Buying used wheels on ebay?

I bought my HED.3's on Ebay last year.  Both the wheels were about a year old.  Including shipping, I paid approximately $100/wheel less than new.  

I was a bit torn at the time between buying new or used.  I was somewhat fearful of giving up having a warranty if buying used, but at the same time none of my LBS's sold HED's, so I figured to be somewhat on my own anyway.  I was also nervous because they were the most expensive purchases I had ever made on Ebay.   

The rear wheel did have some bearing problems when I got it, but the guys at the HED tech desk were extremely helpful in resolving it, even though I told them I had bought the wheel used.

I like my wheels and feel fortunate that things worked out okay - I guess the $200 I saved was enough to make up for the concerns over buying on Ebay.

Lately it seems that the prices on Ebay are pretty close to the price of new wheels (I've been keeping an eye out for a Renn 575 disc).  If I could get 20% off at my LBS, I'd probably lean than way.

Mark 

I bought 3 sets of Mavic wheels off of eBay this past year. 1 for me, 1 for my dad, 1 for a friend. My friend's and my dad's were perfect- they got a great deal and are both very happy with what they got. Mine, on the other hand, might be damaged beyond repair. I bought them "new" from a seller with 100% positive feedback and when they arrived they looked just fine. This was in February, so I put them away until April (big mistake), then when I put them on my bike I noticed the rear wheel had a bad hop. To make a long story short, the wheel is now in it's 2nd shop (first shop had them for weeks and kept saying "soon, soon", meanwhile I've raced 5 times without them now) and I am waiting for the mechanic to call me to let me know if he can even get the part that might fix them .

I love eBay and I have bought/sold a lot of stuff there, but make sure your seller has near perfect feedback (preferably for sales involving bike gear) and a return policy, and make sure you get insurance with your shipping, and get those wheels to a shop ASAP once you receive them!! Good luck!

I've bought every set of wheels I've owned used, as I'm a major scrounge.    I've had good luck with the classifieds on Slowtwitch, as somebody else mentioned.  Keep looking for the HED wheels, as they often go significantly cheaper than the Zipps.  I recently paid $450 on Ebay for a set of Hed Alps clinchers, for example.

Ask the seller to measure trueness, ask about bearing play, break track wear, ask about cracks in the wheels.  Those are the areas you want to look out for and have in writing before the sale.

The weird thing about this seller...is he keeps selling the same type things says he is a triathlete...but why would he have so many sets of Zipp wheels?

I'm actually thinking of calling the sellar and/or the place he says he got the wheels from to see if they have seconds they sell off or maybe he works there just try and investigate a little.

Polly bummer you got the bad wheels not that anyone wants bad ones. I will take your advice and if I get them bring them to the shop asap.