Seriously, it's a crap shot... you'd be better off getting your greens from SM's or some other trusted dealer.
Very early in my roasting binge I purchased some greens from two different sellers off ebay and was disappointed by both. Lot's of foriegn debris, poor quality beans that appeared to have been stored improperly and poorly processed.
Stick with dealers that you can call and that have a positive history with home roasters.
Posted Mon Jan 6, 2003, 7:52am Subject: Re: Has anyone bought green beans off of ebay?
I purchased 10 pounds from user id chaola. He has a coffee roasting business (www.coffeemaria.com) but also sells green from his website and on Ebay. I was very pleased. He's also very nice to deal with. I would not hesitate to buy from him again. I know some people have been pleased with a user name of ponyexpresso (or something like that.) I've never purchased from him and there was something about him that caused me to not really warm up to him. (Don't recall what it was - maybe his prices are high enough to not be competitive with other retailers that I know to be very good quality.)
However, I would be very cautious (as with anything on Ebay) but am especially so with anything I would eat/drink. There have been MANY Ebay auctions for green beans I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Check the feedback rating. Do they have a website? (Most people selling green beans would be resellers & therefore, most likely *should* have a website, IMO.) Check bbbonline.org for any complaints against the website. Do a Google search on the website name (could uncover some postive/negative postings in a forum.) Normal CYA stuff you should do anyway, before dealing with any online company that's new to you. (IMO)
BellaJava Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2002 Posts: 425 Location: Jacksonville, FL Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Livia 90 Auto Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Silex, Cory, Hellem, Cona,... Drip: Chemex Roaster: Alp, FR+, HWG
Posted Mon Jan 6, 2003, 9:36am Subject: Re: Has anyone bought green beans off of ebay?
RoxieL Said:
I purchased 10 pounds from user id chaola. He has a coffee roasting business (www.coffeemaria.com) but also sells green from his website and on Ebay. I was very pleased. He's also very nice to deal with. I would not hesitate to buy from him again. I know some people have been pleased with a user name of ponyexpresso (or something like that.) I've never purchased from him and there was something about him that caused me to not really warm up to him. (Don't recall what it was - maybe his prices are high enough to not be competitive with other retailers that I know to be very good quality.)
However, I would be very cautious (as with anything on Ebay) but am especially so with anything I would eat/drink. There have been MANY Ebay auctions for green beans I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Check the feedback rating. Do they have a website? (Most people selling green beans would be resellers & therefore, most likely *should* have a website, IMO.) Check bbbonline.org for any complaints against the website. Do a Google search on the website name (could uncover some postive/negative postings in a forum.) Normal CYA stuff you should do anyway, before dealing with any online company that's new to you. (IMO)
Exactly my point... if you have to do all the above research just to save a dollar or so per pound... it's not worth MY time to waste. I'll stick with PROVEN sellers.
Chuck, at www.coffeewholesalers.com put up about 50 lbs of coffee on ebay soon after 9/11, with all proceeds (incl. his cost) going to the 9/11 charities. He didn't put up cheap stuff either. I bought his 10lb offering of Costa Rica La Minita Tarazzu at his buy it now price (which was actually a really good price!).
I think Chuck raised about $300 or more for 9/11 charities that way. He occasionally uses ebay to sell his beans today, and I highly recommend his auctions.
Posted Mon Jan 6, 2003, 11:40am Subject: Re: Has anyone bought green beans off of ebay?
Well, first, I don't always use Ebay or the internet to save a dollar or two a pound, since green beans are so inexpensive, anyway. But I don't mind checking into new companies, sources, products. I rather get enjoyment out of it. I figure, the more products and/or sources I know about, the better. This applies to not just green coffee beans but almost anything I buy. I've run across the coolest (and sometimes weirdest) companies on the internet. And the research takes all of about 1 minute and is most definitely worth my time, if I'm interested in the product/service. I also do research on new companies I deal with in real life, such as checking www.bbb.org for membership and/or complaints, checking the online Registrar of Contractors for valid licenses (when applicable), etc.
Second, everyone has to start somewhere. Someone new to the coffeegeek/alt.coffee group may be skeptical of the companies extoled here (since they don't know us from Adam) and may feel more secure buying off Ebay, which may be a more familiar format for them. So what may be a "proven" seller to us, may not be to them.
Jesemine Senior Member Joined: 13 Oct 2003 Posts: 5 Location: Vancouver, WA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Rancillio Grinder: Mazzer Roaster: Home made
Posted Tue Dec 2, 2003, 11:13am Subject: Re: Has anyone bought green beans off of ebay?
I bought two pounds (1 sumatra and 1 ethiopian) from MacCulleys (McCulleys?) coffee in Seattle or Tacoma. I am a novice roaster and went this route to see if I could even be able to do this (I love it!!). I roasted in a popcorn popper with a freind and we were uncertain of the quality the first time around (turns out it was our popper). The beans were dry and burnt tasting and the color of the grounds were very red and the coffee would not get dark. it was a very clear-brown-red color. the second time we used a different popper and got wonderfull results. the beans were oily and dark. They smelled almost burnt when we smelled right out of the popper, but they cooled and smelled wonderful. when we put the grounds through the french press we had good foam and wonderfull smooth flavor. I would buy from them again. I am interested in comparing this to SMs sumatra and will post with the results asap.
Shinypennies always has coffee on there , i've boughten some really good hondurus,costa rican, and brazilian form them, and there well under $3 a pound shipped! depending on the auction i'VE GOTTEN UNDER $2 A pound...they also have a nice shipping policy
highcountrycoffee@attbi.com used to sell on ebay but i haven't seen an austion in a while,,,very good PNG and el salvidor...
CCMCoffeemills sells on there and I've always liked their coffee, but itspretty much the same price on their site....
jimmydeboca out of wisconsin also sells on there though I haven't seen an auction from him in a while.... very good coffee's he had....and nice shipping policy
buying anywhere from 10- 30 pounds at a time a buck or 2 is quite a bit, sweet marias cheapest beans i saw @ a 20pound discount was still 3.50 + shipping(most likey at leats $1 a pound)..........
i have plenty of time to save 20-30 bucks,
i don't do any research and have had outstanding results, but feedback is right on the auction takes like 30 seconds to read there last 3 months activity , if someone has over 2-300 feedbacks I don't even look.. anyway there are like maybe 10 or so sellers that sell green on ebay .. just watch the shipping and figure it into the price per pound shipped... I generally never pay over $3 a pound shipped on ebay...
and the coffee has been pretty decent,....I haven't found anything to really complain about anyway.. I'm still buying off of ebay and will continue too, the prices are TOO GOOD... good luck kel
cky2kplus1 Senior Member Joined: 13 May 2005 Posts: 4 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon May 23, 2005, 12:14pm Subject: Re: Has anyone bought green beans off of ebay?
I buy beans off ebay every now and again. Its important to find sellers with perfect (100%) feedback with a lot of sales. The key here is to find out if the seller has a webpage and if so, what do these beans sell for regularly? I ALWAYS get my beans under retail value and I have never had a bad batch. There are some amazing deals to be found on ebay with green beans if you spend some time to research sellers.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 