I will admit to purchasing something photography related on ebay, the SC-19's I got a couple months ago. Came as a package of two, and got 'em for $25 plus S&H. My other used purchases have been the B&S here, from CL, NGS, or one other forum.
Sometimes those really high bids are from scammers. They don't care what they are paying for an item when it is not their money they are spending (high jacked paypal account). I just recently sold a Canon 100-400 on ebay and the high bidder payed $80 over what you could pick up a new one for. They were willing to pay me immediately by paypal but then asked that I ship it to Muldova but their account address was a US address. I had checked the winning bidders feedback and it was 900+ all positive BUT they had been inactive for a while then all of a sudden in two days bought 2 Nikon D300's a laptop and my Canon lens. All previous transactions had been mostly selling golf equipment. It was obviously a scam and was reported immediatly and everything has now been taken care of. I had contacted one of the sellers of one of the D300's and they guy had paid right away by paypal but then a freeze was put on his account due to a fraud investigation. I don't think he had sent the camera out though so he was not out anything.
You really do have to be careful on eBay - especially with high value items. I think the changes they made to the feedback system have rendered it pretty useless as an indicator of trust-worthiness. Personally, however, I have had far worse experiences on craigslist (which I will no longer use). There's something about the total anonominity of it that really brings out the worst in people.
I've had more than one buyer in each of the past few months have the wrong address or an unconfirmed address in PayPal and refunded their money until they reestablished their profile with the corrected/confirmed address...I indicate in my listings that I will ship only to a confirmed address.
Max Power wrote:
None of those have bids, and the 28mm 1.4 went nuts without ebay's help.
I wonder what the owners are going to do to these when Nikon finally announce the replacement. Whatever it is...I don't think it will be 3.5-4K for the new replacement. Ridiculous!
Elan II wrote:
I don't mean to create the wrong impression. I actually find ebay to be very useful and generally safe. I have several rare old lenses that even on ebay only come up a few times a year. Without ebay, there would be none for me to find.
What I see happening a lot is a temporary surge in the price of a particular lens because of a very favorable post at one of the larger photo forums. If I go to a DP Review forum right now and post a glowing review of a particular lens, with a few really nice images, ebay prices can jump as much as 50% for a couple of weeks. Especially if this is a lesser known lens that doesn't usually fetch a premium price. I think photographers as a group are pretty impulsive, where ebay is better suited for cool heads.
I completely agree. 2 years ago I bought a mint Voigtlander 125 Macro for $800 from Ebay and I thought I paid too much since the original price was $699. Then 2-3 months later at NikonCafe someone started comparing it to Zeiss ZF 100/2. Guess what, Ebay prices jump to $1500 average. So I sold it to fund 2 Zeiss ZFs. I also got a Voigtlander 180/4 used from B&H for $260 couple of years ago or so just months prior to its being discontinued. I monitor Ebay and price was in line till late last year when the forums created a buzz and comparing its performance to the CV 125 as the same. Now I can easily get $450-500. But I will hold on to this one this time.
Robert Spencer wrote:
One thing that has always bothered me about ebay is know that winning an auction ( or buy now) means that I was willing to pay more than anyone in the world to get that item! Its hard to come away feeling bright about that kind of purchase. My two cents. Take care. Bob
Bob, you have to tell yourself you won the auction because most people in the world did not realise the good deal to be had here and missed the opportunity they would otherswise have jumped on!
tuannie wrote:
I wonder what the owners are going to do to these when Nikon finally announce the replacement. Whatever it is...I don't think it will be 3.5-4K for the new replacement. Ridiculous!
Tuan
For sure. Nikon needs to get hot on this one and put a stop to this insanity!
I've bought quite a lot of stuff off ebay (photography gear included), and the only issue I've had has been a DVD that was cracked on arrival (seemingly dislodged from it's holder in the post) that the postal carrier wouldn't cover because it was a couple of days between my receiving the package and opening it, and I'd thrown out the packaging.
Bidding on an item before the very end of the auction is silly in my opinion, that's what encourages bidding wars, just waiting until the last minute and bid as much as you're willing to. I have never bought anything off ebay that I wasn't getting at a considerable discount.
p.2 #10 · eBay buyers have basically gone insane..
globalkiwi wrote:
There are good things to be had on eBay but you do have to know how the system works & be knowledgeable about the item you are buying. Just as there are people who will let themselves be drawn into expensive bidding wars, there are sellers who either time or price their auctions poorly & consequently let things go for less than they're worth.
Exactly. Many people who don't know what they are doing blame ebay.
I have bought and sold great gear there. As a seller, it gives my a far larger audience for an item where I can get actual retail value rather than wholesale from KEH.
As a buyer, if a particular lens has a number of listing, you can often get a good deal by offering the seller something on the side. I just bought a mint 300 F4 D lens for $400.
p.2 #11 · eBay buyers have basically gone insane..
Occasionally a seller will put up a listing with an unrealistic price to see the level of interest. I have done that too, put a lens up for sale, just to see if there is any interest. There won't be any bids but people will enquire and add it to the watch list, so if you see a couple of dozen people watching it but no bids you know that there is interest, you just need to adjust the price.
Overall, I've bought and sold most of my equipment on ebay and have had no problems whatsoever, but I am very careful on who I sell and who I buy from.
p.2 #13 · eBay buyers have basically gone insane..
Elan II wrote:
And I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts.
A coconut? Oh lordy...have to dig out my Monty Python script....
Soldier #1: Where'd you get the coconuts?
Arthur: We found them.
Soldier #1: Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
Arthur: What do you mean?
Soldier #1: Well, this is a temperate zone.
Arthur: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land?
Soldier #1: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
Arthur: Not at all. They could be carried.
Soldier #1: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
Soldier #1: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
Arthur: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
Soldier #1: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
Arthur: Please!
Soldier #1: Am I right?
Arthur: I'm not interested!
Soldier #2: It could be carried by an African swallow!
Soldier #1: Oh, yeah, an African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow. That's my point.
Soldier #2: Oh, yeah, I agree with that.
