Can Toys Be Bought on eBay?
By Mike Boisvert.
With winter hiking on my mind I began with snowshoes. Searching on "snowshoes" returned 396 items, most of which were decorative. Here is what one item said. "This is a nice pair of Indian snowshoes that measures 42" long by 12" wide…the condition is nice…there is wear to the rawhide webbing. Great to use for decoration." These snowshoes started at $29.99. Wearing decorative snowshoes just won’t do in the backcountry so I narrowed my search by entering "aluminum snowshoes" and got 78 items. Included was new 8x25 instep optima snowshoes with telescoping poles and carry/storage bag, currently going for $73, and new 10x32 instep subzero snowshoes going for $60. I never even heard of these brands and scanning the rest of the list I saw only brand that I recognized: Tubbs. For comparison, I go to geartrade.com classifieds and find a good selection of snowshoes at good prices. For all the entertainment value of surfing eBay, I should have gone right to geartrade.com. Maybe snowshoes on eBay isn’t the best idea. How about poles? Not much luck here either. Telephone poles, shower poles, flag poles, a moose statue with ski poles and poles that come with…skis. Wow! What a novel idea! So what can you find on eBay? Backpacks? Ah. I get 102 items, most of which are not suitable for hiking. Most were made of leather which are too heavy for hiking. Maybe I should buy the Harry Potter Hedwig Owl Plush day pack which is much lighter and yes, fashionable!!! It just might match my hiking outfit! I head over to geartrade.com and find 30 day packs from a Northface Yavapai at $45 to a JanSport at $25. Once again, eBay seems to have let me down. Flailing madly, I punch in "ice axe," figuring this surely must not be available. But to my surprise, eBay comes through. 44 items include a "Charlet Moser Pulsar" for $86, a "Charlet Moser Quasar" for $112.50 and a "Black Diamond Arc Light with grip" for $45. This is better than geartrade.com, where a Charlet Moser Pulsar goes for $225. I feel somewhat vindicated, though I don’t know why. Cruising on my online shopping high, I try to reel in a big fish: an SUV. I sure could use one now that I live up north. Via eBay motors, I can buy a 4 cylinder 2001 Toyota RAV 4 for $12,458, or an 8 cylinder Hummer for $58,100. If I was really serious and this was a genuine search, I would start with established vendors and look for deals with known manufacturers. Sierratradingpost.com and northernmountain.com both offer great deals on new gear with brand names. eBay’s status as the world’s online marketplace just doesn’t hold water when it comes to purchasing quality outdoor gear. But I know where to go if I want decorative snowshoes to hang at the GO Adventure Center or find a Harry Potter Hedwig Owl backpack that is labeled *PLUSH* to match my hiking outfit. Gandalf is also known as Mike Boisvert, the GayOutdoors.com webmaster. Mike has over 25 years of experience in the outdoors:. from hiking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, to hiking up the 100 hundred highest peaks in New England, to climbing Denali and Aconcagua, to climbing Island Peak in Nepal. Besides hiking/climbing, you’ll find Mike skiing, paddling, mountain biking and willing to try anything outdoors…twice!
With winter hiking on my mind I began with snowshoes. Searching on "snowshoes" returned 396 items, most of which were decorative. Here is what one item said. "This is a nice pair of Indian snowshoes that measures 42" long by 12" wide…the condition is nice…there is wear to the rawhide webbing. Great to use for decoration." These snowshoes started at $29.99.
Wearing decorative snowshoes just won’t do in the backcountry so I narrowed my search by entering "aluminum snowshoes" and got 78 items. Included was new 8x25 instep optima snowshoes with telescoping poles and carry/storage bag, currently going for $73, and new 10x32 instep subzero snowshoes going for $60. I never even heard of these brands and scanning the rest of the list I saw only brand that I recognized: Tubbs.
For comparison, I go to geartrade.com classifieds and find a good selection of snowshoes at good prices. For all the entertainment value of surfing eBay, I should have gone right to geartrade.com.
Maybe snowshoes on eBay isn’t the best idea. How about poles? Not much luck here either. Telephone poles, shower poles, flag poles, a moose statue with ski poles and poles that come with…skis. Wow! What a novel idea!
So what can you find on eBay? Backpacks? Ah. I get 102 items, most of which are not suitable for hiking. Most were made of leather which are too heavy for hiking. Maybe I should buy the Harry Potter Hedwig Owl Plush day pack which is much lighter and yes, fashionable!!! It just might match my hiking outfit!
I head over to geartrade.com and find 30 day packs from a Northface Yavapai at $45 to a JanSport at $25. Once again, eBay seems to have let me down.
Flailing madly, I punch in "ice axe," figuring this surely must not be available. But to my surprise, eBay comes through. 44 items include a "Charlet Moser Pulsar" for $86, a "Charlet Moser Quasar" for $112.50 and a "Black Diamond Arc Light with grip" for $45. This is better than geartrade.com, where a Charlet Moser Pulsar goes for $225.
I feel somewhat vindicated, though I don’t know why. Cruising on my online shopping high, I try to reel in a big fish: an SUV. I sure could use one now that I live up north. Via eBay motors, I can buy a 4 cylinder 2001 Toyota RAV 4 for $12,458, or an 8 cylinder Hummer for $58,100.
If I was really serious and this was a genuine search, I would start with established vendors and look for deals with known manufacturers. Sierratradingpost.com and northernmountain.com both offer great deals on new gear with brand names. eBay’s status as the world’s online marketplace just doesn’t hold water when it comes to purchasing quality outdoor gear.
But I know where to go if I want decorative snowshoes to hang at the GO Adventure Center or find a Harry Potter Hedwig Owl backpack that is labeled *PLUSH* to match my hiking outfit. Gandalf is also known as Mike Boisvert, the GayOutdoors.com webmaster. Mike has over 25 years of experience in the outdoors:. from hiking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, to hiking up the 100 hundred highest peaks in New England, to climbing Denali and Aconcagua, to climbing Island Peak in Nepal. Besides hiking/climbing, you’ll find Mike skiing, paddling, mountain biking and willing to try anything outdoors…twice!
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