# Shimanos on eBay



## Rippin_drag (Sep 2, 2008)

B1- How come those eBay stores can sell new Shimano reels for a lot lower than retail? Is it because they aren't 'authorized dealers' ?


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## BustinTops (Aug 31, 2010)

I've bought both retail and ebay Curado E7's. There was a difference. But very minor......the one off ebay had a tiny extra washer and a stainless drag plate instead of graphite. I've recentrly found out that the one I got from Ebay was an early generation of the reel, they have since improved the design and excluded the tiny washer and changed the drag pressure plate. I would assume that the dealers have to sell the latest generation of any shimano reel, maybe I'm wrong. But when these big dealers like cabelas, academy, etc. stock pile reels and the new generations come out........they sell the old ones in mass quantities to small time ebay dealers and what-not. The performance is IDENTICAL.....I payed $179 + tax retail and $143 free shipping on ebay. I am very satisfied with the ebay purchase.....but there is a difference. I'd buy one again. Just make sure you find a legit dealer and not a bad one.


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## Gilbert (May 25, 2004)

BustinTops said:


> I've bought both retail and ebay Curado E7's. There was a difference. But very minor......the one off ebay had a tiny extra washer and a stainless drag plate instead of graphite. *I've recentrly found out that the one I got from Ebay was an early generation of the reel*, they have since improved the design and excluded the tiny washer and changed the drag pressure plate. *I would assume that the dealers have to sell the latest generation of any shimano reel*, maybe I'm wrong. But when these big dealers like cabelas, academy, etc. stock pile reels and the new generations come out........they sell the old ones in mass quantities to small time ebay dealers and what-not. The performance is IDENTICAL.....I payed $179 + tax retail and $143 free shipping on ebay. I am very satisfied with the ebay purchase.....but there is a difference. I'd buy one again. Just make sure you find a legit dealer and not a bad one.


explain the e50 on ebay right now. its 50 bucks cheaper on ebay than retail.


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## Lebber32 (Aug 8, 2010)

I have 2 e7's off bay, one is a year old and the other is 5 months old. No problem whatsoever. Will not buy from retail again. Saved 30-40 bucks per reel. As far as how they do it...????


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## cgerace19 (Jul 17, 2008)

fell off the truck???


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## Gilbert (May 25, 2004)

I need to find some Core's that fell off the truck.


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## BustinTops (Aug 31, 2010)

Gilbert said:


> explain the e50 on ebay right now. its 50 bucks cheaper on ebay than retail.


 I can't explain the E50's......I want one though. But I was just mentioning that I did find a difference in the E7's, no problems though.


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## Gilbert (May 25, 2004)

BustinTops said:


> I can't explain the E50's......I want one though. But I was just mentioning that I did find a difference in the E7's, no problems though.


me too


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm these guys buy large quantities at a very low price from distributors but can't act as an authorized dealer. 

Some probably own stores but can't sell them at that price at the stores.


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## DirectDrive (Dec 17, 2009)

"Gray Market" stuff.
Just a guess, but probably a sore subject on this forum.


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## Dawg (Oct 4, 2010)

The reason Ebay is cheaper than retail is these store have no inventory or storefront,they can buy from the manufacturer & have them drop shipped to you.They do not have the big expense as the retail store,they can be working out of their house.When you buy from Ebay,you lose the service,so if you have a problem,you have to pay to ship it back.


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## Bob Fate (Jul 31, 2007)

The problem with that is that Shimano does not sell their top shelf tackle to retailers who do not operate a "brick and mortar" store. So, if they're internet only sellers and they are selling this stuff, they are cheating the system somehow.


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## BustinTops (Aug 31, 2010)

As long as I save $60.......:cheers:


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## Bantam1 (Jun 26, 2007)

Some is grey market and some is being sold to people that are not dealers, or do not meet our criteris for being a dealer. We try to track them all down. Sometimes we catch them and sometimes we don't. 

Our position is to support your local dealers. What happens if you buy that reel on ebay and you have a problem? The seller is going to tell you to pound sand more than likely. We do not honor the warranty on reels purchased on ebay. Then that $60 you saved to give up your warranty and support doesn't sound like much of a deal.


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