Ebay Store Vs Bricks & Mortar

[MarkyTalkBass]

Been looking at an amp and trying to decide between buying from an Ebay Store which is slightly cheaper than the local Bass Shop. The Ebay seller has excellent reputation & feedback etc so I'm not worried about being ripped off but am wondering what the difference in support between the two that would be to make it better to go the more expensive local option?

This will be my first 'new' amp and I have never had to do anything to any of my previous amps, no repairs or anything, so not sure of the proceedure. If I have an issue with a new amp do you normally go through the shop you bought it from or straight to the manufacturer?, what sort of support would you expect to need for new amps and what would you expect the shop to provide?

 

[bgavin]

If slightly cheaper, support your local shop. He needs your support because he probably buys from you in some way or another.

If using eBay, *ALWAYS* use a credit card to protect yourself from fraud. If you use PayPal, use a CC with PayPal, not your bank account.

 

[donstrenz]

If it's only 'slightly cheaper', I'd definitely go for the local store. If there's anything wrong with it, you can quickly and easily take it back and they'll usually either give you a new one immediately or fix it for free. Packing and shipping an amp back to an online store is a big hassle and you might end up paying the shipping fees.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Yeah, "Slightly Cheaper" isn't worth the shipping costs if the thing arrives DOA.

However, if it's WAY cheaper, that's another issue.

What are you looking at and why buy it new?

 

[Jim Campbell]

If slightly cheaper, support your local shop. He needs your support because he probably buys from you in some way or another.

If using eBay, *ALWAYS* use a credit card to protect yourself from fraud. If you use PayPal, use a CC with PayPal, not your bank account.

id use the local guy as long as its not way out of line with ebay.....just having a local guy in town if you need a string or small item on short notice is worth something.....we used to have have really good amp builder in town and a lot of bands got their start using gear he
fronted them.you wont get that on ebay

 

[rptrsn2]

If using eBay, *ALWAYS* use a credit card to protect yourself from fraud. If you use PayPal, use a CC with PayPal, not your bank account.[/QUOTE]

please explain i thought paypal was supposed to be pretty secure.i just started a paypal with my credir card but was going to open seperate checking account just for paypal

 

[MarkyTalkBass]

Thanks for the replies guys,
I'm looking at a Little Mark II - buying it new because I've never seen a 2nd hand one! The 'slightly cheaper' is $1150 Vs $1360 or $210 $aussie (~$130US), and probably the only reason I'm considering the Ebay store is that I'm running a very tight budget, what I spend on the Amp means less for the Cab.

 

[BassmanPaul]

$210 difference in price but how much added for shipping which you won't have to pay buying locally. Or do you? Aussie is a big ass country!

Paul

 

[gregwatts2008]

Take an offer to your local shop and maybe they will match. Also, you may have no warranty if buying it online. Check on the warranty. If your local music store has to close up because of online shoppers, then where will you go?

 

[MarkyTalkBass]

The online price incl shipping.

The strong consensus is go local, I'm not really too worried about the 'support my local bloke', they do very well and have done resonably well outa me in the past with trade-ins. But, I hear where you're all coming from re: warranty/repairs, which really is my concern.