I am looking at purchasing spinning rums on Ebay

May 29, 2005 11:46 PM

I'm purchasing spinning rims off ebay and I'm looking for people who have used ebay frequently to inform me...

The seller has dozens of other pairs of rims for sale, and he has sold 1100 items with a 99.0 percent rate, he has his own store and is a power seller.

Is there ANY danger in purchasing from him?

Also, anyone know any good places online to purchasing spinning rims?

posted by AMWKE to sports, hobbies, & recreation (27 comments total)

Assuming you really honestly can not think of any better way at all to spend your money, that sounds like a well enough rated seller to definitely reconsider the course of your life.
posted by moift at 12:13 AM on May 30, 2005

FWIW, my uncle, who buys ALOT of stuff off ebay, only buys from sellers with a 98% or higher.
posted by 6550 at 12:18 AM on May 30, 2005

Check his recent feedback and see what people say about him. Look for his last negative feedback and see what they had to say about why they left negative feedback. If you don't feel comfortable, run.

There's always risk while buying on e-Bay. Use paypal or a credit card that offers fraud refunds and always read someone's bad feedback if they have any to -mitigate- the risk.

And, uh, spinning rims? For the good sense god gave little green apples, why don't you spend your money on something for your car that would make it go better, like a suspension component like a sway bar, a new EFI chip, ...?
posted by SpecialK at 12:43 AM on May 30, 2005

Is there ANY danger in purchasing from him?

There's always danger in purchasing something from a stranger. He has a high rating, but he doesn't have a perfect rating, and you could always be the first person he scams. And, for example, he could be shamelessly selling shiny tat to unwitting folk who have been led to believe that such purchases will improve their lives. You have to watch out for these guys.
posted by pracowity at 1:52 AM on May 30, 2005

There's always danger in purchasing something from a stranger.

My rule of thumb on eBay is never to buy something that costs more than I can afford to lose. I've never had a bad purchase yet, but there's always a first time.

For UK buyers, if you're buying something that costs more than £100, buy it on a credit card (not via PayPal). UK consumer law allows you to recoup from your credit card company if the goods don't arrive or are not as described. But if you pay through PayPal, you don't get the same consumer protection.
posted by essexjan at 2:45 AM on May 30, 2005

Also, must be a credit card, not Switch/Solo/Visa Electron/Delta.
posted by grouse at 3:25 AM on May 30, 2005

ebay negs extension for firefox allows you to look at the negative feedback - but that's a good percentage for the number of transactions.
posted by terrortubby at 5:21 AM on May 30, 2005

To paraphrase essexjan...

My rule of thumb on eBay is to use an escrow when buying something that costs more than I can afford to lose.
posted by Chuckles at 6:06 AM on May 30, 2005

On Topic, The seller looks good. The ones to look out for is the ones that only accepts moneyorders or wiretransfers.

Off Topic, Terrortubby, brilliant link to the extensions!
posted by Ferrari328 at 6:41 AM on May 30, 2005

I would feel pretty confident buying from a seller with 99% positive feedback and an 1100 rating. I'd agree that it's a good idea to see what the negative comments were, because sometimes it's pretty clear that the person leaving the neg is a jerk who can never be satisified. One other thing to look at is how long the seller's been on eBay, and the volume of items they are selling at any given time, because if they are a high volume seller, it's possible for you to fall between the cracks in terms of their customer service.

Thanks for that link to eBay negs, terrortubby.
posted by MegoSteve at 7:03 AM on May 30, 2005

I would just like to suggest that if AMWKE came on the site asking for recommendations for, say, high-end, or even bespoke suits, no one (or only a very few people) would be jumping up to point out the frivolousness of such a purchase. ('Gosh you won't to make yourself look better? Why don't you eat right, so you feel better? Or read more, so you think better?')

The questioner didn't ask if spinning rims were a good purchase, and I don't think it's in the best spirit of this place to do a bit of a derail and critique his or her spending choices. There have been lots and lots of questions about purchases I consider frivolous posted here...
posted by Slothrop at 7:15 AM on May 30, 2005

I'd buy from a seller with that rating in a second. It's in a seller's best interest to please you and earn another positive rating. At that level of sales, they're like a small business.

Another way to verify a good seller is to ask one or two pertinent questions about the items. Good sellers will respond politely with accurate information.

If anything should go awry in a sale of tangible goods, Ebay offers arbitration services. If it's enough money to matter, it's enough that the arbitration fee will seem affordable.
posted by NickDouglas at 8:24 AM on May 30, 2005

In my experience, a seller with that much feedback, while they'll be trustworthy, they will NOT be interested in the transaction if it requires them to lift a finger past boxing the item.

As long as you want everything to happen in a normal fashion, you're good to go. If you're like me (for example, from Canada) and you'd need the seller to ship by USPS and underdeclare, you're wasting your time (although you might find the one or two gems with high feedback and good customer support -- try sending the guy a question first to find out).
posted by shepd at 8:53 AM on May 30, 2005

> I would just like to suggest...

Sometimes I use barbed wire when I should use a little hedging. Sorry, AMWKE.
posted by pracowity at 9:46 AM on May 30, 2005

I would just like to suggest that if AMWKE came on the site asking for recommendations for, say, high-end, or even bespoke suits, no one (or only a very few people) would be jumping up to point out the frivolousness of such a purchase.

True, dat.

However, when someone posts a question regarding a purchase that threatens the safety of others -- such as spinning hubcaps, which make it nigh impossible to tell at a glance whether he is actually stopped or is in fact creeping forward and thus a threat to my safety -- it is probably right to jump up and down on his ass.

AMWKE, are you aware that many well-trained drivers are going to hate you on sight? Wheel movement is one of the taught and advised methods of determining what a vehicle is really up to: it provides unassailable information regarding speed and direction, information that is not available by looking at the driver or the body of the car.

By using spinning rims, you thwart those of us who rely on this information. This makes you an unknown danger to us. For those of us on motorcycles, who must be particularly vigilant, it is really, really aggravating: our sharpened paranoia is likely to cause us to take quick evasive action, because we simply can not risk ignoring the perceived threat.

Please reconsider this purchase. Get fuzzy dice or some other innocuous bling.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:27 AM on May 30, 2005

Also, some cities in North America have already started enacting laws against these rims because they're dangerous (see fff's post). You may find in coming months that your purchase was wasted.

That said, 98% and higher is fine, I would think, as long as the seller has considerable #s of feedback.

If any of the negs are complaining about the rims themselves (and not the seller), email the people who left the feedback and ask them specifically what's wrong with them.
posted by dobbs at 11:35 AM on May 30, 2005

Thanks to all that answered, I will be going with the purchase.

Those who critiqued my purchase should mind learn to stay on topic. To the whiner that considered my rims dangerous to him, perhaps he should upgrade his ford focus and get something a little more stunstastic.

I understand why people would hate them, as they are an attention getter. I am buying them because I have a beautiful cadillac that I believe should only be made more beautiful.

Stop. Still spinnin.
posted by AMWKE at 11:51 AM on May 30, 2005

AMWKE, if they make you happy, go for it.

There's about 100 worse things I see drivers do daily that are far more dangerous than spinning rims, but are completely legal (blocking the fast lane, passing on the shoulder, passing on double yellow lines, passing on a curve (!), 10 kWatts of lighting and stereo, etc.)

Other drivers should consider looking at the car in relation to the road. The rims are misleading anyways:

- They can be stopped when the car is in motion (slippery surface).
- They can be turning when the car isn't in motion (slipper surface or dumb driver).
- You can't even tell which one it is if they have certain types of snow tire hub-capless wheels on (GO POLICE CARS, YAY!).

I dunno what driving school teaches you to look at rims [the school of 80's bling bling driving?], but it must suck worse than Young Drivers as the only thing they said about wheels was to check their position (for turns, etc). Of course, Young Drivers did say to drive with the horn covered whenever anyone was in your blind spot (they later repealed that boneheaded idea when they realized that it's called a blind spot because you DON'T KNOW if there's a car there or not.)
posted by shepd at 12:10 PM on May 30, 2005

I understand why people would hate them, as they are an attention getter.

You honestly think people hate them because you would be getting attention? If so, congrats! You fit the stereotype of someone who would buy spinning rims!

Of course, Young Drivers did say to drive with the horn covered whenever anyone was in your blind spot

Sorry, but I think you're mistaken--unless your teacher was an idiot. What YD teaches is that you should cover your horn when you're IN someone's blind spot and cannot quickly get out of it (ie, you're not simply passing them).

There is no need to cover your horn when someone is in your blind spot because they can see you perfectly well.
posted by dobbs at 12:15 PM on May 30, 2005

I understand why people would hate them, as they are an attention getter. I am buying them because I have a beautiful cadillac that I believe should only be made more beautiful.

To complete the picture, be sure to pick up some of these. And these.
posted by pracowity at 1:34 PM on May 30, 2005

What YD teaches is that you should cover your horn when you're IN someone's blind spot and cannot quickly get out of it (ie, you're not simply passing them).

Gawd, that's even worse. I'd end up with RSI within 10 minutes of driving on the 401 (jam packed, good luck getting out of someone's blind spot *ever*). Screw that noise.
posted by shepd at 1:43 PM on May 30, 2005

I have a beautiful cadillac that I believe should only be made more beautiful.

[blink]

What a stunning, simply stunning, concept of beautiful.

I have some gold teeth to sell you. They'll make you look as beautiful as your caddy. No, really, it's true.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:27 PM on May 30, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

I understand why people would hate them, as they are an attention getter. I am buying them because I have a beautiful cadillac that I believe should only be made more beautiful.
Ah, now I understand. Carry on.

*winks at fff*
posted by dg at 11:02 PM on May 30, 2005

Is there ANY danger in purchasing from him?

Yes. You may be accused of having no taste.

I wouldn't be worried about a 99% approval rating with 1100 items sold ripping me off, though.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 11:05 PM on May 30, 2005

Man, you people are revolting. Really, this whole conversation makes me want to delete my recently-created user status here. Is this AskMeFi or JudgeMeFi?
posted by incessant at 11:48 PM on May 30, 2005

It appears that "you people are revolting" would fall into the JudgeMeFi category, eh?
posted by five fresh fish at 8:05 AM on May 31, 2005

To back up fff regarding the safety issue. Spinning rims on other vehicles don't bother me when I am in an automobile. When riding a bicycle they drive me crazy. Traveling on a two wheeled vehicle leads to hypervigilance as a matter of survival.
posted by Carbolic at 11:20 AM on May 31, 2005