I haven't bought anything from them recently, but I've been buying from KEH for years and been happy with them. I like how you can just box it up and send it back if you need to.
Ebay makes me cringe but if you're careful you can get a return. And there are some excellent sellers on there it seems.
B&S here I've gotten some excellent deals, including the gear I'm using now, and I've liked the sellers I've dealt with recently, but generally no return. You see people starting threads speculating if someone trying to return a lens is a scammer. And then there's not a 100% refund. For all I know the lens actually was defective, and if I get a non-working lens, I expect a 100% refund or close. So it's a bit scary.
AmbientMike wrote:
I haven't bought anything from them recently, but I've been buying from KEH for years and been happy with them. I like how you can just box it up and send it back if you need to.
Ebay makes me cringe but if you're careful you can get a return. And there are some excellent sellers on there it seems.
B&S here I've gotten some excellent deals, including the gear I'm using now, and I've liked the sellers I've dealt with recently, but generally no return. You see people starting threads speculating if someone trying to return a lens is a scammer. And then there's not a 100% refund. For all I know the lens actually was defective, and if I get a non-working lens, I expect a 100% refund or close. So it's a bit scary. ...Show more →
With the current paypal rules, we as the buyer very much have the upper hand. If it's not ok we have plenty time to force a return, at the sellers expense and get a full refund. Not much fun for the seller but it does allow more confidence when buying.
Beni wrote:
With the current paypal rules, we as the buyer very much have the upper hand. If it's not ok we have plenty time to force a return, at the sellers expense and get a full refund. Not much fun for the seller but it does allow more confidence when buying.
That's why I allow the buyer to return an item within seven days, for any reason (with prior consent and in as-shipped condition).
Beni wrote:
With the current paypal rules, we as the buyer very much have the upper hand. If it's not ok we have plenty time to force a return, at the sellers expense and get a full refund. Not much fun for the seller but it does allow more confidence when buying.
Excellent point, I hadn't thought about that. Maybe there's not much to worry about.
I've had some good purchases on FM, but also I've had two bad ones. The nearest used camera store ripped me off pretty thoroughly as a buyer and a seller. I've been actually scammed on eBay once, and on multiple occasions I've purchased things that were not as described on eBay. On every occasion, I received my money back from the eBay sellers. Sometimes it was an ordeal, but persistence pays off.
As others have noted, the scales are tilted almost completely in favour of the buyer on eBay. I sell things on eBay and bend over backwards to make sure every little flaw is discussed so that buyers know what they're getting. I have yet to encounter a buyer that tried to rip me off (fingers crossed and I hope I didn't just jink myself!)
My favourite eBay sellers are the Japanese ones, bad English and all. There are dodgy ones, but they're fairly easy to spot. The good ones stand out in contrast. Integrity among the good ones is high, e.g., it costs around $65 USD to ship something back to Japan from Canada, and on several occasions when there was an issue the seller didn't mention (and didn't know about is my guess), the seller has paid return shipping too and apologized profusely.
I bought a lens from Igor through eBay. It was described as being without any signs of use - basically like new. When it arrived, the filter ring was dented. Glass was fine. The filters for it are push-on, so I did not make a fuss, but it definitely put me off.
My experiences here on FM have been almost all 100% positive. There were one or two in which the item was less than described, but still acceptable. And a few people who seemed not all that friendly. But overall, FM is my favorite place to buy.
I recently made a purchase through MPB and the item was very well priced and certainly as good as described.
rico wrote:
Also Robert's in Indiana: https://usedphotopro.com/
They're straight up, have a large selection, and provide full images of each item.
I will 2nd Roberts Camera. Recently bought a lens from them. Easy to deal with. Lens shipped out the same day as the purchase. 1st place I look now for gear, both new & used.
Fredmiranda.com (best by FAR)
Rangefinderforum.com
Craigslist
eBay (via Roberts, Map Camera etc)
Cameraquest
KEH
KEH has gone down hill since Amazon and eBay is now my last resort, having had about a 50/50 experience with items being as-described. Fredmiranda and Rangefinderforum have been great to me, especially posting WTB ads. Craigslist is a mixed bag on what's available, but I've had generally good experience and have actually made friends through a few transactions.
AirbusA380 wrote:
The biggest problem in my view with KEH Is they don't (always) provide photos of the lens...
I don't love that either because I'm in Canada and it's both expensive to ship here, and a mighty pain to return. It's the same with B&H, although one time I asked nicely and B&H sent someone to the warehouse to take cell phone pictures for me! It was a lens where different versions existed (one good, one bad). On that basis I bought the lens.
rdeloe wrote:
I don't love that either because I'm in Canada and it's both expensive to ship here, and a mighty pain to return. It's the same with B&H, although one time I asked nicely and B&H sent someone to the warehouse to take cell phone pictures for me! It was a lens where different versions existed (one good, one bad). On that basis I bought the lens.
That's good to know, thank you for letting us know. I dont mind any scratches on the lens itself but wanted to see what condition the glass was in. Asked but no dice..
I’ve used the buy/sell forum here and MPB in the US and so far so good on both fronts. I’ve found MPB is especially good for selling less in demand items quickly and hassle free, albeit at a slightly reduced price. FM has many good members and very fairly priced used items if you do a little due diligence.
AirbusA380 wrote:
The biggest problem in my view with KEH Is they don't (always) provide photos of the lens...
In doing some recent shopping I didn't like that aspect, either. For some of us these are significant purchases and I want to see what I'm getting.
Anyway, I just bought a lens from here, and all went well.
I have also had excellent experiences at POTN. Both WTB and FS.
I bought a lot of medium format stuff from KEH over a decade ago and my experiences were great.
I have bought three lenses used in the last month... I'm on a roll... and I noticed in my shopping KEH, B&H, and Adorama are all significantly more expensive than FM and POTN, by 10% to 20%, in general.
LastPlace wrote:
I would like to use the buy sell forum, but it seems that a certain number of posts are required to PM the sellers.
Yes, and even then some sellers won't deal with you (or not even respond). This is despite me offering PP Friends as a payment, ergo putting all the risk on myself. While understandable to a certain extent, extremely frustrating.
LastPlace wrote:
I would like to use the buy sell forum, but it seems that a certain number of posts are required to PM the sellers.
AirbusA380 wrote:
Yes, and even then some sellers won't deal with you (or not even respond). This is despite me offering PP Friends as a payment, ergo putting all the risk on myself. While understandable to a certain extent, extremely frustrating.
My ridiculous post-count is well past any limits (except maybe, reason), and so it's a long time since I was on the short-end of the stick (but I was, many moons ago); long story short - I encourage you to use PayPal for an item. Offering payment by gift/for-friends can encourage low-life scumbags to troll on FM, which has been a problem in the past.
Also, I suspect that many FM sellers don't want to deal with anybody outside their own country, and so a "no answer" is probably just as telling as an answer, "no". Don't me wrong, selling internationally isn't trivial, but it is easy. OTOH, the desire to avoid unfamiliar processes and forms has led to the least-efficient and most-expensive possible solution: eBay Global Shipping. Sorry, don't get me started...
Twells wrote:
I will 2nd Roberts Camera. Recently bought a lens from them. Easy to deal with. Lens shipped out the same day as the purchase. 1st place I look now for gear, both new & used.
I just bought two lenses from Roberts (Used Photo Pro). My previous purchase was a Toyo VX23D. I recommend them highly.
One tip: they ALWAYS have a coupon. You should never pay full price because you can always get 5% off listed. And if you ask they'll provide a better deal if they have one.
Everything on their page is also on eBay, for more money. If you see it on eBay, you can buy it from their site directly.
POTN is also a very good source for buying and selling used equipment.
Used Photo Pro has good stuff, and I like they have photos of the actual equipment. They are close in price to FM and POTN.
I've bought MF lenses from KEH many years ago, and they have great stuff, but as someone else mentioned their prices are almost new, so why buy from them? I also don't like that they pretty much only have stock images.
