I'd be very reluctant...
I'm a very occasional ebay shopper, so I can't speak from experience, but I'd be leery of this. The clincher for me is his refusal to let you see the bike before purchase or pick it up in person. If it exists, and if you're willing to show up, I can't think of a single legitimate reason he wouldn't go along with that. It's no skin off the shipper if he hands it over to you instead of FedEx. I was negotiating with a guy a few years ago to buy a used recumbent, just to have around, and he mentioned that he lived in the SF Bay Area. My parents were just a few miles away, so I told him I'd take the bike and pay cash if I could pick it up in person when I went down to see my dad. The guy vanished instantly--no more emails, and no answer to messages on his phone.
Wasn't there a rash of ripoffs a few years ago where people were offering high-end bikes pretty cheap, supposedly the wrong size or something, and showing photos ripped from the manufacturers' Web sites? Don't remember details but I read something about it. They didn't exist at all, as I recall.
Having said that, though, it COULD be a good time to buy if you find the right seller. I know a lot of people who overextended on toys over the last few years, and they're selling off Jet Skis and SUVS and all kinds of crap. A house My wife and I passed up for $405,000 last year is back on the market this week for $299K.
I'm a very occasional ebay shopper, so I can't speak from experience, but I'd be leery of this. The clincher for me is his refusal to let you see the bike before purchase or pick it up in person. If it exists, and if you're willing to show up, I can't think of a single legitimate reason he wouldn't go along with that. It's no skin off the shipper if he hands it over to you instead of FedEx. I was negotiating with a guy a few years ago to buy a used recumbent, just to have around, and he mentioned that he lived in the SF Bay Area. My parents were just a few miles away, so I told him I'd take the bike and pay cash if I could pick it up in person when I went down to see my dad. The guy vanished instantly--no more emails, and no answer to messages on his phone.
Wasn't there a rash of ripoffs a few years ago where people were offering high-end bikes pretty cheap, supposedly the wrong size or something, and showing photos ripped from the manufacturers' Web sites? Don't remember details but I read something about it. They didn't exist at all, as I recall.
Having said that, though, it COULD be a good time to buy if you find the right seller. I know a lot of people who overextended on toys over the last few years, and they're selling off Jet Skis and SUVS and all kinds of crap. A house My wife and I passed up for $405,000 last year is back on the market this week for $299K.
