Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 15:27:56 -0400
Reply-To: SD Kraning <PopTop88@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: SD Kraning <PopTop88@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Side Tent on EBay/personal experience
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hey all-
Well, I really hate to admit this but... I was one of the suckers that
bought one of these tents. I contacted the guy after the auction was over
and asked him if he would negotiate his price. (But of course he would!!) So
he sold it to me for $300 plus shipping. I suppose my judgement was clouded
with dilusions of grandeur, but having just sold my beloved Westy I was a
little weak. I thought this would be the perfect solution to camping in my
Carat with 2 basset hounds.
WRONG!
This tent has been a bit of a disappointment (for $300, anyway.) First of
all, it is not very well made. Secondly, it takes like an hour to assemble
the thing by yourself. It's just all over the place, and really clumsy. If
my neighbors were watching me try to put it up, they probably got a good
laugh! The seams tear very easily if your not super careful. It's probably a
good concept if you are going to be somewhere for two weeks, but if you're
just going for a couple nights, it is a large PITA to put up. Once it's up
you have to secure six or eight points or it will blow over. Very hard to
re-pack.
I don't know what I was thinking, but I really don't see us getting alot of
use out of this thing. I don't mean to dis a product that Ron carries, but I
just have to pass on my $.02.
ch-chinggggg
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "The Bus Depot" <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 7:52 PM
Subject: Re: Side Tent on EBay
> > There's a "brand new" side tent up on E-bay, no bids yet and
> > the buy it now price is $350
> > it looks identical to this one: http://199.217.241.240/tent.JPG that
> Ron sells at
> > the Bus Depot for $199.99 --- presumably also "Brand New".
> > No wonder there are no bids ---- (and no wonder I don't think much of
> ebay).
>
>
> Pretty funny. Yes, it's the same tent I sell, but for almost twice my
> price. Lots of questionable stuff in his listing, too. For example, he
> claims to have bought two but only needed one, so it's "brand new -
> except that he assembled it to take the pictures." Why, if he already
> has another one just like it that he is using, did he have to open up
> and assemble this "brand new" one to take pictures of it? Also he
> claims it fit Eurovans, which it does not without a drip rail adapter.
>
> You're right about ebay. Buyer beware. There are good deals there
> sometimes, but also plenty of ripoffs. I often see parts there selling
> for more (sometimes much more) there than I and other retailers sell
> them for everyday (and without the safety net of dealing with an
> established business) . Used parts are a mixed bag - sometimes cheap,
> other times more than a new one would have cost! The problem is, of
> course, that some people go nuts bidding. I once put a CD burner on Ebay
> privately and mentioned right in the description that it sold for $100
> brand new. Would you believe it bid up to $125? Good thing there's no
> IQ test required to get an Ebay user account. :-)
>
> - Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> www.busdepot.com
> (215) 234-VWVW
>
> _____________________________________________
> Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
>
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