When purchasing a grandfather clock or grandmother clock, especially when looking online vs. an an bricks and mortar Retail location, one faces a dizzying array of choices.  Some people start by searching on Google, Yahoo or Bing.  Others use comparison shopping websites.  And many many shoppers start their grandfather clocks discount shopping, or grandfather clocks on sale.

Is eBay a good place to look for brand new Howard Miller Grandfather Clocks or floor clocks by other makers?  It can be, but just like shopping online, one has to be extremely careful.  We ourselves at 1-800-4CLOCKS.com have an eBay Store which you can visit at  http://stores.ebay.com/Grandfather-Clocks.  We feature pretty much the entire Howard Miller Grandfather Clock Collection, including Howard Miller Presidential Grandfather Clocks and many Limited Edition grandfather clocks, including tubular chimes grandfather clocks, cable driven triple chime and Westminster chime mechanical clocks, and several chain-driven grandfather clocks.  Quartz, or battery-driven grandfather clocks, are also available, and are almost all at lower discounted price points.

One has a choice of many grandfather clock features, including auto-night shut-off, chime-silence option, volume control (on quartz grandfather clocks only), working rotating moon dials, subsidiary seconds dials, single, almost always Westminster, vs. triple chime grandfather clocks.  A few even have the choice of the Schubert Ave Maria and Beethoven Ode to Joy chimes.  Very few, but some, mechanical grandfather clocks, offer that option.

There are clear risks of buying on eBay, of which one must be keenly aware.  Many of our customers either call us up or shop on our main website after they first find out about us on eBay.  As one of Howard Miller Clocks largest Authorized Dealers, with a Better Business Bureau Rating to date of A, and with much positive feedback on eBay already.  Many sellers of new grandfather clocks are not authorized as dealers for the clocks they sell, such as Howard miller, or Hermle Grandfather Clocks or the Ridgeway grandfather clock collection.  If one buys a grandfather clock from a dealer who is not authorized, any warranty is automatically null and void.  Many shady operators sell well below the most competitive pricing available from Authorized dealers, and may not be dealing in legitimate merchandise, and the seller may be a fraud altogether.

Another risk is that many Authorized Dealers will sell floor models and pass them off as 100% brand new.  So you may end up getting a grandfather clock that has been sitting in a grandfather clock showroom for 2-4 years, having been touched by hundreds or thousands of people, have multiple years of wear and tear on the grandfather clock movement, and finally, may no longer be covered under manufacturer’s warranty (many decent clock dealers are completely unaware of this.

Pre-owned or used grandfather clocks carry with them the risk of developing a “money pit”, poring good money after bad to get, with the potential for many used grandfather clocks.  Many of the same risks exist for antique grandfather clocks, but that is really a wholly different clock purchase proposition.

Finally, while eBay can be a good and safe place to purchase clocks, if you are dealing with a reputable company, like us at 1-800-4CLOCKS, you may be able to get the best deal by visiting one of our stores or simply calling.  We are also very happy to educate the customer about the different types of grandfather clocks, including brands, movements, features, chimes and much more.  Shipping grandfather clocks overseas also creates special challenges.

Howard Miller Tubular Chime Grandfather Clock J H Miller II 611-030 611030