Has anyone ever bought a caravan on eBay without looking at it first? Did the description fit the van? Some seem to be a good buy but are a long way from home for a check over first. A round trip of 150 miles is about the limit, beyond that is trusting to luck.
bought ours on ebay 4 yrs back bid £1600 only to be out bid by £30 in last seconds
A few days later got a second chance offer, wqas told that winning bidder had to sell there old van to raise cash for the newer van
As it was only 15 miles we went to have a look van had a lot of damp in it and was not in the description but having a look around this was to be our first van as we had a folding camper decided to haggle on price ended up getting it for £800 including awning side pods leads every thing you would need to go on holiday
stripped it down replaced part of the floor resealed awning rails gave it a good clean and has been great, it was a 1991 coachman we have had loads of great holidays in it also just has two fantastic weeks in france
So for me a lot depends on how old cost of van you are looking at but hay if you find what you are not expecting as not in description just walk away
For us it was great and as we now have the caravan bug we are also now looking to upgrade and to look forward to more sunshine in france
A friend sold theirs on ebay to someone who didn't view it first, then they delivered it aswell, when he got there the buyers started picking at this that and the other trying to get money knocked off but they had mentioned on their description all the things they were finding fault with so he insisted on the price they'd bid on ebay plus a charge for delivery, some people want everything for nothing!
Kate W is on the money there, I can,t stand time wasters who turn up look at item um and are and then take the mick offering silly money, if what your buying is worth the money pay it, if not walk away and look somewhere else. I try to be as honest as possible when selling as been caught out myself in the past, but not anymore, if what I am looking at is not worth the money I tell the seller and walk away. The worst time waster is the one that spends ages looking at what you have to sell and you watch them knowing they are just being nosey and have no intention of even making an offer and then they say "I'll think about it and let you know", bugger off, if you have to think about it you obviously don't want it.
You could get a local mobile caravan engineer to give it a pre-purchase inspection - a bit like the AA car inspections. Costs money, but may be worth it for peace of mind, bearing in mind you won't be getting a warranty. Good luck!
Quote: Originally posted by Tersane on 16/9/2012
Has anyone ever bought a caravan on eBay without looking at it first?
Did the description fit the van?
yes, but it was already sold, and the first buyer had walked away.
no, and I should have known the buyer hadn't walked away over something trivial!
I bought it anyway, not having had the benefit of the checklist and the kind people on here who try to ensure that you pick a good un!
I've spent a lot of time and money doing up basically what was, in the beginning, a death trap. There are a lot of things worse than a bit of damp - like live electric wires and perished gas pipes.
It's not really about if the item be it caravan or whatever, is worth the money. It's about is it as described.
A legal contract has been entered into on an ebay sale. If it is as described in the listing you are obliged to pay the bid price.
If it is not as described then the seller is in breach of the contract and you can walk away - or you can negotiate a different price reflecting the true description.
My caravan is/has been on ebay. If it is sold to a bid that is the price I shall expect to receive.
We went from Essex to Yorkshire for our first van. The man had said to us if it's not as good as I have told you it is you can walk away. It was as he said and a great van. He also asked OH to help him knock his fire place out and he would take a bit off the van!
We bought our Eccles on e-bay earlier in the summer. We are in Devon and we travelled to Salisbury to buy her. You can tell if the seller is genuine when you talk to them and if you use your common sense, you'll be fine. Hope you find a bargain like we did.
------------- Anyone who says something is foolproof hasn't met a determined fool!
We've bought two vans of eBay, both without seeing them , the first one was our first ever van, we were clueless, and bought a damp pit, however it wasn't a lot of cash so we sucked it up and repaired it, the next time we bought we were more clued up, but didn't have to worry the sellers were lovely and genuine as was the van,they were giving up caravanning as they were getting elderly, there wasn't any pressure from them to complete the sale if we found any damp or other issues, they even made us stay for cake and a brew, they made us ring them when we got home to say we were safe too. And we often still email each other, they were great people.
So it's not always doom buying from eBay, as long as you are wise and savvy it can be a good way to buy, just remember if it's not as described you can still walk away.
------------- "I'm a fool for my dogs"
Adopt a rescue, rescue dogs make great pets, don't support puppy farms.
The road can be tough and rough,but what you put in you get back 10 x more.
We currently have our caravan for sale on Ebay, we received a email asking the size and make of the awning and if it was suitable for sleeping in, this sounded a reasonable question. When i looked at there location it was New Zealand, hope they dont want me to deliver it could be a long drive lol.
Just an update on the New Zealand story i now have been contacted by someone who exports caravans to Australia and NZ who knows these people have contacted me, he wants to come and inspect the van and pay cash for it on behalf of the NZ people.
I think all this looks a bit suspicious he says caravans are very expensive over there and its cheaper to import a caravan from the uk. I have told him i am not interested,
We sold our last caravan to those folks in New Zealand! We were amazed - we put the van on Ebay and got a call asking for the length including drawbar(already quoted). Next morning we had an email with an nz address. They offered us a price for our van - near to what we had asked for - we haggled a bit and accepted and they sent a man with a trailer round, he went round the van with a damp meter and we accompanied him down to the cashpoint where he got out cash and handed it over.
The van went on the trailer and away! We saw it on their website later and saw it sold there.
Apparently, English caravans suit the NZ climate better than the Aussie vans that are available there. They are so expensive there that its worth their while to ship them.
Amazingly, our little van (1997 Bailey Hunter Lite) is touring NZ with a new owner.
Carol
Thats interesting i have been giving the bloke a bit of short shrift today thinking it was a scam, What was the guy called in the uk that you dealt with ?
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Topic: Buying on eBay
but having a look around this was to be our first van as we had a folding camper decided to haggle on price ended up getting it for £800 including awning side pods leads every thing you would need to go on holiday 
