"ebay" Ski shops new 4 letter word

I went down to my local ski shop like I always do. I've always
perfered this particular shop, as the employees are always very friendly.
Any time I have a problem they're always there to help. This trip was a
little different. I had just purchased a pair of flow bindings on ebay for
my girlfriend. They were a super sweet Roxy/Flow co-branded binding and she
loved them the second she saw them on ebay. I tried to find these everywhere
(3 local ski shops, zumies, sports authority etc.) to no avail. The retail
on them was $199, I found out at an online retailer. So I picked 'em up on
ebay for about $115 including shipping, Great Deal! I received them in
excellent condition, but after a few times out with them I noticed a very
minor problem with latching mechanism. One of the bindings doesn't latch
quite as tight as the other sometimes. There is a small metal piece that
slides out of place causing this. I have minor problems like this a thousand
times with my skis and snowboards that I've purchased in ski shops. So
anyway, we brought them down to the ski shop to see if they could fix them.
As soon as my girlfriend mentioned that she had purchased them on ebay the
kid who was working there wanted nothing to do with them. He said there was
nothing he could do and she'd have to deal with it, followed by a "that's
why you shouldn't buy things on ebay" rant.
You can buy brand new in the box, never opened equipment on ebay at a
fraction of the price these ski shops try to rip you off for. They know this
and try to make it sound like everything you buy on ebay (or online for that
matter) is crap. An informed buyer such as myself can save so much money
buying equipment online it's redicolus. Maybe these rip off artists should
offer their customers more variety and lower their prices a bit and they'd
be able to compete a little better, rather than treating you like you are a
second class citizen because you didn't want to pay $400 for a deck you can
get brand new on ebay for $225. I'm curious if anyone else has had an
experience like mine. If you made it through this whole post congrats, I'm a
little long winded sometimes. LOL

-Dan

"Dan" wrote in message
...
I went down to my local ski shop like I always do. I've always
perfered this particular shop, as the employees are always very friendly.
Any time I have a problem they're always there to help. This trip was a
little different. I had just purchased a pair of flow bindings on ebay for
my girlfriend. They were a super sweet Roxy/Flow co-branded binding and
she loved them the second she saw them on ebay. I tried to find these
everywhere (3 local ski shops, zumies, sports authority etc.) to no avail.
The retail on them was $199, I found out at an online retailer. So I
picked 'em up on ebay for about $115 including shipping, Great Deal! I
received them in excellent condition, but after a few times out with them
I noticed a very minor problem with latching mechanism. One of the
bindings doesn't latch quite as tight as the other sometimes. There is a
small metal piece that slides out of place causing this. I have minor
problems like this a thousand times with my skis and snowboards that I've
purchased in ski shops. So anyway, we brought them down to the ski shop to
see if they could fix them. As soon as my girlfriend mentioned that she
had purchased them on ebay the kid who was working there wanted nothing to
do with them. He said there was nothing he could do and she'd have to deal
with it, followed by a "that's why you shouldn't buy things on ebay" rant.
You can buy brand new in the box, never opened equipment on ebay at
a fraction of the price these ski shops try to rip you off for. They know
this and try to make it sound like everything you buy on ebay (or online
for that matter) is crap. An informed buyer such as myself can save so
much money buying equipment online it's redicolus. Maybe these rip off
artists should offer their customers more variety and lower their prices a
bit and they'd be able to compete a little better, rather than treating
you like you are a second class citizen because you didn't want to pay
$400 for a deck you can get brand new on ebay for $225. I'm curious if
anyone else has had an experience like mine. If you made it through this
whole post congrats, I'm a little long winded sometimes. LOL

-Dan

Hey Dan,
Ebay and online buying is a no,no with most ski shops. They'll tell you
just
about anything you buy on line is crap. As you and I both know that is not
the truth. When you take something in to get repaired, mounted adjusted
don't
tell them you bought it off eBay or online. They do not understand you are
still coming back to them to get work done on them so they still make
something
from you and if you see something that they have and you need at the time
you will buy it. For them it is still a win, win situation. I would send a
note to
the store owner to let them know you will be taking your business to another
shop because you were so poorly treated by a service tech there. You can
mention that you buy your major ski equipment of eBay and online since you
can get it many times at 1/2 off what they charge but you did like bringing
in
your business to them because you thought they were a good shop. I've heard
store owner say the next time you need something I will give you my very
best
price and try to equal what you can get online. I've even had that offered
to me
once but the shop later closed down.
JQ
Dancing on the edge

JQ wrote:
"Dan" wrote in message
...
I went down to my local ski shop like I always do. I've always
perfered this particular shop, as the employees are always very friendly.
Any time I have a problem they're always there to help. This trip was a
little different. I had just purchased a pair of flow bindings on ebay for
my girlfriend. They were a super sweet Roxy/Flow co-branded binding and
she loved them the second she saw them on ebay. I tried to find these
everywhere (3 local ski shops, zumies, sports authority etc.) to no avail.
The retail on them was $199, I found out at an online retailer. So I
picked 'em up on ebay for about $115 including shipping, Great Deal! I
received them in excellent condition, but after a few times out with them
I noticed a very minor problem with latching mechanism. One of the
bindings doesn't latch quite as tight as the other sometimes. There is a
small metal piece that slides out of place causing this. I have minor
problems like this a thousand times with my skis and snowboards that I've
purchased in ski shops. So anyway, we brought them down to the ski shop to
see if they could fix them. As soon as my girlfriend mentioned that she
had purchased them on ebay the kid who was working there wanted nothing to
do with them. He said there was nothing he could do and she'd have to deal
with it, followed by a "that's why you shouldn't buy things on ebay" rant.
You can buy brand new in the box, never opened equipment on ebay at
a fraction of the price these ski shops try to rip you off for. They know
this and try to make it sound like everything you buy on ebay (or online
for that matter) is crap. An informed buyer such as myself can save so
much money buying equipment online it's redicolus. Maybe these rip off
artists should offer their customers more variety and lower their prices a
bit and they'd be able to compete a little better, rather than treating
you like you are a second class citizen because you didn't want to pay
$400 for a deck you can get brand new on ebay for $225. I'm curious if
anyone else has had an experience like mine. If you made it through this
whole post congrats, I'm a little long winded sometimes. LOL

-Dan

Hey Dan,
Ebay and online buying is a no,no with most ski shops. They'll tell you
just
about anything you buy on line is crap. As you and I both know that is not
the truth. When you take something in to get repaired, mounted adjusted
don't
tell them you bought it off eBay or online. They do not understand you are
still coming back to them to get work done on them so they still make
something
from you and if you see something that they have and you need at the time
you will buy it. For them it is still a win, win situation. I would send a
note to
the store owner to let them know you will be taking your business to another
shop because you were so poorly treated by a service tech there. You can
mention that you buy your major ski equipment of eBay and online since you
can get it many times at 1/2 off what they charge but you did like bringing
in
your business to them because you thought they were a good shop. I've heard
store owner say the next time you need something I will give you my very
best
price and try to equal what you can get online. I've even had that offered
to me
once but the shop later closed down.
JQ
Dancing on the edge

In addition to JQ's good advice, pick up some local ski shop
stickers and put them on your skis in an obvious place. I
happened to buy my latest through Northern here at Killington,
and so they came with stickers, but my XScreams, which I bought
on Ebay have First Stop Ski Shop stickers (from a season tune)
and nobody asks any questions, even when I take them to
Killington shops for testing, which I'm required to do.

" pick up some local ski shop stickers and put them on your skis in an
obvious place"
That is an awesome suggestion. Does anyone have any they can mail me?

I just bought skis and boots off ebay, the local ski shops were
selling intermediate equipment as advanced and there was no selection
on the newest expert gear. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to
adjust my new boots myself? They haven't arrived yet and I'm nervous,
but for the price I paid it's worth the risk that I don't like them.
(I find even if you try them on in the store there's no guarantee
you'll like them on the mountain anyway.) When I go to a ski shop, I
think I'm going to say my clueless mother bought them for me for
Christmas instead of I got them on ebay.

So any suggestions on what to do once my skis (without the bindings
mounted) and boots arrive are welcome! Has anyone used the Harb
alignment center in Colorado?

Thanks!

wrote:
" pick up some local ski shop stickers and put them on your skis in an
obvious place"
That is an awesome suggestion. Does anyone have any they can mail me?

I just bought skis and boots off ebay, the local ski shops were
selling intermediate equipment as advanced and there was no selection
on the newest expert gear. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to
adjust my new boots myself? They haven't arrived yet and I'm nervous,
but for the price I paid it's worth the risk that I don't like them.

No suggestions on how to do it yourself but, You will probably
want custom inserts (IMO everybody should want them). So go to
a shop that specializes in fitting boots rather than selling them,
Surefoot comes to mind. I've had good luck there. For the price
they charge for inserts, they will check the fit of your boots,
and make any necessary "adjustments" to the liner or shell.

(I find even if you try them on in the store there's no guarantee
you'll like them on the mountain anyway.) When I go to a ski shop, I
think I'm going to say my clueless mother bought them for me for
Christmas instead of I got them on ebay.

Nah, you don't need to do that. There are lots of places to buy
equipment on line that would seem legit to a "serious" ski shop.
For instance, the boots I wanted, high stiff, DIN sole Alpine
touring boots, simply were not available in my area. I bought them
from Backcountry.com. A local shop did the heat fitting for me
and I love them.

Backcountry.com sells at regular retail prices just like a regular
shop and sometimes has a sale, just like a regular shop. I hit
the sale for my boots, so great. Backcountry.com almost always
has free shipping, so even if you pay retail, you won't pay more
than the local shop.

So any suggestions on what to do once my skis (without the bindings
mounted) and boots arrive are welcome! Has anyone used the Harb
alignment center in Colorado?

If you need serious alignment, then by all means, go to a shop
that can do the work for you. I usually suggest that all alignment
work be done to the boots rather than some to boots and some to
skis. This is so that if you want to change skis, you don't have
to modify them before you use them. Important if you want to
ski some demos.

Here in the east we have Green Mountain Orthotic Lab at
Stratton Mountain in southern Vermont for the very best
in boot fitting and modification for improved skiing.

My suggestion would be to go to a shop that does NOT sell the brand
of skis that you bought and simply say you got them elsewhere. They
will charge you for mounting and torque-testing. They probably have
a fee schedule that takes into account whether or not you bought the
skis there. Don't admit to ebay, but you can say that you bought
them from a catalog because they had just what you wanted.

Thanks!