Argh apologies for this useless thread, but I'm quite worried and anxious (extreme buyers remorse)
It's my first time ever that I have purchased 2nd hand gear. Is there anything to look out for when the new gear arrives? (This thread comes a little too late in terms of things to look out for prior to buying )
Should the Gear be cleaned and rigourously tested immediately on receipt or am I just being paranoid?
I just bought a 1D Mark III on Ebay (40K clicks) at $2800 AUD including postage (in comparison the Canon 7D costs AUD $2400 and Canon 5D Mark II costs $3700 brand new and $5400 for the 1D3 brand new) . Not sure if this is a very good deal cause it's my first 2nd hand purchase (It is a 55+ serial and comes with spare battery and the all important box
The prices on Ebay are so low it makes me feel a bit suspicious actually, but the seller seems legit
I missed out on a Sigma 800mm f/5.6 EX HSM from the same seller which was sold for $3350 AUD (USD $3000) so I'm spewing about that one...though to be honest I only would have used it about twice a year
I've always been pretty happy with my second hand purchases. Just put it through it's paces when you get it. Make sure all the various settings work properly. In all likelihood, everything will be fine.
I recently picked up a Canon 300mm f/4 IS L from ebay. About half the cost of a new one. I wasn't happy with it so it's off at the clinic for a checkup. If it needs new bits and they can make it all shiny and new then I'm not too fussed about paying for it. Do not want to see the cost of purchase + repair get above the cost of a new one obviously
Overall I'm sure the cost of a few repairs on top of second hand pricing will not overtake the cost of buying new gear all the time.
I would think that ebay is probably a bit more risky than buying from the FM Buy & Sell forum. At least here you know that people with multiple sales are likely to care about their gear more than a casual ebay'er.
I think you must ask yourself, "what am I willing to accept?"
Once you have purchased an item new and take it home it now becomes used. Say you just open the box to examine it and you take a picture of your cat. The item is now used!!
There are a lot of people who buy items just to try them out, rather then renting them, and they have buyers remorse followed by a sale of said item.
Just learn to ask the right questions and be sure to look up the rep of the individual you buy from. Flea Bay has a lot of caveats associated with it and is not the best place to buy used camera equipment.
I'm proud to say that all of my Canon gear is second-hand. If I hadn't of bought it second-hand, I wouldn't have as nice of a kit as I do. The body came from a local camera store and the lenses came from either Fleabay, here, or my dad (he needed to sell his 70-200/4 IS so he could upgrade to the 70-200/2.8 IS). Generally, I prefer sellers I find through here and other photography forums, local sellers, or reputable gear shops (local and online), but if I can't find the item or price that I'm looking for through those channels, I'll go to Fleabay.
Obviously, your deal is done, but for me, unless it's something really cheap, I look and see whether or not the seller is open to refunds in the event that I get the item and find that there's something really wrong with it in addition to checking their feedback.
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