Everyone wants a bargain so while trawling the internet for a pop up stands, many people decide to search on ebay (the well known auction site).
First of all, I’d like to make it clear that in general I have nothing against ebay. I think that providing you are a savvy consumer and pay close attention to the sellers reputation you are dealing with, there are some great deals to be had!
The problem with buying pop up stands on ebay is that there are a large number of sellers who are advertising cheap, imported pop up stands that are not commonly supported in the UK.
We receive emails on a regular for basis from customers who have purchased a pop up stand on ebay and who now require a set of graphic panels to fit it. Generally such customers who have purchased cheap pop up stands are unaware of the manufacturer or the model type of the pop up stand framework. This makes producing a set of graphics to suit the stand very difficult indeed!
Many established businesses who supply pop up stands do so without making a margin on the hardware (pop up stand framework) and operate by making profit on the graphics only. For the consumer this means that a seemingly cheap pop up stands on ebay can actually work out being more expensive than buying a complete stand from an established company when the cost of sourcing the panels separately are factored-in.
If you are thinking about buying a used pop up stand or a pop up stand via ebay, we recommend that you ask the seller exactly who the manufacturer and model of the frame is so you can verify that the system is commonly available as a new product. If the seller cannot provide the information then avoid.