I have only bought 4 bikes from Ebay. One of them came measured incorrectly by the seller. I don't ask for much, but if the item being sold is a bicycle, I think that the seller at the very least has an obligation to use a proper tool to measure and an established method for doing so. In two cases I asked the seller to measure the top tube and the seat tube in cm's, and exactly how to do it. The response I got back was if I were introducing the concept to him for the very first time. I believe that ebay should have a chart that pops up when the seller first posts the bike for sale. The chart would show what is expected and where these measurements are taken. The last bike I bought was a nice Bianchi that was mis measured again, but the shot of the headtube was enough for me to glean the correct measurements myself just by looking at the photos. I could see by the photos that clearly the seat tube was not longer than the top tube by 2 cm. Where are these people taking their measurements? I don't have a clue.
One humorous moment occurred when an otherwise knowledgeable salesman was pitching a brand new titanium Litespeed to my wife, and he measured the crank with a tape and declared the crank to be a 172.5 when 170 was clearly engraved on the reverse side. I tried to point out that most cranks have this measurement engraved as almost an industry standard (without robbing the poor fellow of his dignity).
I really have no earthly idea where someone would measure a 56 cm frame and come up with 60 cm unless he was measuring from the bottom of the bottom bracket to the top of seat lug. This makes me wonder how accurate those measurements of male prowess were, that were quoted in high school all those years back. In my work as an officer,I have ceased asking certain kinds of people to accurately describe a perpetrator's height and weight. They are often off 6 inches in height and 50 lbs and often 20 years.
Garth Libre in Miami Fl.