Panelview Plus's on E-Bay

Hi All ,

I am working on a small project and would like to use a
Panelview Plus ,since we use them throughout the plant.
Considering the economic conditions I was looking for some
used Panelviews Plus's on E-Bay. I took notice that some are
as low as $400.00. Have any of you bought any on E-Bay ? ,
Have you seen any real good deals and have you been pleased
with your purchase ? Any advice would be great .

Thanks ,and have a great day.

Just read the fine print and check for the sellers return policy and also look at their ratings. I have bought a few Allen-Bradley products on ebay and have had no problems yet. I realize this doesn't apply to you but if you are planning on reselling ebay items to a customer, make sure you tell them it is used equipment. Also some companies do resell items on ebay to get rid of excess stock and you might be able to pickup a great bargain. One more than, compare the price with what A-B sells, sometimes the price savings might not be worth it.

You can also find new factory sealed items... and still save a good bit of money

Mark is correct look at the sellers return and their ratings, I have over 2700 sales and 100% positive... this does not mean that I have never screwed up and shipped the wrong item or none of my items have ever failed .... but it does mean that I will work with my customers to make them happy and I think most of the sellers on eBay are that way also, they (I) would like for the customers to come back and buy more

If you buy it, I'll pay you $100 if you find my application file onboard and will give me the seller's ID. Cost me $200 to get the window replaced on my Jeep when that batch of parts was stolen.

Ken Roach said:

If you buy it, I'll pay you $100 if you find my application file onboard and will give me the seller's ID. Cost me $200 to get the window replaced on my Jeep when that batch of parts was stolen.

Click to expand...

So that one was/is not sealed....

Paypal Question

Thanks for your responses. When getting equipment for your
companies ,when you setup up your paypal accounts do you have
it charged to your personal credit cards ,or bank accounts? or did you setup business accounts ? When using credit cards ,they charge you extra ,correct ? I would imagine you get a detailed financial report after your purchase correct?

Thanks,and have a great day.

Paypal can link to any account/card that you choose. I typically transfer money into my paypal account from my local checking. It takes a couple of days, but otherwise no problems. Set up your paypal account (and fund it) before you bid, as it will take soem time to verify the account info.

PayPal is the way to go – but it can be EXTREMELY frustrating when you first get started ... they have "rules" for security reasons (which is completely understandable) ... but ... they don't TELL you all of the rules upfront ...

so ...

if you're planning to do a LOT of "big ticket" buying when you first get started, you can expect some heartaches ... basically their "red flags" will go up and you'll probably have some trouble getting everything rolling ...

but then ...

once you're "in" and have been proven "worthy" things will be a lot easier ...

suggestion: if your schedule will allow it, start buying a few things here and there until the first layer of dust settles ... I didn't know that trick and tried to order about $6,000 worth of gear the first day I signed up ... that was NOT fun ... even though my credit card had PLENTY of horsepower to cover the bills, the security issues brought things to a screeching halt at about $2,000 into the list ... so, I went with the "tie it to your checking account" idea ... but, I set up a brand new account JUST for my EBay transactions ... I always transfer just enough cash in there to cover whatever I'm buying ... if some happy hacker gets a hold of my numbers, he can't get into my "real" checking accounts ... anyway, the checking account thing took a few days to be "cleared" through security – and guess what? – as soon as I started THAT setup – the security put all of the rest of my "credit card" limit on hold ...

tip: make sure that your bank doesn't automatically tie all of your accounts together to "streamline your electronic banking experience" ... especially make sure that you don't have an "overdraft" protection on an "exposed" checking account ... hackers can clean all of that out too ... (and yes, if you're wondering, I certainly DO wear a tinfoil headpiece under my cap – just so that no one can read my brainwaves) ...

anyway ... I TRUST NO ONE when it comes to "online" transactions ... even if the company is perfectly legit, a disgruntled employee can still leak out a list of numbers and access codes, etc., etc. ...

so the good news is: I've bought a LOT of Allen-Bradley equipment on EBay – and have had ZERO complaints about how things have been handled ...

advice: as you've already been warned, check the seller's number of transactions – and their feedback ratings – and whether they'll accept a return within a week or so ... personally, I refuse to buy ANYTHING that says "no returns" accepted ... IF (big IF) you ever have a problem with a purchase, don't just nail the seller with a negative feedback – that won't really help you in the long run ... instead, contact them and give them a chance to straighten things out to your satisfaction – and then leave positive feedback when everything is finally fixed ... everyone that I've ever dealt with will bend over backwards to avoid a negative feedback ... you don't even have to threaten them – just let them know that you're dissatisfied ...

one other word of advice: set up a special email account (Yahoo, Google, etc.) and use it just for your EBay transactions ... reason: you're probably going to get a lot more incoming mail than you're expecting ... notice, update, invoice, receipt, shipping confirmation, additional stuff you might be interested in, etc. ... communication is GOOD – but the volume of it can be overwhelming if you order several things at one time ...

I will agree. I've done the whole "paypal+ebay" thing, and have experienced everything except the red flag issue, because I was only buying a couple cheap things. But yes, even buying a couple cheap things, most of the things Ron pointed out are immediately noticible.

I would recommend a really easy to program and use panel from EZAutomation.net

I like the idea of going with EZAutomation. We have all Panelview Plus's around the plant and would like to stick with the same brand.At the time, money is an issue ,and I also
don't want to take a chance with something on Ebay. I like
the EZAutomation brand,like the EZ SE Series.The website seems somewhat "loud" not real easy to drill down to what you want.
What do you think of the C-More HMI (Automation Direct). I am
using Allen Bradley ControlLogix (Ethernet). What brand and
HMI would you recommend. I am thinking about a 8".

Thanks for your responses,have a great day.

I agree about their website being user unfriendly/confusing. However, their product is very user friendly and tech support is great too. I have not used the Cmore line since I have found the EZAutomation panels. We also have many panelview panels, but I find they are too expensive and too hard to program unless you already have experience with them. I am sticking with the AB plcs/micrologix. My latest project uses the new EZD-T6C-SE for $599 and communicats with the AB1100 via ethernet. I can program the panel or the plc with one ethernet cable thru an unmanaged switch. You can get that panel in 8" color also.

Ron is right.....again.
I now have a separate account at a separate bank just for paypal.
Once you learn the ins and outs it works ok.
Ebay is often called fee bay for good reasons from a sellers stand point.

I am leaning more toward the Automation Direct C-more HMI's. What are your thoughts about the C-more HMI's , ease of development ,durability,
communication , etc.
Thanks for your advice.

Rob S. said:

....What brand and
HMI would you recommend. I am thinking about a 8".

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1st Red Lion
2nd C-More
3rd EZ
4th .....