Reading this thread with interest since I came close a few times to purchase a lens from a Japanese seller. I always had second thoughts and didn't do it because either the item was not clearly described, or issues were obvious from the photos. The attractive price is often the shown one - but after adding shipping and especially taxes, the risk was too high for my taste. Shipping it back after paying tax etc isn't easy either IMO. Reputable sellers might reimburse but unknown how long this will take plus possible changes in the currency exchange rate etc etc.
In the end, I decided to set my ebay screen to North America purchases only. It is a more limited selection, but by having patience it always got me what I was looking for. Even in recent years I only rarely bought photo gear from ebay and used other purchase&selling online platforms here in the US instead (and no, it is not KEH either!).
I've had no problem with Japanese sellers, in fact they've always been great to work with. If given a choice, I go with the Japanese seller nine times out of ten.
retrofocus wrote:
Reading this thread with interest since I came close a few times to purchase a lens from a Japanese seller. I always had second thoughts and didn't do it because either the item was not clearly described, or issues were obvious from the photos. The attractive price is often the shown one - but after adding shipping and especially taxes, the risk was too high for my taste. Shipping it back after paying tax etc isn't easy either IMO. Reputable sellers might reimburse but unknown how long this will take plus possible changes in the currency exchange rate etc etc.
In the end, I decided to set my ebay screen to North America purchases only. It is a more limited selection, but by having patience it always got me what I was looking for. Even in recent years I only rarely bought photo gear from ebay and used other purchase&selling online platforms here in the US instead (and no, it is not KEH either!). ...Show more →
That's what I do now - filter for North America. Way less issues if need to return.
Usually I get by with overpaying and I'm very careful checking the photos and descriptions, but you can't always rely on them.
My most recent purchase there was a significant mark not present in the description or photos (possibly due to the very high diffusion, or photoshop) but it's put me in a mood, as what happens when people get scammed - that seller will have the pleasure of receiving my first negative feedback.
It's a bit of a gamble buying used, particularly importing - and you can completely ignore the titles. Obviously you can't expect perfection with a used item, despite what the title, description, (misleading) photos and high price would have anyone that's not accustomed to their listings assuming.
Importing to the UK, you're paying 20% import tax (and a small fee) - an issue with returns as I'm not sure if that's even possible to get back. Technically it should be, there's forms to fill with the government but you make the payment to DHL/Fedex and not direct or with ebay, so I don't know. I'll try to find out.
That's probably why many of them even offer the returns in the first place.
It's been a while for me and so I wonder if I were to go to stores in Japan myself, what condition I would get for the same prices they're charging, even ignoring the import tax.
I've never had a problem with Japanese sellers, pictures and description are always accurate, just ignore the "condition". Shipping is crazy fast, never more than 4 days for me on the west coast. Haven't bought from any Japanese sellers since the tariffs, but I still browse and they are the only sellers that include tariffs in the upfront price, which is great.
Had great experiences with Ukrainian sellers recently too, shipping is not fast, but descriptions and photos are accurate and prices are good. Latest purchase, the seller listed the value as $10 for a lens I'd paid $70 for and USPS didn't collect any tariff.
Honestly, US sellers are the only ones I've had issues with. And that is mostly due to ignorance or selling items as 'Used', i.e. working, without testing them first. Even then, I've found that as a buyer it's pretty hard to actually lose any money if you're careful. Often, I'll get a refund and they tell me to keep the item because they don't want to pay to ship it back.
I've made four purchases since the tariffs. Canada, UK, and Japan twice. The first was Canada, and neither I, the seller, or ebay could figure out what the tariff would be. The amounts are not written down into law, and are verbally determined by one person who changes his mind constantly through social media posts, verbal statements, and executive orders. The amounts do not agree with previous declarations - and finding a chronological sequence is impossible. There are two tariffs (linked). The tariff, and the reciprocal tariff (revenge/punishment - heavily edited since August). Ebay gave me these two links for me to try and anticipate how much it would be - even though their "lawyers could not figure it out" (via a chat session). The analogy that helped me was to compare it to eating in a restaurant that sells each item individually, but has no prices on the menu. Each purchase is like subjecting your wallet to this secret pricing two times. The items I purchased I could not find in the US - or in acceptable condition. Not counting local taxes - the two tariffs added 39.6% to 54.3% to the total cost of the item. I always try searching "US only" now. Hopefully the Supreme court will follow the law and constitution, and restore the de minimis exemption.
I buy dozens of items from Japan, annually. Some through eBay, others through shopping services located in Japan. The only problem I've had with items from Japan (in 23 years on eBay) is having the order cancelled, after purchase. I haven't lost any money on these transactions.
In my experience, the worst supplier to recover a refund from, is Amazon. Twice in the last two years, I've had great difficulty in getting refunds for items that were cancelled by Amazon, before delivery. The first runaround is that their system has to wait until the item is returned (but, I never got it). The fact that their system doesn't include "was not delivered", doesn't help. OTOH, two years ago, eBay refused to send me a refund for a 'never received' item, when their own tracking showed the item entered an eBay shipping centre, and never emerged from it. PayPal covered me.
I have stopped selling to US customers, until after this crazy situation becomes closer to the nearly-sane situation that it used to be.
I have had mixed experiences.
In one case I ordered a bronica lens in error....the seller accepted a return and didn't charge the postage cost.
Another sent me a Bronica lens that was clearly defective and badly repaired....eBay ensured I had the cost of the lens refunded. I asked the seller what he wanted me to do with it, and was waiting for a return label from him...but none of my messages received a response; so I still have it.
The downside is I paid import duty on the defective lense and won't get those costs back. Strangely...no duties on the lens ordered in error.
Generally, over the years, I have had nothing but good experiences with Japanese sellers on ebay. Since the tariffs went into effect, I have ordered a few lenses from MAP Camera in Japan. I would put their descriptions and assessment of condition right up there with B&H, et al. They have outstanding photography, so you definitely know what you're buying.
They also pay the tariffs as part of the transaction, so no drama and the shipping is usually fast and free. Overall, I can highly recommend them for specialty items that aren't as readily available from US sellers.
First of all, there are a few large scale used camera shops in Japan, Map camera, and Kitamura camera. I have found them pretty conservative in terms of rating lenses. If you're ever in Japan, visit their shops... you will see first hand that they tend to rate pretty conservatively/harshly imo.
Even under the most diffuse light I could muster, it's more visible than in the listing shots.
Mint and "beautiful condition" in the listings mean jack. Most won't take real photos of the item under normal light even when asked as I'm often told the items are "stored in a warehouse".
Every older lens so far has some sort of issue, whether the aperture ring is tight, focus is too loose, has play. All the lenses (nikon ai-s) were purchased as "top mint" from different sellers with very high/perfect feedback.
Local stores in the UK aren't much better though. If you're going to buy something older, be prepared to take up repair as a hobby - unless you want to get scammed by local repair shops, like the last one who just told me I need to replace the entire meter on the fm2n to swap out the viewfinder. He's a specialist in this specific camera too.
Never opened a camera up in my life and managed to take off the viewfinder from the meter easily. Viewfinder had issues not mentioned or shown in the listing.
I've had better luck with more modern items, you should be okay with "Top Mint" usually, better if "Unused" - which still won't actually be unused condition - but if there's even a hint of something not quite right, and you're paying for top, then skip it and don't waste your time messaging them. And if you go ahead, don't be shocked if it's not as described or shown.
They're trying to make a profit on junk, if it's not junk - they'll ask for the moon, and it will probably still have something a bit off. Call it out, leave the negative feedback, maybe they'll do better in the future - unless ebay removes the feedback for them.
I've had modern lenses come back with fungus, decentering. If it's possible to get new, I'll pay for the headache saving but some nice things just aren't sold anymore.
I'm sure people have had good experiences, I've had some myself. But it's important people are aware that it's not all rosey, especially on the older stuff.
Set your expectations low, no matter what the description, title or photos show. It's not something you can solve by paying for perfect, good chance you still won't get it and would have been better off paying only a bit unreasonable of an ask.
^ that one got returned, it was also massively off focus and the viewfinder glue was spreading inside the eyepiece.
Last 3 purchases, also all "top mint":
- massively decentered lens, seller gaslit
- extremely dusty lens, like insect parts that I can easily see with eye - didn't show up in their closeup photos (completely clear) but shows up for a fraction of a second in a video as he rotates it against a messy background. Seller gaslit.
- fungus visible with eye, yet to contact seller
The vintage stuff at this point is a giant collection of trash being sold at inflated prices flooded with misleading sellers.
Just bought an SMC Pentac-M 35-70mm f/2.8-3.5 from Japan for $119 including shipping and tariffs. Listed as EXC+++, free returns for 30 days. It works perfectly, no issues with the glass, only the most minor cosmetic wear on the outside (visible in the photos). Arrived in 3 days.
The only option on eBay for that lens in the US in comparable condition cost $50-$110 more.
