Ed said:

My son-in-law just made me a really slick fly tying bench and now I'm
trying
to get tools and supplies to stock it. I have been bidding on items on
ebay
but keep getting outbid. Has anyone had success buying on ebay?

How do you define success? I define ebay success as promptly receiving fly
shop quality fly tying materials cheaper than comparable sources without
more hassle.
After 50-60 ebay material buys my experiences follow but yours may vary:
1. I get outbid 70-80% of the time because people will pay more than, or as
much as, perceived fly shop prices.
2. I only bid on less than 1% stuff offered because I do not need it OR the
perceived quality is so low it's not worth having.
3. I refuse to bid on money orders only or PayPal or those who won't accept
a personal check. About 10% of the time I have been stiffed - they cashed
my check and failed to send fly materials or respond.
4. Upon examination and use of the material, nothing bought on ebay EXCEEDS
the sellers description.
5. Ebay Fly tying materials are often very old, repackaged, faded, home
made, home dyed, inconsistant length, seconds, used from, etc.
6. Descriptions are often deceptive, misleading but if you give negative
feedback the sellers can and will give feedback and your comment will be
rebuted.
7. Be aware that people use software to milk ebay auctions to outbid you
seconds before auctions end thus defeating your bid.


In lieu of the ebay crapshoot, may I suggest the following:
1. Attend fly shows. I was at one last Saturday that had 20-30 baskets of
all kinds of materials including hair by the square foot!
2. Ask your fly shop for discontinued materials or sale items.
3. Mail order sites often have grab bag sales of bulk itrems
4. Fly clubs often have raffles, donations for sale and group buying for
materials and tools.

Good luck!
John