Nowadays, I buy more camera gear from Japan than from U.S. stores. I had orders that were 20 miles away from my house and took four days to ship to me, whereas my orders from Japan, and the majority of them from MAP will take only three days. Return is easy, too. Basically, it's no different than U.S stores.
I got my CV 28/1.5 from Map Camera via Ebay, and it went perfectly fine. I definitely would buy from them again. I live in Denmark, and it's impressive how lenses I order in Japan will make it here faster than when I order something from Germany.
I once bought something from them via eBay (US eBay, not Buyee) which had a problem. I don't remember exactly what but it would've been an old Nikon film camera or film-era lens, something in the sub-$500 space. It arrived with an undisclosed problem, again I don't remember exactly what. They honored their return policy, sure...but then promptly blocked me from their future listings. It's hard not to take that to mean that they're knowingly posting gear with problems, or at least without doing any checking or testing, and hoping that most people simply won't notice anything but the most severe problems.
(Let me reiterate, lest anyone accuse: I was not abusing their return policy, this was my first and only return [and maybe third purchase overall] with them.)
Lee Saxon wrote:
I once bought something from them via eBay (US eBay, not Buyee) which had a problem. I don't remember exactly what but it would've been an old Nikon film camera or film-era lens, something in the sub-$500 space. It arrived with an undisclosed problem, again I don't remember exactly what. They honored their return policy, sure...but then promptly blocked me from their future listings. It's hard not to take that to mean that they're knowingly posting gear with problems, or at least without doing any checking or testing, and hoping that most people simply won't notice anything but the most severe problems.
(Let me reiterate, lest anyone accuse: I was not abusing their return policy, this was my first and only return [and maybe third purchase overall] with them.)...Show more →
Lee ... how would you feel about purchasing something like an M11, SL3, X2D from them? Specifically, I've had recent purchases from sources that had sensor issues (column errors / dead pixels) and / or had very dirty sensors. For items of that ilk, any advice / guidance about how to approach MAP (or others) to ensure it comes without such issues.
I mean, I see they tend to post a picture of the sensor on their listing, but that really doesn't show the true condition of it (cleanliness or pixel errors). Thoughts
Also, is their "installment" available to U.S. customers? Has anybody used installments with them?
For a high cost item and specifically a used digital camera, I would feel more comfortable dealing with a reputable domestic source that has a solid return policy.
The appeal of buying from Japan and Map specifically is IMO for items where there is a substantial difference in price between the Japan and US markets. For me this would mean Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses, where saving a few hundred on a sub $1000 lens is a decent amount.
I haven't recently priced Leica in Japan but when I was there a while ago and visited Map and other stores, Leica was more expensive than elsewhere (new and used). I just had a browse through Map's eBay listing for Canon products and was generally underwhelmed. Their selection is huge but TBH, their pricing is often only 10-15% below retail for the majority of items currently still in production. That's not enough of a price difference for a used item to interest me. Even if it comes with their own 1 year warranty, it's not going to be a seamless process if the item should require servicing after the return period has expired.
Therefore my point is it needs to be worthwhile. Either it's a very good price that compensates against potential issues that can arise from it being an international transaction, or it's something difficult to find in your home market and the other risks are offset by the need/desire for the item.
If it is Leica or Hasselblad, may I suggest camerawest? There is one near where I live. It is both a bless and a curse. They gave me a really good trade-in value for my used gear, and they have a huge selection of used gear that are reasonably priced. Their rating system is very good too. They have been around for a long time. Even the Leica store in San Francisco is part of their net work, so their store credit works at the Leica store too.
RustyBug wrote:
Lee ... how would you feel about purchasing something like an M11, SL3, X2D from them?
My 2 cents, I wouldn't mind through eBay US / PayPal. Their buyer protection, plus the fact that IMHO a store as big as MAP is probably always going to honor their return policy voluntarily so they don't get bad seller rating. Just, like I said, it may be your one and only MAP transaction. Can't get a bad seller rating from people who just aren't allowed to bid.
Now, the Buyee relay thing from eBay JP? I'd be faaaar more cautious with that. I haven't tried it yet so maybe the whole process is smoother than it looks, but I don't think I'd spend more there than I was willing to lose.
