Curious about Ebay

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gokartergo

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
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457
Location
Hollister, CA, USA.
How many of you buy some of your wood off of Ebay. I just bought 4 pieces of cherry from a guy.. They measured 6x6x3 three of them had crackes going through them.. Thou I couldn't see that on the picture. He said they where all green.. I also bought 4 pieces of walnut the same size from him. They where all fine.. Thou they where very cheap.. The shipping still costs a lot.. I understand if I buy a green piece of wood.. and it cracks on me three months later.. But this guy said they where green and then ships them cracked.. I really don't think that is right..Am I wrong here..??
 
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problem, can you prove they were cracked when shipped and didn't crack while flying from him to you? It's a tricky question.


I've had a piece of Padauk in my shop that I made into a wand. The piece was in my shop for 6 months minimum. When I make a wand, I always flex it to make sure there are no weak spots of cracks in it. I sent this wand to a lady in the midwest. When it arrived there was a crack through it that had appearently opened up during flight.

I don't believe she broke it as when she contacted me, she didn't ask for a refund, just a replacement.

Once upon a time, I had some walnut logs that I decided to sell. I cut some up and they were still very green. I took pics and sold them, but when I went to pack them I noticed cracks had opened up so I refunded the money and sent the guy a pic showing why I couldn't finish the deal.
 
I am not asking the guy for my money back. I left him good feedback also.. I will just cut these up into pen blanks.. But I did want to make some bowls out of them.. I guess it could of happened in flight.??? I don't now.. The picture wasn't very good on the ebay add.Just curios if this happens a lot???
 
I wouldn't say alot, but it can. Green wood in my opinion makes it slightly more likely.

Were the pieces sealed at all? That's one of the reasons that the Walnut I cut up cracked as bad as it did.
 
Dan,

I have bought some wood on EBay but I was looking for very specific wood for Christmas Ornaments and small boxes. I wanted nicely figured wood, dry and of specific dimensions.

Since I cannot see the wood first hand, I want to know as much as possible before paying top dollar. I have only a few sellers I will buy from.

I only buy from a seller who clearly stated:

1. The species and type of wood (Curly Maple)
2. Green or dry and how dry (kiln dried, air dried for three years, etc.)
3. Quality including defects
4. Excellent history selling this wood to other buyers (feedback)
5. Satisfaction guarantee
6. Answer ALL my questions in an honest and friendly manner

There are also several who are within easy driving distance and I would buy more if they allowed customer on-site purchases and pick-up, but they want to charge a handsome price to ship it 30 miles, so I don't buy from them on principle.

If you cannot get all the information you want or it is not clearly stated in the listing, you might consider passing.

D
 
Originally posted by gokartergo

Yes they where sealed with wax.. I am thinking of mentioning it to him..
Click to expand...

Don't just "mention" it to him. Express complete dissatisfaction and request a refund or large adjustment. I used to sell hunks of red cedar but climatic changes, in transit, resulted in it always being cracked on arrival. I always gave full refund less shipping then stopped selling after several experiences like that. But walnut is more stable, this shouldn't have happened.
 
I have been buying on EBAY for 4 or 5 yrs and never had any proplems and have never recieved any greenwood that wasn't advertized that way. I mostly buy from people I have done bussiness with before. If you have a despute you can take it to EBAY or leave bad feedback.
Dave
 
You really can't blame the seller for this. Personally, I think it is buyer beware when it comes to green wood. With all the climate changes during shipping I'm not surprised that didn't crack. I would still contact the seller and let them know. They may need to seal up the wood even more than they have, or ship them all in plastic wrap.
 
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