Thinking of buying a few used Abu 6500c3s. Any of you bought them used on Ebay? Experiences?

I have bought one 6500 C3, one 5500 C3, and 3 5000 C, all needed a few dollars for repairs, less than $20 total. All have been worth the money. Be patient and watch the shipping charge, some people ask ridiculous amount for shipping.

Yeah, I think this may be the way to go for me. I could buy twice as many used Abus than buying new.

I found all of these in my "fishing corner" in the den. I'll be sending a few off each week to a guy in Ohio that does great work. 18 reels in all and all lefties. I won't be buying new for a very long time

And with the protection from eBay and PayPal I doubt you will run into something where you wouldn't get reimbursed. But I have had nothing but positive experiences from eBay

I've bought several on ebay with good results. As said, watch shipping charges, they can blow what would be a good deal. Sellers will inflate shipping to reduce what they have to pay ebay for the sale. Also, stay away from the 2 speed abus. They are junk and no one wants to work on them.

+1... Also I go garagesaling and get pretty lucky sometimes...Here is a website of estate sales and you can search for fishing stuff in your area.

https://www.estatesales.net/

Not anymore. Ebay charges sellers on the sales price AND the shipping fees. They're pushing more and more to get sellers to offer "free" shipping to compete with Amazon (this thinking mystifies me).

To the OP, the cost of servicing good used abus every few years will be much less than the cost of buying replacement reels. Have only had to throw away one in my lifetime because it got dunked in salt & wasn't cleaned in time. If buying on Ebay, just use your good judgment, pay attention to seller ratings, and if the seller has neutral or negative feedback, go read the comments before buying.

Solid information, fellas. I've been buying used camera lenses on Ebay. I've found some good deals. I figured why not see if I could find a few Abus the same way. Even if I tricked them out with the fancy bearings and such, I'd still come out ahead, just like on my camera lenses.

Yes I bought a used 6500 c3 from ebay for cheap because I didn't want to drill into a new one. I upgraded the spool bearings (boca), large knob power handle, mono magnet, increased capacity spool, & ct conversion bar with studs. This is for more casting distance from shore. It had scuffed side plates so I am sanding them for polished finish but definitely worth it. I took the reel apart to clean/grease/oil when bought & it was in very good condition otherwise.

Bank, what's a mono magnet?

Here is the mono magnet. It controls spool speed during hard casts. Also deleted level wind and installed CT conversion bar. Purchased from Ebay because I did not want to mess up a new reel.

Did you have to drill a hole for that magnet?

I bought a 6500C3 yesterday off Ebay for $65. Maybe not a bargain basement price, but I want to get started on collecting these. I figure the dual worm gear bearing upgrade will be plenty for me, making the C3 a C5. Probably pick up four of these over the next few weeks or months.

When that clicker starts playing music, you will throw those jugs away!

Yeah i had to drill an 8mm hole 5.5mm from center. The made in sweden 6500 abus are worth collecting. I have a 6601 c5 & donr like the thumb bar personally.

I�ve had luck in the past with reels from eBay and Uncle Zeek brought up an excellent point on paying close attention to the sellers feedback.

Fishin' nut, na I ain't throwing away my jugs. nor my handlines. You ain't caught a catfish until you've caught him on a hand line. for me rod an reel is not all that fun. This is just another tool in the arsenal. While the jugs are out I plan to run drifts below the dam with rod, reel and handlines.

Check the jugs every couple hours while pull for drifts below the dam. It's all about finding more and more effective ways to catch fish. Most people just buy a bunch of gear and never really learn how to fish. I broke it all down to nothing but a line and bait and fished that way for a year just to understand how the fish bites and fights. That's something that rod and reel nor sonar can't tell you. I take that same information and apply it to jugs, and rod and reel.

Every form of fishing has limitation. using multiple forms of fishing negates the limitations of any one form of fishing.

Cool discussion, but out of my league (for now).

Hey Willie, I understand. I just built 15 jugs myself. Best turtle catchers to ever hit the Tennessee River! Haven't been in a while because my boat has some serious (ie probably expensive) issues. Hopefully be back on the water before Labor Day.

I know it, man. These boats drink money like water!

Fishin' nut is that the same one you had at Oak Point?...Cause that one was awesome!!

The Abu�s are the 1911�s of the baitingcasting reels. They are very easy to tare down and put back together. In addition, there are a lot of aftermarket parts and even a lot of �how to� videos as well.

JMHO

Duane

That's good to know. I've been looking at some of the hot rod kits out there. My goodness! It really is about like the old 1911. Probably gonna buy at least four, but that means I won't be able to buy any camera lenses, lol!