Buying from Ebay...

[jatma]

as a seller on ebay for over 10 years and 20,000 feedbacks - I would suggest you study the sellers feedback and ask questions.

Many catagories allow sellers to use a catalogue to list with, and the problem with that is newbies who don't know what they have, pick the wrong item details.

so you may be looking at a stock photo and the details say EF mount - but the newbie doesn't realize its actually an FD mount. - etc. So especially if they use stock photo's, ask lots of questions.


As far as no returns - if you get something and it is NOT what was advertised in the auction, then if you paid via paypal - you can file a dispute to get a refund.

If you get something and just decide it doesn't fit your needs, etc - then you are stuck with the item, but you could always turn around and re-sell it on ebay.

[kellydrever1]

i just bought a used nikon d80 of ebay no problems and easy transaction i have also bought two lenses no problem but i am well aware of the scammers!! Just tried to bid on a pair of boots and got ripped of twice. So you should always be weary.

[FotoMike]

I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone...one of the things I LOVE about DPS is everyone is here to help each other and thats a great thing to be apart of. I took the advice of doing some research on the product and the seller and felt confident enough to make a bid on the lens, but as soon as I made my bid, I got a message saying I had been outbid..this happened twice and then I stopped bidding. I'm assuming the person who is out bidding me has their account setup to continue to out bid up to a certain price ceiling...does that sound right? The price on the lens I was looking at is a very good one...so I'm wondering if anyone has come across that before? thanks again for the help everyone.

[Swisstony10]

I promised an update - my BG-E3-copy battery grip just arrived from the Poland-based seller who sent it on Monday. Four working days delivery isn't bad - I've had longer delivery times from online stores in the UK. It was half the price of the official Canon one, and has all the same controls and stuff, exactly as detailed on the Ebay auction.

Have a good look through the feedback, pay attention, and be careful, and you should be fine with Ebay..

EDIT - Ebay bidding works like this - say I'm selling my camera, and I set an initial price of $100, with $5 bidding increments. Dave is prepared to pay up to $150 for my camera, so he enters that as his maximum bid. Ebay, however, only increases the current bid to $105. If nobody else bids, and the auction ends, Dave wins it for $105, because that was the next bid according to how I set it up. Now, if you'd popped in before the auction ended and bid $110, Dave's bid would automatically increase to $115, so you'd effectively be outbid, and if nobody else bid after that, $115 is what Dave would have to pay. This would keep happening until you finally outbid Dave's maximum bid of $150.

Have you tried using a thing called Esnipe? You set up an account on it, and feed it with your Ebay login details and stuff, and then you tell it what auctions you're interested in, and what your maximum bid is, and it'll fire in your bid for you at the very last second (you can set how many seconds before the end it goes off). Even better - you can link together several auctions for the same or similar items, and then if you win one, it doesn't bother bidding on the rest. Aside from getting things using Buy-It-Now, I always use that - it stopped me getting repeatedly outbid for Guitar Hero II...

Russ.

[InvisibleBlack]

As everyone above. Check the seller feedback. Good deals are there to be found. I have picked up some good gear there. I am about to sell my D200 Body there.

Always follow the rule that If it looks to good to be true......... or too cheap.

Pat C

[DannyF1966]

Another thing to bear in mind with eBay (or any other auction site for that matter) is that if the item is popular the price will shoot up in the last few minutes before the auction ends. Pick the top price you're prepared to pay and don't go over it!

Also, don't bid on two similar auctions for the same item unless you're actually prepared to buy them both. My brother and I have both lucked out on this one (I ended up buying two Lego sets for my son, my brother ended up buying two cars instead of one. He sold the other one straight away though, if I remember rightly he made a hundred on the deal as well!)

You could try buying something small and inconsequential first if you want to just get the hang of how it all works, and to check that your paypal account is all set up and working properly.

I've bought and sold a few items on eBay without any problems in the past, but as with everything it's "buyer beware"

my husband used to call me the "ebay queen", i love ebay for just about everything, EXCEPT for any kind of electronics, which includes camera gear! i would rather go through Amazon when it comes to my camera and accesories! most of the time you can find some really great deals on amazon! hope this helps in your decision making...

[JerBear]

I use Ebay a lot and have only had 1 time where I was disappointed. Even then my money was refunded.

Find someone who is Ebay savy, and have them work with you on the ins and outs of Ebay.

From what I see on the other posts here, take their advice and go for it.

I picked up a $7000 body for 1450. awhile back as a back up, turns out it is in better shape than the one I paid full price for. I am rough on my gear.

Good Shooting

JM