for less than half the price in stores.

However I could not find an original new Sony PS3 Duoshock controller for less than I could find online.

I have read that sometimes there is a warranty issue buying on Ebay - that is, manufacturer won't honor it. May want to check with Garmin first. I recently purchased a Nuvi 360 on Amazon with full warranty.

bought three Nuvi's on ebay, 350, 360 and 370, great deals all! Have had nothing but good things to say about the sellers. Be sure to look at the seller's feedback. I also look up all the "negs" to see what I might be in store for. If you have a power seller with 125998 sales and a 99.7 feedback...deal with them,he, or she.