Is it safe to buy plant on eBay?

It's probably not a good idea to consider that, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I could be writing this article at home in my undies rather than in an office, complying with the ubiquitous 'smart-casual' dress code.

Yet it's a fact of life that modern technology - most notably the internet - allows us to do a lot more things at home than would have been possible previously.

Take shopping, for example. While the High Street may not yet be dead - just dying slowly, perhaps - the volume of purchases made via the web increases year on year. Everything from groceries to cheap flights can now be purchased from the comfort of your own home.

But what about diggers? Or, to cast the net a bit wider, what about diggers, dumpers, dozers and the rest of the plant pantheon? Can these be bought from your Wi-Fi-enabled laptop as you sit on the sofa, beer in hand, glued to the footie on the box?

It only takes a brief visit to everyone's favourite internet auction site to find that the answer, for a whole range of plant and machinery, is yes. Type in any number of plant-related search terms into eBay, for example, and the results speak for themselves. 'Digger' gives you 300 items in 'construction tools' alone there bare more under the 'agriculture and farming' heading. Mini-digger returns 176 items, while dumper brings up another 111.

The story is similar if you search by manufacturer. JCB's marketing department will be delighted to know that a search for 'JCB' brings up 735 items. Admittedly, a third of these fall into the 'toys and games', 'mobile and home phones' and 'clothes, shoes and accessories' categories, so are probably not strictly plant-related, but that still leaves nearly 500 items under 'industrial tools', 'agriculture and farming', 'power tools' and 'industrial supply/MRO'.

All the other usual suspects are also present to a greater or lesser degree, with popularity increasing as machine size decreases. Kubotas out strip Caterpillars, for instance.

Closer inspection reveals a considerable chunk of these entries are taken up by parts and accessories, but there is still a surprisingly large number of complete machines available. The most expensive is a Daewoo 130 LC-V Solar dating from 2003, which is offered at a 'buy it now' price of £22,000.

The sellers of these machines are as varied as the machines themselves. 'Jacquisbuildingsupplies3', offering a Case 648 mini-digger (bid at time of writing: £2,800), is obviously something of a newcomer, having only been a member since 1 May this year and having received only one feedback. 'Swampie5', on the other hand, is selling a 1995/96 1.5t Pel Job mini (latest bid - £3,100) that's been around even longer than he's been selling kit online - his membership started in May 2003, since when he's received 181 comments, all positive.

Dealer use

There are even a number of dealers using eBay in lieu of or as a supplement to their own websites. One goes by the name of jcbdiggers.com - maybe JCB's marketing department won't be so impressed after all.

Even though CJ hasn't entrusted me with a wad of notes to try buying on-line myself, I pluck up the courage to call a couple of sellers that catch my eye.

The first is Graham Smith. If the fact that he uses his real name rather than some carefully crafted nom de plume isn't sufficient giveaway to him being an eBay newcomer, his explanation as to how he came to be selling his JCB 3CX (6,183 hours on the clock, £5,500 the asking price) online certainly is.

"I don't know how to switch a computer on but we've got a laptop in the house and my kid showed me eBay. I asked 'how much does it cost to put an ad on there?' and he said it was only £3/£4 so I gave him the camera and told him to go and take some pictures in the yard and stick it on."

Has it worked? "The phone's not stopped ringing but no one's turned up with the money yet so I'm not sure how it's working," says Smith, a farrier by trade who's simply selling a machine that's fulfilled its original purpose of helping him dig ditches and build fences on the farm where he lives. "I had one person offer £4,000 and I said no, and two people have said they'll come and see it nearer the weekend."

A man with considerably more experience of the world of eBay is seller 'jagexc1969', who describes himself when we speak as a plant and machinery dealer of 20 years standing and a turnover of some 300 to 400 machines a year. "I first used eBay by chance when a friend said I should put some of my kit on there," he explains. "I sold one or two and it's gone on from there."

The motivation to continue since then has been a simple matter of commercial expediency. "It's cheap advertising. That's all there is to it. It's a good tool definitely, but you can't rely on it. I use Truck Trader and a few others as well. You can't keep all your eggs in one basket."

Viewing facility

The combination of baskets 'jagexc1969' uses, however, is sufficient for him not to need a sales forecourt as would a conventional dealer. He does run a yard, though, which is essential not just for storage but to provide a viewing facility for prospective purchasers of larger kit, including the 2002, 10,779 hours JS130 he's advertising at £17,995 plus VAT. "I won't get any bidding on one like that. People will just have a look at it and then come down to the yard, and I prefer that."

Nevertheless, buyers of smaller kit often avail themselves of the full eBay experience. "Yes, they'll bid and take a chance on it. Nine times out of 10 people will put a bid on it on the site."

Of course, it's not just about eBay. There are specialist online market places for plant, such as Mascus, which was founded in Finland before most people here had even heard of eBay. Robert Tate, the company's regional sales manager, acknowledges that take-up in the UK has been slow compared to Scandinavia and was further hampered by the knock-on effects of the burst of the dot-com bubble at the beginning of the decade. Since 2004 the market for online selling has recovered, however.

"Consumer faith in the internet began to improve, first for domestic goods and then this migrated to larger capital goods like cars and now plant and machinery. It's really started to take off and in the 18 months I've been involved the change has been apparent."

That change manifests itself most clearly in the concept of the virtual dealer, a concept that has already become reality. "I get people saying to me, 'I could open a yard tomorrow, take in used kit, put it on the web and make a business,' and I say 'join the club'. There are guys making a living out of doing this already."

The only remaining hurdle is what Tate describes as the generation gap. Existing dealer principles tend to be wedded to their copies of Resale Weekly and their vast knowledge of and contacts in the industry insulate them from being aware of the benefits of the internet. "If I could find a way of putting that experience online I would, so I'm not knocking it, but sooner or later their sons will take over who already know that you can put full details and a dozen pictures on the web and improve the quality of the people who come through your door."

Just as long as they remember to put their clothes on first.

Buyer beware

Colin Sowman talks through the online pitfalls.

On-line auctions such as eBay are a great invention, but buyers have to be aware that not everybody and everything on these sites are exactly what they appear to be.

There have been examples of non-CE marked machines being sold and Chinese-built generators that infringe Honda's patent that appeared on eBay seized and destroyed. The Metropolitan Police seized a large number of plant and tools from one internet seller, which it subsequently traced to numerous robberies around the Home Counties.

Furthermore, there have been instances where buyers have taken money for goods that have never reached the seller, and then simply 'disappeared'.

Potential buyers should protect themselves by checking the seller's profile (called 'Meet The Seller' by eBay), which shows if the seller is registered as an individual or a company, how long it has been registered and how many trades it has undertaken as well as feedback from other customers. Sellers registered for VAT are unlikely to disappear overnight - but call HMRC's national advice line (0845 010 9000) to check the VAT number is real.

In the same way as you would in a normal trade, it is preferable to visit the machine and do some due diligence - look for the maker's plate, removed stickers and service records and call the previous owner - to ensure it has not been stolen.

Remember, past trades not only give feedback for potential buyers but can also be used to trace new owners of stolen machines sold via the auction.

People unwittingly buying stolen plant from an online vendor are likely to lose both their money and the machine.

As most plant items will need collecting, it makes sense to pay for the machine when collecting it - parting with large amounts of cash before seeing the machine or the vendor is a recipe for disaster.

Quite clearly there are bargains to be had in many on-line auctions and careful buyers taking the necessary precautions will be well placed to take advantage of them.

off the record - new kit

One manufacturer of mini excavators, who didn't want to be named, said it was reluctant to sell new kit on the internet. The biggest sticking point was the need to reveal prices.

Although most purchasers might think this a good idea, and about time, the manufacturer insisted the emphasis would be put back on price as the determining factor in a sale, rather than on the 'total sales package' of price, quality and aftersales service.