Buying from Ebay...

[FotoMike]

I have seen this on a few website now...people throwing out Ebay as a viable place to buy gear. I have to admit that I have never bought anything from Ebay personally, but I have heard horror stories. What is everyone's opinion on buying gear from there? And are there any tips to buying, like how to tell if its a scam or the person is trusted? Thanks for the help.

[sk66]

good and bad...I've bought $1000 lenses for a couple hundred bucks, and I've been ripped for a few hundred bucks....as always, "buyer beware"...

[RoyL]

Originally Posted by sk66

good and bad...I've bought $1000 lenses for a couple hundred bucks, and I've been ripped for a few hundred bucks....as always, "buyer beware"...

I think that this is teh standard thoughts on ebay. My experience has generally been good but not always. And when you buy a lens from the US and it is stuffed is it really worth returning given the postage costs involved.

My attitude is buy inexpensive items unless the dealer has a good reputation. ebay is getting better but will never be as reliable as the shops.

[henryscat]

No matter what you are buying, ALWAYS check the seller feedback - if there is some negative, check out what it was for. Remember that a power seller will normally have 99% ish good feedback as there is always a few idiots that leave negatives for no reason.

I bought a 50mm old Nikon prime lens years ago for £15 inc postage, and I love it to bits. The seller failed to mention the mould inside the glass - however with the 1.5x sensor thingy it never shows up in my shots.

If you are unsure about an item then ask the seller before committing - are there any marks on the glass, is there signs of mould... etc.

It's the usual situation that the bad stories are always more popular reading than the masses of good and easy transactions that happen every day...and no i aint a rep for Ebay!

[FotoMike]

Originally Posted by henryscat

No matter what you are buying, ALWAYS check the seller feedback - if there is some negative, check out what it was for. Remember that a power seller will normally have 99% ish good feedback as there is always a few idiots that leave negatives for no reason.

I bought a 50mm old Nikon prime lens years ago for £15 inc postage, and I love it to bits. The seller failed to mention the mould inside the glass - however with the 1.5x sensor thingy it never shows up in my shots.

If you are unsure about an item then ask the seller before committing - are there any marks on the glass, is there signs of mould... etc.

It's the usual situation that the bad stories are always more popular reading than the masses of good and easy transactions that happen every day...and no i aint a rep for Ebay!

I was nervous about ebay as the two other posts are as well, but these kinda eases my mind about it. There is a lens I'm looking at buying from the site, and the buyer has a %100 feedback rating and I went through some of them and they seemed very happy with what they got. i also emailed the seller to ask some questions like you mentioned. The only thing that still bugs me is that it says that he does not accept returns with this item...kinda scary

[m.c.adams]

I have bought tons of stuff off e-bay, including alot of camera gear. Like they say buyer beware, do your homework. That said, I have had no problems at all.
Mark

[henryscat]

I was check for the feedback on similar items that I want to buy and see what people thought. I've even been known to mail one of the previous sellers to find out what it was REALLY like! All depends how much money i'm intending to spend.

It's like most things - research 1st and use your common savvy before you commit to anything!

[Swisstony10]

I too have bought yards of stuff from Ebay over the years, of all different kinds. I've bought a few bits of camera stuff too, and haven't been disappointed by it.

Often the negative feedback amazes me - people paying less than a pound for something that would cost them £20 on the High Street, and then moaning that it's not the best quality.

Mind you, I've just spent £40 on a battery grip which I'm expecting to arrive any day now. I'll let you know if I got my first burn when it gets here..

Russ.

[mdruziak]

I've been very happy with the stuff I've purchased off of ebay. Here is the thought process that I go thru when I buy:

1. Check sellers feedback. It doesn't matter if you are buying a $3 battery or a $1000 lens. If a guy from china is selling knock off camera batteries for $3 and has a 3000 feedback rating of 95% or higher, he has to be doing something right!! On the other hand if a guy is selling a $1000 lens and has little or no feedback, I walk away from the deal.

2. See what else the seller has been selling and what they currently have for sale. Do this to make sure the account hasn't been hijacked. If you see that a seller has been primarily selling one type of item and now you see that they are selling high end lenses or camera bodies, this could be a sign that the account was hijacked. Another sign that an account has been hijacked is if the seller has a lot of different high end items up for sale. If you see a guy that has a big list of all high end dissimilar items for sale, walk away.

3. ONLY buy thru the ebay and Paypal systems. Never respond to "Send an email to XXX to buy this item." Make sure that the seller is Paypal Protected.

4. Ask the seller a question about the item. See how they respond. Did it take a few days or a few minutes? Did they respond in a way that made you feel comfortable? You can also ask the seller to speak with them on the phone.

5. If anything feels wrong, walk away from the deal. Camera stuff comes and goes on ebay all of the time. It pays off to wait sometimes.

[RoyL]

Originally Posted by henryscat

No matter what you are buying, ALWAYS check the seller feedback - if there is some negative, check out what it was for. Remember that a power seller will normally have 99% ish good feedback as there is always a few idiots that leave negatives for no reason.

Sometimes you ned to be very wary of powersellers, some commit massive frauds by setting up and starting selling cheap HK items to boost their numbers then they get into the more expensive gear. After a while they gain confidence and then people start not recieving the $5,000 camera they paid for and the seller closes the account and starts a new one. This has been going on for some time.

But most power sellers are pretty good.

I did leave neutral feedback once, wasn't aware at the time that it shows up as negative. I apologized to the person and told them why, it was to do with an antique which wasn't. But you are right, some people give bad feedback because they waited 6 weeks for something which was sent surface mail from the US. I have waited up to 12 weeks, and they always tell you that it can take some time. Ebay is revising the feedback system because of this sort of thing.