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Geartrade.com - Avoid!

Original Post
Mike Blisz · · Chicago, IL · Joined Jun 2016 · Points: 384

Hi All,

I just wanted to put it out there about my bad experience trying to buy a piece of gear on geartrade.com. From scanning the forums it appears many people have success using their site to purchase gear. For me, and others online this was not the case:

I was shopping around for offset cams and found a deal, about $50 for one that retails at $75. I clicked to buy and should have backed out as soon as I experienced odd quirks in the sites interface. The item became unavailable due to me clicking to purchase but was lost in my cookies during registration. After about 2 hrs it was available again, as it sorted itself out I was able to "purchase"

Confirmations were sent to my email, but 10 days passed, and while other sized cams were already in my hands that were ordered elsewhere, this thing had not even shipped yet. After emailing GearTrade directly it became apparent the seller never took down the listing and had been inactive on the site. Tried to contact seller, no responses.

Today, 15 days later there is still an authorization on my bank account that has not cleared. Thankfully I paid via Paypal but still the transaction is "Pending" whatever that means. What it means for me is I'm short $49.72 in my bank because of the authorization. I had to order the cam elsewhere at full price to complete my set and missed out on some other online sales because of this as well.

Advice: Don't bother with them for climbing gear, they don't have a base of sellers or any enforcement of listings, and things take days...

The site's core and only function is to handle transactions between used gear sellers and buyers, and they could not do that this time.

jason.cre · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 10
Mikeyy wrote:Hi All, I just wanted to put it out there about my bad experience trying to buy a piece of gear on geartrade.com. From scanning the forums it appears many people have success using their site to purchase gear. For me, and others online this was not the case: I was shopping around for offset cams and found a deal, about $50 for one that retails at $75. I clicked to buy and should have backed out as soon as I experienced odd quirks in the sites interface. The item became unavailable due to me clicking to purchase but was lost in my cookies during registration. After about 2 hrs it was available again, as it sorted itself out I was able to "purchase" Confirmations were sent to my email, but 10 days passed, and while other sized cams were already in my hands that were ordered elsewhere, this thing had not even shipped yet. After emailing GearTrade directly it became apparent the seller never took down the listing and had been inactive on the site. Tried to contact seller, no responses. Today, 15 days later there is still an authorization on my bank account that has not cleared. Thankfully I paid via Paypal but still the transaction is "Pending" whatever that means. What it means for me is I'm short $49.72 in my bank because of the authorization. I had to order the cam elsewhere at full price to complete my set and missed out on some other online sales because of this as well. Advice: Don't bother with them for climbing gear, they don't have a base of sellers or any enforcement of listings, and things take days... The site's core and only function is to handle transactions between used gear sellers and buyers, and they could not do that this time.
You can get great deals buying returns directly from backcountry.com . If you arent buying from backcountry then certainly tread with caution.
Bryan K · · Las Vegas, NV · Joined Jul 2016 · Points: 509

Same thing happened to me the first time I placed an order, but luckily the money came back to my paypal account. Last order I did in there was through backcountry (they sell their used merch on geartrade) and it was flawless. As Jason said as well, stick to what Backcountry sells and it's great. They have some good deals. I got a Petzl Meteor in good as new condition for $46 there.

M Santisi · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2014 · Points: 1,879

I've made 4 purchases through them in the last few years with no issues. I always message the seller before making a purchase and pay using PayPal. As others mentioned there Backcountry deals are great. Got a pair Mount Baker mitts that someone had returned for half price.

Alicia Sokolowski · · Brooklyn, NY · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 1,781

I use geartrade WAY too much, and I have had nothing but good experiences. I do primarily go after the Backcountry returns, but I've also got plenty of used gear from normal citizens.

I am sorry it didn't work out well for you. Really, I should have kept my trap shut about my positive experiences because now there will be more competition for deals.

Mike Blisz · · Chicago, IL · Joined Jun 2016 · Points: 384

I was tempted to clarify, that searching my problem on here I was able to find out about the backcountry returns being a good deal - but beware the regular sellers are a mix bag. Not sure if they don't follow up with sellers and listings frequently or what the problem is, but I've never had to wait this long for my money, hence this frustrated post, haha!

Nick Votto · · CO, CT, IT · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 320

Gotta message the seller before you purchase. I've gotten a couple amazing deals on there with no issues at all. Scored brand new Dynafit's for $400 when the SRP was $600.

Mike Blisz · · Chicago, IL · Joined Jun 2016 · Points: 384
Nick Votto wrote:Gotta message the seller before you purchase. I've gotten a couple amazing deals on there with no issues at all. Scored brand new Dynafit's for $400 when the SRP was $600.
Wish I did, but now the cash is in limbo for days. It was a payday and I was itching to buy the item for quite some time, lol
Sean Fujimori · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 1

Also have gotten a few good deals from that site without any problems. Seems like the most serious problem was the one bad seller, not the website per se. (I don't think I've ever had the issue you describe with the purchase being lost in your cookies- but I also don't know exactly what that means.) Maybe you can warn us about the specific seller rather than knocking the site as a whole?

Austin Baird · · SLC, Utah · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 95

How do I buy returns from backcountry?

Klimbien · · St.George Orem Denver Vegas · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 455

At the bottom of each page you can ask a question which can be viewed by everyone. This gets time stamped. Before any purchase I post a question and if responded to quickly, I know it's legit. It's the same as eBay basically, some sellers are good, some bad. Of the half dozen purchases I've made, the only issue I had was with backcountry, and I'll admit it wasn't a real issue per say just a disagreement on price. They had two of the same items, just different sizes. One looked brand new (not my size) and the other clearly used and abused but some life left, however then trashed ones, ( my size) were more than double the price of the like new ones.... They wouldn't negotiate however. I respect that, it's their business, there product, I either accept the terms or I don't. If I understand it correctly gear trade might be owned by backcountry just like SAC, whiskeymilitia, and all the other ones like that, but don't quote me on that.

KevinCO · · Loveland, CO · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 60
Austin Baird wrote:How do I buy returns from backcountry?
I am assuming that he meant to look at Backcountry listings on Geartrade.

I sold on Geartrade with no problems. I just treated it like Ebay being careful to deal to get good feedback.
Alicia Sokolowski · · Brooklyn, NY · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 1,781
Austin Baird wrote:How do I buy returns from backcountry?
You can limit your search to one seller on the site. Or, you can just use this link: geartrade.com/search/seller…
Mike Blisz · · Chicago, IL · Joined Jun 2016 · Points: 384
Skf wrote:Also have gotten a few good deals from that site without any problems. Seems like the most serious problem was the one bad seller, not the website per se. (I don't think I've ever had the issue you describe with the purchase being lost in your cookies- but I also don't know exactly what that means.) Maybe you can warn us about the specific seller rather than knocking the site as a whole?
It is mostly the seller's fault. Although, in emails with GearTrade they admitted a lot of their notifications get ignored, sent to spam or sellers sell the item elsewhere and never update the listing. Should just have way shorter listing periods with renewal notifications OR show the date that the item was listed to buyers
Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
Klimbien wrote:If I understand it correctly gear trade might be owned by backcountry just like SAC, whiskeymilitia, and all the other ones like that, but don't quote me on that.
It is not.
backcountrycorp.com
jason.cre · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 10
Marc801 wrote: It is not. backcountrycorp.com
It's the same ownership and run by the same people, also located at the same address. Just not under the same corporate umbrella I guess. Having it as a separate entity probably let's them do thing they couldn't do under backcountry.com according to agreements with distributors (i.e. Sell used, sell highly discounted etc)
LL Biner · · Reno, NV · Joined Mar 2014 · Points: 0

Over the years I've bought a few things from Geartdrade.
And over the years I've also had problems with Geartrade.
If things don't go smoothly, you're pretty much on your own.
Mario

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
Austin Baird wrote:How do I buy returns from backcountry?
They are listed as backcountry as the seller. :o)

I've had nothing but great experiences. As a seller it's a bit of a pain since your money goes into escrow until everything clears, but as long as you aren't starving it's fine.
Andrew Williams · · Concord, NH · Joined Mar 2014 · Points: 625

I actually had a similar experience on GearTrade. I bought a crash pad and similar things happened. funny thing is that the seller was Backcountry. Called customer service for backcountry and had they had to do a bit of searching, but basically they sold the same crash pad to like 4 people because GearTrade's interface allows it.

So the reality is that it's not the seller's on GearTrade, it's GearTrade themselves. This was years ago and I figured they would have fixed it by now, looks like they haven;t bothered.

Mike Blisz · · Chicago, IL · Joined Jun 2016 · Points: 384
Klimbien wrote:At the bottom of each page you can ask a question which can be viewed by everyone. This gets time stamped. Before any purchase I post a question and if responded to quickly, I know it's legit.
Nick Votto wrote:Gotta message the seller before you purchase.
So essentially you must handle part of the shopping by bypassing the website itself lolol if I were the seller I would just finish the purchase via email and paypal. I guess the seller is paying a fee for search engine rank haha
Dow Williams · · St. George, Utah; Canmore, AB · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 240

From a sellers perspective I listed and sold quite a bit of $$$ worth of merchandise on this site. It was a costly and frustrating experience and I finally asked that my account be deleted. They are unprofessional and simply do not have the tools to handle returns, buyer cancellations, etc. Their website needs a major overhaul. Their excuse is that they are a small company with limited resources. Can't say in my decades of conducting business in the Outdoor Industry, anyone has ever used that excuse before. Not selling themselves well to say the least. My cost in time was by far the most frustrating part.  Makes zero sense for selling outdoor gear on this site, new or used.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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