Alright girls & boys, let's pretend that you have a huge stack of coin & a stock MKIII that you want to get into the 12's by the end of the month. It's easy to do if with the cash that's burning a hole in your pants & access to the plethora of cheap parts on Ebay, right?
WRONG!
As hard as it is to imagine, there are people in this world that are lower that MKIV owners. So low, that they will offer you performance parts dashed with promises of track & street glory, but take your money instead. The question is, how do you go about avoiding getting ripped off?
First, let's talk about where to shop.
If you're looking for MKIII specific parts, CHECK THE AUTHORIZED VENDORS SECTION! These are our people, so support them. I've personally dealt with MDC Motorsports, Drift Motion & Ron Ramirez, and I have had no better service from anyone than from Jon, Arron & Ron, and nothing can touch their products. They are the best, as are the rest of the authorized guys, so stick with them if possible.
If the AV's don't have what you need there are online stores, but they need to provided their reputations, so I'm skipping them & going straight to the Super Market of performance parts, Ebay.
Remember the old adage, "if it seems to be to good to be true, it probably is". That's not to say that their are some killer deals, because I've found some. My best advice when you think you've found a killer deal is this.
First, determine if the seller is an actual MKIII owner. Look to see if he has other MKIII parts for sale. MKIII owners usually part out nice cars because they can get more money for the parts (See Oneandgone), so the parts are usually legit.
Second, know exactly what it is you're bidding on/buying. I'm guilty, I've bought the wrong part before, as most here have, and have had to take a loss selling it again. Study, plan, decide, purchase!
third, never doubt the bad feeling in your belly. If it seems like a scam, walk away & don't look back. If you KNOW it's a scam, it wouldn't hurt to post it here to warn others.
Fourth, if you have any demands, ask the seller if he will abide by them before you bid. If you expect the item to ship the next day, ask him if he will. Insurance? Tracking? Returns? ASK, ASK, ASK....
Now that you purchased your parts, let's protect or money.
Use paypal. Paypal will protect your investment, but you have to know how to use them correctly to ensure your safety.
Paypal has two ways to assist you. One is a dispute, the other is a claim. A dispute could be used when the seller is slow to respond & you would like Paypal to nudge them into correcting their ways. Paypal will send them an email telling them that their customer is complaining, so get on the ball. If the dispute doesn't work, it can be turned into a claim. A claim is much more serious. Paypal freezes the sellers account until the claim is either removed by the buyer, it has been proven that you received your item or until Paypal has ruled who is entitled the money. You have a short time to file a claim, 30 days from the day of payment I believe, so don't hesitate if you think a claim is required.
Another thing to remember about a claim, you only get one shot at it, so never, ever close it until you have received what you bought. For instance, You just bought a Porsche off Ebay, and let's say that you file a claim because the seller doesn't respond to your repeated emails, and it's been 10 days since you paid, so you filed a claim. Immediately after filing the claim, the seller provides you with a tracking number & asks that you lift the claim. DO NOT LIFT THE CLAIM. If you do, the seller could have put a Pinto on the truck to be delivered to you, and Paypal will do nothing for you. Why? Because the only allow ONE CLAIM PER TRANSACTION, so once you file the claim, keep it until you receive what you purchased.
OK, you kept the claim open until the delivery truck that supposed to be carrying your new Porsche arrives, but you see the Pinto. The truck driver doesn't care about your dilemma, so he asks you to sign the Bill of Laden so he can unload it & he tells you to take it up with the seller. Don't do it, DO NOT SIGN! When you filled out your claim, you had to select a category for the claim, such as "no contact" or something along those lines. My point is, once you sign the delivery ticket / bill of laden, that has just become the sellers proof of delivery, and you've lost you money, end of story. If you have a package and/or crate, open it in front of the carrier before you sign for it and inspect it. It it's what you've ordered, sign for it & cancel your claim. If not, DO NOT SIGN FOR IT, DON'T TAKE IT. Let Paypal know that you were sent the wrong item & demand your money back.
Here's something else, if you're making a major purchase, fund paypal through a credit card. If the seller has not removed the money from his paypal account into his/her personal account, Paypal will return the money provided that you've filed your claim on time. However, if your seller had removed the money from his paypal account before you filed your claim/froze the account, you're shit out of luck.........unless you funded paypal with a credit card. A credit card company will provide you with theft protection automatically, so if you get jacked, they'll give the money back to you & they will go after the seller.
I know, a lot of you are young & don't have credit cars, cash only. Simple, give the cash to someone you trust & has a credit card & have them pay for it.
Bottom line, use your head and you ass won't hurt so much.
WRONG!
As hard as it is to imagine, there are people in this world that are lower that MKIV owners. So low, that they will offer you performance parts dashed with promises of track & street glory, but take your money instead. The question is, how do you go about avoiding getting ripped off?
First, let's talk about where to shop.
If you're looking for MKIII specific parts, CHECK THE AUTHORIZED VENDORS SECTION! These are our people, so support them. I've personally dealt with MDC Motorsports, Drift Motion & Ron Ramirez, and I have had no better service from anyone than from Jon, Arron & Ron, and nothing can touch their products. They are the best, as are the rest of the authorized guys, so stick with them if possible.
If the AV's don't have what you need there are online stores, but they need to provided their reputations, so I'm skipping them & going straight to the Super Market of performance parts, Ebay.
Remember the old adage, "if it seems to be to good to be true, it probably is". That's not to say that their are some killer deals, because I've found some. My best advice when you think you've found a killer deal is this.
First, determine if the seller is an actual MKIII owner. Look to see if he has other MKIII parts for sale. MKIII owners usually part out nice cars because they can get more money for the parts (See Oneandgone), so the parts are usually legit.
Second, know exactly what it is you're bidding on/buying. I'm guilty, I've bought the wrong part before, as most here have, and have had to take a loss selling it again. Study, plan, decide, purchase!
third, never doubt the bad feeling in your belly. If it seems like a scam, walk away & don't look back. If you KNOW it's a scam, it wouldn't hurt to post it here to warn others.
Fourth, if you have any demands, ask the seller if he will abide by them before you bid. If you expect the item to ship the next day, ask him if he will. Insurance? Tracking? Returns? ASK, ASK, ASK....
Now that you purchased your parts, let's protect or money.
Use paypal. Paypal will protect your investment, but you have to know how to use them correctly to ensure your safety.
Paypal has two ways to assist you. One is a dispute, the other is a claim. A dispute could be used when the seller is slow to respond & you would like Paypal to nudge them into correcting their ways. Paypal will send them an email telling them that their customer is complaining, so get on the ball. If the dispute doesn't work, it can be turned into a claim. A claim is much more serious. Paypal freezes the sellers account until the claim is either removed by the buyer, it has been proven that you received your item or until Paypal has ruled who is entitled the money. You have a short time to file a claim, 30 days from the day of payment I believe, so don't hesitate if you think a claim is required.
Another thing to remember about a claim, you only get one shot at it, so never, ever close it until you have received what you bought. For instance, You just bought a Porsche off Ebay, and let's say that you file a claim because the seller doesn't respond to your repeated emails, and it's been 10 days since you paid, so you filed a claim. Immediately after filing the claim, the seller provides you with a tracking number & asks that you lift the claim. DO NOT LIFT THE CLAIM. If you do, the seller could have put a Pinto on the truck to be delivered to you, and Paypal will do nothing for you. Why? Because the only allow ONE CLAIM PER TRANSACTION, so once you file the claim, keep it until you receive what you purchased.
OK, you kept the claim open until the delivery truck that supposed to be carrying your new Porsche arrives, but you see the Pinto. The truck driver doesn't care about your dilemma, so he asks you to sign the Bill of Laden so he can unload it & he tells you to take it up with the seller. Don't do it, DO NOT SIGN! When you filled out your claim, you had to select a category for the claim, such as "no contact" or something along those lines. My point is, once you sign the delivery ticket / bill of laden, that has just become the sellers proof of delivery, and you've lost you money, end of story. If you have a package and/or crate, open it in front of the carrier before you sign for it and inspect it. It it's what you've ordered, sign for it & cancel your claim. If not, DO NOT SIGN FOR IT, DON'T TAKE IT. Let Paypal know that you were sent the wrong item & demand your money back.
Here's something else, if you're making a major purchase, fund paypal through a credit card. If the seller has not removed the money from his paypal account into his/her personal account, Paypal will return the money provided that you've filed your claim on time. However, if your seller had removed the money from his paypal account before you filed your claim/froze the account, you're shit out of luck.........unless you funded paypal with a credit card. A credit card company will provide you with theft protection automatically, so if you get jacked, they'll give the money back to you & they will go after the seller.
I know, a lot of you are young & don't have credit cars, cash only. Simple, give the cash to someone you trust & has a credit card & have them pay for it.
Bottom line, use your head and you ass won't hurt so much.
Last edited:
