I believe EBAY is a wonderful source for appliances.. You normally get the show-room out of box grade at a discount. I purchased a Miele steamer without any problems and saved a lot of money... I purchased a Sub-Zero BR (or what I thought was a BR) and it arrived as a BF... The seller had both and abbreviated the F within the model as Frig - Yikes.... The seller sent me the correct model and gave me the freezer due to the freight from Florida to the Bay-Area - this worked out but was stressful.... I think the most important thing about E-Bay (in my opinion) is communication w/ the seller to make sure what your buying what is being advertised & make certain that the packaging they use protects the out-of-box appliance (if that's the case) correctly... I would also suggest that you look at the other items they have sold in the past - this is key. If they are selling a Wolf Range for 4K and all the previous items they have sold were gum balls... ding, ding, ding.. that's a problem.. Also look at their rating. I wouldn't purchase any appliance unless the seller has sufficient history with positive remarks.

Make sure that the vendor is established and has a very positive rating. Read through some of the feedback and see what others paid for similar products. Pay by credit card for sure! Also, you can print out the listing and take it to a local appliance store. I've read that sometimes they will match the price. Good luck!

I was nervous too but the discount (from $7000 to $3700 on a Thermador range) was worth it IMO. The person I bought from seems to run a decent sized ebay "store."

Check that the unit actually has a serial number. If it does not have a serial number placard in the unit and in the appropriate location for the unit it is most likely a manufacturer reject which means it has no warranty and can be hard to service if there are many variations within a model. I personally would not purchase another appliance from ebay. I visit local showrooms and Expo design center always looking for a floor model. I buy other items off ebay like faucets etc but spending a $1000+ on ebay on a appliance is not in the cards for me.

Good luck!

If you do, make sure you pay with paypal (you can link it to your cc). Then you have paypal protection, which usually does work in favor of the buyer (I am a seller and buyer).

I did not buy my appliances from them as I wanted a human being nearby to help out if things went bad (but what I bought was not so much more discounted on ebay), but I did buy a Kohler faucet from there and it is perfect, factory sealed and hundreds! cheaper.

Check out their feedback, go though their feedback history as far back as you can stand and read the comments, not just look at the percentage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dream Kitchen on a Budget Blog

thank you all! This is great info--why I love GW so much!

I'm still thinking about it and especially, thank you Homepro: I never knew about serial numbers! Will have to check that out!