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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Ebay.. yay or nay?
Ronda Churchill, Photographer
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Las Vegas | NV | United States | Posted: 9:23 PM on 12.19.06 |
->> Some hate it, some love it, some swear by it.. what are your thoughts to using ebay to purchase used/new camera equiptment? Any tricks or tips on finding a deal and not loosing your hard-earned cash to fraudulent individuals?
(I've sold and purchased before in the past with ease, but am currently in a potentially-sticky situation as a buyer, even though I checked out things through and through prior to bidding. Hopefully things will pan out.)
R |
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Matthew Rosenberg, Photographer
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Charlottesville | VA | United States | Posted: 9:31 PM on 12.19.06 |
| ->> well if you use paypal, purchases under a grand are covered. I have never had dispute either as a buyer or seller though. I have no idea if they really back up that claim. |
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Adam Senatori, Photographer
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Madison | WI | 53705 | Posted: 10:45 PM on 12.19.06 |
| ->> I bought a very low mileage Mark II 1ds over the summer on ebay and have never looked back. Great transaction and communication. That said, I trolled ebay daily for two months before finding a seller I was comfortable with. He quickly answered every question I had and then some. If the seller has any unreasonable negative feedback or few feedbacks, move on. But there are many good people still on ebay. Good luck! |
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Rodrigo Pena, Photographer
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Palm Desert | CA | USA | Posted: 11:49 PM on 12.19.06 |
->> Ronda, there are some very deep pits that you have to watch out for. If a price is too good to be true, you are in for some potential trouble. One time I found a great price on an item. I looked at the seller's feedback and it said 100% positive and had about 30 feedbacks. When I decided to read the feedback, some weird characters came up. Then I clicked on the item for sale. The item was fictitious. I am willing to bet that the feedback was fictitious too. This taught me to read the individual feedbacks and also click on the items for sale to make sure they were genuine.
That being said, I have had some really great experiences. I bought a Mac PowerBook G4, that brand new would have cost $3,000. I got it for 1/3 the cost, which is a really good deal, but about 6 months after I bought it, the DVD burner stopped working. It still plays CD's and DVD's and even burns CD's, but will not burn DVD's any more.
I bought a used Canon 550EX speedlight, new 580EX speedlight, a 24-70mm, f/2.8 lens, lens filters, two Bogen Magic arms, Bogen superclamps, umbrellas, umbrella holders, sync cords, addidt remote cords, Quantum radio slaves, batteries, lightstand bags, CD holders, books, pc card adapters, compactflash cards and all have performed well. (knock on wood).
Watch out for the fake SanDisk compactflash cards. I got stung by buying a fake 2GB SanDisk card.
The bottom line is, it's a gamble. After stressing out about the PowerBook before it's arrival, I vowed never to buy any items over $1,000. It's just not worth the aggravation.
Good luck, Rodrigo |
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Thomas Boyd, Photographer
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Eugene | OR | USA | Posted: 11:54 PM on 12.19.06 |
->> I've been trolling ebay daily for over a month looking for a 1Ds Mark II. Ebay, Yahoo, and Craigslist are total cesspools of fraudulent sales and for some reason, they love trying to sell 1Ds Mark IIs that don't exist.
Like Adam says, there are a few legit sellers out there. Be very careful. Only deal with people you can verify their identity with work phone numbers, websites, blogs, and other means.
Google search every name. Beware of people with web-based email addresses. Never communicate outside the ebay site, and only use paypal (even though there are problems, it's still the safest way). Don't even think about cutting a cashier's check or Money Order or Moneygram. They are very likely bogus.
My sense is that there are more bogus auctions than legitmate. That's how bad it is.
If its too good to be true, it's bogus. |
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Chris Halper, Photographer
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Toronto | On | Canada | Posted: 11:54 PM on 12.19.06 |
->> I have not found it worth buying new. If you live near a major urban center, you can find the equipment at the same price.
I have sold a number of used photo and video cameras online. Everything I sell is perfectly good, but I am much more skeptical when I buy.
I bought one used camera online 2 years ago and it was a biggie. A Canon-1DS for $5,000. It was a bargain I couldn't pass up. BUT... A large factor that made me comfortable was a major Canadian retailer was selling it and it included a 6-month warranty.
It was a bizzare transaction. The store is only 10-minutes away, but I wasn't allowed to pick it up. I also have to say that the camera was FAULTY!!! Fortunately, they were selling another online. They pulled that one and gave it to me as a replacement. |
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Jim Leary, Photographer
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Island | NY | USA | Posted: 12:08 AM on 12.20.06 |
->> Ronda,
I think Adam said it best. Spend some time tracking the auctions for a while and ask questions when you find a potential purchase. There's no question that the key on ebay is feedback. If you can find someone with over 100 feedback, all positive and a seller who has sold several pieces of camera equipment before, you can pretty much feel safe with that seller. I also would not buy new on ebay because I have never seen an ebay price that is a much lower than B&H that I would buy new sight unseen. I'd rather go to B&H and see the actual item but low mileage camera bodies can be a great buy on ebay if you find an experienced seller with all good feedback. Good Luck. |
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Thomas Boyd, Photographer
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Eugene | OR | USA | Posted: 12:17 AM on 12.20.06 |
->> 100 percent feedback means nothing if the account has been hacked. I've sent questions through the ebay site on auctions I suspected as bogus and got an email back from ebay saying the account was hacked.
They even hack the paypal account of the person's ebay account.
They are even sophisticated enough to hack accounts that have sold a bunch of similar equipment.
But, most likely they have feedback on numerous items that have very low value like cd, and beanie babies.
The biggest tell is when they want you to contact outside the ebay site to a web email address. They rarely take paypal and have all kinds of stories about why they need a moneygram. |
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Travis Haughton, Student/Intern, Photographer
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St. Charles | IL | USA | Posted: 12:56 AM on 12.20.06 |
->> I've used eBay both for buying and selling things of all kinds, but when it comes to finding used camera equipment, I love the Fred Miranda boards. I've had a lot of good experiences. I've purchased my entire kit there, including two bodies and a 300 2.8.
It's actually pretty amazing how much inventory moves through there. If you see a deal you'll have to pull the trigger quick.
Here's the link (free registration required):
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/10 |
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Ronda Churchill, Photographer
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Las Vegas | NV | United States | Posted: 2:14 AM on 12.20.06 |
| ->> The nervousness increases a bit after hearing some of this... I really hope this camera comes soon! The site, place, email, product, everything looked legit... just when I responded through email after purchasing every other word was spelled wrong. She said she was going to mail last week. Ended up not mailing until today. I definitely will not go through this again-with such a large purchase. Thanks for the comments! |
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Jeffery Patch, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Huntington Beach | CA | USA | Posted: 2:31 AM on 12.20.06 |
->> I buy some camera equipment on eBay. My D200 came from Calumet who I've had great experiences with (bought my first N80 from them years ago). There are a lot of other "photo stores" on there that I wouldn't trust though.
I'd much prefer to buy used equipment from a private party than some fly by night company. I bought my Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 (new two-ring ver) for $600 recently. It was in almost brand new.
Have fun bidding and good luck. Pay attention who you're buying through. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. |
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Gene Boyars, Photographer
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Matawan | NJ | United States | Posted: 8:42 AM on 12.20.06 |
->> Ronda,
Never communicate with a seller or buyer outside of Ebay. Make sure all their messages go thru the Ebay system. That will help cut down on the fraud. There are a lot of hi-jacked accounts, especially when you see a price too good to be true. Never, never pay with cash, wire transfer, money order, etc etc unless you are meeting face to face. I had a similar problem buying a 1D Mark II,or trying to buy it. The guy just could not find the time to ship it but since he was honest and I had used paypal and credit card, there was no problem cancelling the sale and getting a refund. I have had other experiences both buying and selling that were fine but communcation is the key. Get to know the other party. Offer to provide real time contact info and expect the same. My last ebay purchase was an iMac for my elderly aunt. I found the deal I wanted but the seller had zero feedback. We exchanged emails, phone calls and since he was in Charlotte and I had a game in Charlotte that coming weekend, he agreed to meet me and make the exchange. Very nice gentleman, very nice iMac and everyone walked away happy and now he has some positive feedback. |
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Jeffery Patch, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Huntington Beach | CA | USA | Posted: 12:21 PM on 12.20.06 |
| ->> Gene reminded me. Whenever you bid on something, especially high-end camera equipment, people will get your email and send you "second chance offers" if you did not win. They aren't the sellers though, they're just people who stole your address from the auction and are trying to intercept your money. be careful and send all of those to spoof@ebay.com |
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Curtis Clegg, Photographer
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Belvidere | IL | USA | Posted: 3:00 PM on 12.20.06 |
->> Ronda, here is a good link to a previous thread on this issue:
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=19713
I bookmarked that thread because the stories on it really had an impact on me... I had no idea the scammers could be so sophisticated. Even though I am much more wary now I recently got burned on a counterfeit Sandisk USB drive. It was only $40, and I'm not 100% sure it's counterfiet, and I'm not sure if the seller knows if it's legit either. So, I chalked it up as another tough-learned lesson.
As an aside, here is an account shared by Geoff Miller in another thread back in July:
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To date, the best one of these I've seen is the guy that got the scammer in the UK on the P-P-P-Powerbook: http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/files/thepowerbook.pdf
He got the scammer to cough up a couple hundred dollars in customs duty fees for a bogus Powerbook!
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The story is in PDF format, and it is kind of long, but oh man is it a great story! Well-worth your time to read... it made me want to sing "Happy Happy Joy Joy" when I was done.
As another aside, I just downloaded IE7 for Windows... it takes some getting used to but I love using the "Favorites" feature now... all SS threads show up easily with a bright red SS before the link's description... very nice. |
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Todd Spoth, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 3:10 PM on 12.20.06 |
| ->> Ive had great success buying and selling via ebay, however i remain a skeptic of purchasing any major electronics/camera gear used, ebay or not. Ive sold some big money products on ebay with no issues. As for camera-related items, I agree with Travis, the FM regulars will buy almost anything haha. I dont like to frequent forums like FM/DP review, etc but they are often a great place to place for sale ads. |
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Rodrigo Pena, Photographer
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Palm Desert | CA | USA | Posted: 4:28 PM on 12.20.06 |
->> Curtis thanks for posting that P-P-P-Powerbook story. I had read it once last year, but when I went back to the same location to show it to my wife, it was gone. I had hoped that the hacker had not gotten to the seller. lol.
Thanks again, now I can share it with my wife and friends. |
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John Green, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Northern | CA | USA | Posted: 6:52 PM on 12.20.06 |
->> It is the only way to fly..
Don't be scared...enjoy life...eat out more often..
I have sold to people in Japan,China and bought expensive items..
USE COMMON SENSE and you will be fine |
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Ronda Churchill, Photographer
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Las Vegas | NV | United States | Posted: 2:04 PM on 12.21.06 |
| ->> ....camera came today. All was well in the end with this transaction. (It looks like my "homework" paid off.) I will definitely use more caution in the future. Thanks for all the ebay storeis and insight guys! |
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Rodrigo Pena, Photographer
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Palm Desert | CA | USA | Posted: 8:03 PM on 12.22.06 |
->> Glad to hear that you didn't get ripped off.
Happy Holidays!! |
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Gary Meidinger, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Emporia | Ks. | USA | Posted: 8:46 PM on 12.22.06 |
->> It all depends on what is being bought. I have found that some of the lenses that are there are the same proce as what you can find new although I have purchused most of my equipment on E-Bay. I did though make4 a mistake on a 10-d I bought from a seller. The camera looked in great shape in the photos but when I recieved it it would only take on the sports setting, did not say this until about 2 hoursbefore the end of the bid.
After about a week of fiddling with the connectors, cleaning and cleaning, I sent it in. Turns out somone had opened the camera and messed with the mirror mechinism. Canon ended up replacing it with a completly refurbished one for 100$, totla with E-Bay purchuse price... $300. I did come out on the good end.. |
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Peter Gaby, Photographer
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Madison | WI | US | Posted: 1:08 PM on 12.23.06 |
->> To Matthew and everyone else wondering about paypal>
they claim that your purchase is covered - but they do not back up that claim.
I spent almost 2 months getting a claim from them taken care of on some Alien Bees flash units that a women in NY was selling.
of the 3 units i purchased, not a one was as described in the e-bay listing.
I immediately made a claim to the seller, and she refused to acknowledge what the problem was, and claimed she described them correctly - I contacted Alien Bees, and they said there was no way that common day to day useage would have cuased the problems that occuried with these units.
paypal finally came through with the claim after Alien Bees backed my complaint about the badly damaged units.
paypal told me to send the units back to the seller, and if and when there was money in her account, they would refund me the money I paid out.
that is not how the claims should have been taken care of from paypal/e-bay.
since that occassion, I have refused to use either of these services.
good news was that Alien Bees will repair these units for me - but I'm still not getting the deal on them that I initally though I was getting.
just my $.02 worth
Pete |
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