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Buying used Garretts

F

FlushingMI_THer

New member
Gang,
I am trying to take my time on buying the best machine for the best $. Have any of you bought from ebay or atleast a Garrett w/o a warranty and have no issues with it? There is a 2500 I am looking to buy but no warranty and just wanted to get anyones opinion on this way of buying a machine.
Thanks
Joel
 
I purchased my 250 on Craigslist along with others pruchases over the past few months. While E-Bay has a wide variety of items, I feel buying from a person where the transaction is more local and often face to face is the very best way to go. The best way to go without walking into a brick and mortar store of course.
Shopping on Craigs will often let you meet the owner of an item and will put the item into your hands before money is exchanged.....you will be able to set up a meeting place and time that works for the both of you and you can definitely play with the detector while the owner is right there to give you a quick run-down on the unit.
Both e-bay and Craigslist have their uses but I am such a chicken when it comes to spending my money I lean towards dealing locally and in person when possible.
 
i purchased a b.h. 840 auto on ebay wasn't much $. the seller said it was tiptop. but it was missing the compression ring and the retuning switch was shorting out. got new switch from radio shack and a compression ring from Keith at broken detector the seller said everything worked and i must have broken it and they just threw it in a box to ship it. i wouldn't spend 2 much more than 100.00 on anything on ebay and dam sure would NOT purchase a high end detector on ebay if something happens u can dispute it. which is a joke. they got your $ and u got burned. BE CAREFUL
 
The easy solution to buying on ebay is to use paypal, where you can get your money back if the item isn't as described (it works, I've done it). Also buy from someone with a 100% rating with many transactions. They are in business and don't want to ruin their reputation. I've bought hundreds of items from ebay, and if you know what you're doing, you'll be satisfied.
 
I know so many guys thaat have been burnt buying detectors off of ebay. If you are going to go used, buy from a dealer on this forum or the classifieds on Findmall. . A dealer isn't going to sell you a detector that doesn't work and the sellers here are well known for private sales..
 
[quote Shenandoah Digger]The easy solution to buying on ebay is to use paypal, where you can get your money back if the item isn't as described (it works, I've done it). Also buy from someone with a 100% rating with many transactions. They are in business and don't want to ruin their reputation. I've bought hundreds of items from ebay, and if you know what you're doing, you'll be satisfied.[/quote]Good information. Buy from a trusted seller. With that said, I wouldn't buy a used one. To much electrical stuff that can go wrong. I want a guarantee.
 
I agree with the others, if you can only afford used buy from the forums, dealers or someone where you can operate the machine before you buy. Ask on the classified if the others know the person. FEEBAY is a mixed bag. Contact the seller and ask questions. They might have bought the detector at a garage sale and don't know anything about it. If you use PayPal you can get your money back except for the return shipping. I bought my Garrett GTA1000 at a garage sale and the coil was bad. Garrett replaced the coil for free except for the shipping to Texas. I told them I had bought it at a garage sale and they replaced the coil anyway. A word of caution person on FEEBAY that has 100% and 150 auctions may not be as honest as one that has 100% and 50 auctions. You can read the feedback for the seller. Whatever you decide, post up your find's.
HH
 
[quote Paul(NWO)]I agree with the others, if you can only afford used buy from the forums, dealers or someone where you can operate the machine before you buy. Ask on the classified if the others know the person. FEEBAY is a mixed bag. Contact the seller and ask questions. They might have bought the detector at a garage sale and don't know anything about it. If you use PayPal you can get your money back except for the return shipping. I bought my Garrett GTA1000 at a garage sale and the coil was bad. Garrett replaced the coil for free except for the shipping to Texas. I told them I had bought it at a garage sale and they replaced the coil anyway. A word of caution person on FEEBAY that has 100% and 150 auctions may not be as honest as one that has 100% and 50 auctions. You can read the feedback for the seller. Whatever you decide, post up your find's.
HH[/quote]Anyone who uses the terms Feebay is a disgruntled seller. It doesn't cost any fee's to buy. A good business person can do good on Ebay.
 
If you go the eBay route, I'd buy from a detector dealer not an individual seller. I bought one of my Garretts (bought it used) from a detector dealer on eBay and got an extra coil and carrying case for 1/2 the total cost new. There are some deals out there but be wary!

Peter
"garrettguy"
 
I got my 2500 used, from a forum friend (on a different forum than this). No problems.

Also bought a GTA-1000 locally that was a "closet cherry"- had spent its whole life in somebody's closet and had maybe gotten used once or twice at most. It was near mint condition and I got it for a song. It was so pristine that even the bottom of the coil didn't have any scuffs or grass stains or anything- it was shiny and snow white! I wasn't even in the market for another detector at the time, but a friend of the owner offered it to me since the owner needed money. When I saw the condition and heard the price, I knew I had to buy it. I promptly resold it at a profit.

I actually got my 2500 in a part-cash, part-coins deal. (I had some nice certified coins for trade). Both parties came out well as a result of the trade, I think. I got a nice detector without having to fork out the full price in cash, and my friend got some nice coins at a fair price, plus a little added cash.

Barter is great, if it can be done with folks you know and trust. Even with strangers I have had mostly good results.

If you can get a decent machine in good working order, why not buy a used one? Just get all the info up front and find someone you think is worthy of your trust.

You can actually do pretty well this way, and save a lot of $$$.

Y'know, now that I think about it, I don't believe I have purchased a new detector since 1995.

By far the best ones I have bought were those "closet" machines that were almost new- sort of like a used car with one or two thousand miles on the odometer.
 
There's a ot of "closet detectors" out there if one can stumble upon them. Glad you got a good deal on it. Now have fun and find some goodies. Do you know if it's new enough to have the mineral chip in it?

Bill
 
If that last question was aimed at me, then yeah, I have been using the 2500 I got for about a year now, and have made a few nice finds with it.

But I don't know if it has the mineral chip upgrade or not. I read somewhere on this forum how I need to check the serial #. I hadn't heard of the mineral chip before I came here.

Of course, we don't have much trouble with mineralization here in SE Georgia, unless you count wet sand on the beaches. But there's the Salt Elimination feature on the 2500 for that. I don't do much beach hunting anyway. I'm more of a coinshooter/relic hunter.
 
I purchase my garrett accessories from medwing.com..Just do a search when in there.They are a full line authorized garrett dealer including accessories.Free shipping on orders over thirty dollars!
 
Bought my Ace 250 used from a person on the find mall classifieds. Deal went through flawlessly and the detector has worked flawlessly also.
 
You would be hard pressed to find a used Ace 250 that dind't work correctly.
(Now watch! Someone will prove me wrong!!!):detecting:
SOme people are just upgrading....other people are probably getting rid
of the machine because it isn't everything they thought it should be.

I think the Ace is an excellent beginning maching. I just wish they
would have an intermediate sized concentric coil, say 6 to 7 inches
for some of us guys who like them.

Every body! Send garrett an e-mail and tell them what you would like to see
on the Ace. Thats the only way they are ever going to get off their Duffs
and maybe DO something.

Robert R
 
I guess that this depends on your point of view! I collect vintage Garrett's among many others and Ebay so far is the best place to find them. Some of my detectors are so rare that I look for parts detectors, that is detectors in non-working condition! In fact, buying non-working detectors may be the way to go! The competition for buying it is usually low and the price is usually way low compared to a working model! I have at least 2 places to send my detectors in for repairs and in some cases the parts detector only needed a new set of batteries! Also I would not buy a High-end detector on Ebay and not spend more than $100.00 to $150.00 or so!.....................................HH...........................Joe
 
[quote gordygroover]I purchased my 250 on Craigslist along with others pruchases over the past few months. While E-Bay has a wide variety of items, I feel buying from a person where the transaction is more local and often face to face is the very best way to go. The best way to go without walking into a brick and mortar store of course.
Shopping on Craigs will often let you meet the owner of an item and will put the item into your hands before money is exchanged.....you will be able to set up a meeting place and time that works for the both of you and you can definitely play with the detector while the owner is right there to give you a quick run-down on the unit.
Both e-bay and Craigslist have their uses but I am such a chicken when it comes to spending my money I lean towards dealing locally and in person when possible.[/quote]

Although I have bought two used Garrets (one on eBay, the other on Craigslist) and had no problems with either, I feel better about doing business person to person. There are many advantages as Gordy has said. I even became friendly with the guy I bought my detector from. We occasionally go detecting together!
 
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