Experience Buying through Graysonline?

[Dibbers]

Anyone bought anything from Graysonline?

Was googling for some 2nd hand tools/machinery and noticed a few crop up on grays.

Just wondering if anyone has bought through them and what their experiences were.

From what i can gather, a lot of the stock on there goes pretty close to retail (for newer stuff) and by the looks of things people bidding don't always factor in the 20% commission that grays adds on top of the bid price so end up paying overs (for the couple of items I've seen anyway).

Anyone been on the end of some bargains?

[Gary H]

My son has bought some used engineering equipment, and his advice is that it has to be really, really cheap. You have to rely on the description, hope it doesn't need repair, or that it hasn't had a hard life, you have to spend time picking it up, and then you pay the price you bid plus GST plus the buyer's premium. Remember that old saying BUYER BEWARE.

[Dibbers]

My son has bought some used engineering equipment, and his advice is that it has to be really, really cheap. You have to rely on the description, hope it doesn't need repair, or that it hasn't had a hard life, you have to spend time picking it up, and then you pay the price you bid plus GST plus the buyer's premium. Remember that old saying BUYER BEWARE.

Thats what i'd assumed. I wouldn't pay anywhere near retail for any of their "New" items, I'd rather pay a little extra for the warranty etc. And their second hand stuff would be a bit of a cr@p shoot...

I've mainly been trawling the ads and looking for things that have little to no bidding activity. I'm steering clear from anything electrical too, but if there are clamps or levels or the like i've been tempted but haven't pulled the trigger on any yet.

Most of the stuff i've looked at are delivery only, and the delivery rate (for the price i'd be paying for something) can't be justified on one item, so i'd be looking to buy 2 or three items from the same lot to make it a worthwhile gamble.

They have a few "Tolsen" tools which look like a chinese manufacturer from the little i can gather on google. I was going to try my luck on a level and chisel set but i talked myself out of it.

Thanks for the feedback

[aarggh]

I found it pretty hit and miss, mostly miss. Apart from all the fees mentioned, if there's a lot of auction newbies the bids can go stupidly high for stuff that should go cheap at auction.

I generally find auctions now to be nowhere as good as they used to be. Plus all the good stuff is "sold" wink wink, before the auction at a lot of places anyway.

cheers, Ian

[shanesmith80]

Ive bought a few things through them. Like any bidding just need to not get carried away. Ive picked up workshop cabinets, sandpaper and some timber all for really cheap.

[Tccp123]

I once bought seven GMC biscuit joiners then sold six of them on eBay, one at a time. I made just enough to get mine for free. You have to be very patient though...

Like everyone else I find that most stuff is overpriced, and the only other thing I've bought there was a dozen bottles of French sparkling wine which was a great drop! It seemed like a bargain till it was delivered and I discovered the bottles were piccolos :-

[Dibbers]

Thanks everyone.

I've been trawling the site for a couple of weeks now but have yet to come across anything that represents good value in what i'm looking for (hand tools and smaller power tools, drills, sanders etc).

It seems people are prepared to pay pretty close to retail for most things (when you factor in shipping and auction commissions) which is quite bizarre if you ask me. I'd rather pay $20 more on a power tool for the warranty myself.

Most of the hand tools I've come across are Chinese makes, and i can't find much info in the way of reviews. I've almost bid of a handful that were all going in one lot to try and make the shipping cost effective but I added them to my watch list and realistically only would've won 1 item so luckily i didn't.

Might just keep frequenting weekend markets and trying my luck there. I'll keep an eye on grays, but i don't think it represents value by and large.

Regarding your wine purchase Tccp123, that really sucks! I'm not a wine drinker myself but if i thought i was getting a good deal on a case of beer only to find out they were throw downs, i'd be mighty upset too so i can relate.... sort of...

[Theberylbloke]

Hi Dibbers,

I've bought a couple of things through Grays. The last item was some steel mesh about 50mm thick and 1m x 6m. Cost me $51 including GST and Gray's cut. Got to site and discovered that there was another piece about 1/2 as big as the original, included. So about 600kg of steel. Cost me $100 in transport at mates rates. Still pretty happy about it.

Cheers

The Beryl Bloke