What to do with a bad ebay buy!

[Santiago]

I recently purchased an whole cane Allcock's Combination rod off ebay and was very disappointed to find it lacked the bottom ring, the top ring was broken, and only one of the 4 fibre glass tips remained. However, having recently taken up fly fishing (acquiring tackle stage) I decided to make my own small hand landing net and a 5' weighted wading staff after being inspired to do so by John Geirich, after reading his book Sex, Death, and Fly Fishing, where he mentions he knew a chap that used a traditional bamboo wading staff.
I've simply removed the rings, shortened the middle section and added to the bottom approx. 5" copper pipe filled with lead attached to a brass connector with a hole in, to fix in the bamboo. This weight was then sleeved in 4 sections of an old cycle inner tube and a rubber foot was then glued at the very bottom (to prevent banging on rocks with metal parts).
I've left the original varnish in place, otherwise I would have lost the flammed affect on the cane (it's just smoke).
The landing net comprises of a 1' section of flammed bamboo from the 3rd section of the combination rod, a cork handle from an old fly fishing rod (another bad buy), and a net/frame off ebay for pennies.
I've fitted both with lanyards using some old guy ropes from a tent a friend of mine rescued from Reading Festival (only to find it contained no tent poles).
I've already used the staff last week in the floods, and very handy it was too!

[Kevanf1]

Sounds good, well done I'm not yet sure what I will do with my bad eBay buy. I found an old listing for a Shakespeare Alpha Carp rod, I'm looking for one. It had no bids so I contacted the seller. We did a deal off eBay... big mistake. It turned out that the rod was not a Shakespeare and not even an Alpha. It was some nonedescript, 3 piece glass rod (cracking rod according to the seller, no, it is not!). We did finally come to an agreement and I got a partial refund. I'm really not sure what to do with the rod now though.

It's the last time I do a deal off eBay...

[Greentura]

I had a particularly bad whole cane and greenheart 4 section rod, the tips were bent beyond resurrection, the 3rd section was split and there was no butt guide. the handle and second section made a nice 7'6" landing net handle though :thumb:

[Woolly Bear]

Gentlemen , always look for at least six photos of sale item and one hundred per cent feed back and then have a gander at the sellers full feedback , just to be sure . Then and only then do you put a bid to the sum you don't mind loosing forever . Regards . Woolly Bear .

[Bjp]

now those are wise words

[Woolly Bear]

Bjp, its me again . I should know ive lost loads on the bay chasing that Holy Grail . Regards . Woolly Bear .

[Woolly Bear]

Part of me says don't do it and the other part presses the key . W . B .

[Nobby]

Yes, I've pressed that key as well.....and have the scrap rods to prove it too.



One problem is that if one asks the 'right questions' the seller then puts them up for everyone to see thus showing everyone that someone has spotted something.

For a short while recently eBay were testing an awful new format, but one interesting thing it had was that one could see how many people were watching any particular item.

[Maggot's Dad]

One problem is that if one asks the 'right questions' the seller then puts them up for everyone to see thus showing everyone that someone has spotted something.

Hi Nobby,
.... good point, but also look for the full answer to your question and avoid those that seem to "skirt around" it......= bad news! They have something to hide! (I've encountered those on many occasions in the past).

[Nobby]

Ah yes, the old 'economical with the truth' ploy.


Another ruse, though it isn't always deliberate of course, is to phograph the rod in such a way that one cannot see the lengths of all sections.