Why??
Sam
Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
A lazy Saturday.....I browsed the Canon lens section of E-Bay. I noticed several things. First everyone wants to get paid by paypal, and the buyer is supposed to add 3%. I think this is one of those against policy but everyone does it things.
The real question however is why does any one buy a lens from E-Bay?
Most of the prices I saw were ether very close to or higher than say B&H?
Even if you say save say 5% or 10% you are buying from an unknown without any real warranty that you will even get the item or if it even works.
I have no clue as to why anyone would do this. The risk reward equation is heavily in the risk column.
Why not spend any where from a little more to LESS and deal with a highly reputable company like B&H??
Sam
The real question however is why does any one buy a lens from E-Bay?
Most of the prices I saw were ether very close to or higher than say B&H?
Even if you say save say 5% or 10% you are buying from an unknown without any real warranty that you will even get the item or if it even works.
I have no clue as to why anyone would do this. The risk reward equation is heavily in the risk column.
Why not spend any where from a little more to LESS and deal with a highly reputable company like B&H??
Sam
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I didn't buy a new lens on Ebay, but I did buy a used camera body with a bunch of included accessories - Canon 50D with battery grip, 4 batteries, charger, original software, strap, and packaging. I won the auction for $950, plus $20 shipping, which is a great bargain for that equipment in used but excellent condition, and I consider it a steal considering the perfect condition that it was all in when it arrived. If someone had handed me the box and said, "This is a brand-new camera and battery grip", I would not have disputed it.
I was nervous about buying from an individual, as opposed to buying from a known, legitimate vendor, especially since it was about a $900 purchase. But I checked out the seller's profile, feedback, and length of time as an Ebay seller, and all things came back excellent.
I wound up with a pristine product, in conditions exactly as described, and paid way less than I would have from a vendor. In fact, I was lucky on the auction and actually got a great price when compared to similar used camera bodies selling on Ebay. And in my case, the seller was not far away - just on the eastern shore of MD - so the item arrived very quickly, and she was also One Of Us, i.e. someone who takes excellent care of her equipment, so everything I got with the deal was in pristine, like-new condition. I really feel like I bought a brand-spanking-new camera, and a bunch of brand-spanking-new accessories, for the price of a far more used one.
I felt that I had reasonable protections against fraud, with Ebay's and Paypal's complaint procedures, and since the sale was actually charged by Paypal to my credit card, which has additional protections. Had anything been wrong with the item when it arrived, I was confident that I could return it and get my money back. Thus, the risk-to-reward equation seemed fair and balanced to me.
As to buying a new lens from a vendor on Ebay, well... I would only do so from an established vendor - several of them sell closeouts and sale items in their Ebay stores - and I would only do so if the price+shipping was a bargain compared to regular online retail.
But the "add 3% for Paypal" thing, that's a deal-killer for me. It's explicitly against Paypal policy; there is no gray area here, it's specifically spelled out in the terms of service. Now, personally, if it wasn't against the TOS, I wouldn't really have a problem with it, as long as it was stated in the auction description, just like shipping costs. But since it's against the TOS, I won't bother patronizing any seller who does it. It smacks of disreputability to me.
I know you've been to an auction before, right Sam? And when you did, you did notice how out of control folks get. They just cannot stand, not winning. SO they bid and win and pay more for their find than they would have paid had they bought it new. I figure a lot of folks buying eBay must be of similar ilk. Not all folks, but a bunch of folks!
WillCAD and others have shown how to buy @ eBay and get what it is their after. And with that kind of sleuthing it is possible to bring home a great find and purchase.
I told my cousin last week when he asked about a lens he was wanting to buy from eBay. I said: It is the first place I go to sell and the last place I go to buy. And +/- I think I covered it for me. Translated means, I am very glad folks are buying on eBay, because I have sold several lenses there when I could not get a bite-on-the-line here, but needed to sell.
Unless it is some exotic lens that cannot be found elsewhere, I don't touch eBay for lenses. I'm pretty well addicted to being able to return things if need be.
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I think another reason some buyers go to ebay is to save on sales tax. Here in NY, I could save almost 10% just from that alone, well, 8.75% actually.
Yipe! In Maryland we almost had a violent revolution when they raised the sales tax from 5% to 6%. And I thought it was high in Florida, where most counties are 7% or 7.5%.
8.75% sales tax is highway robbery.
I purchase a lot of my gear on eBay. You have to be diligent in your homework and set a price in your mind of what you are willing to pay (and how much you can get it somewhere else!). I research the item, the seller and the seller's feedback. I see what other things the seller has sold and I only buy from US sellers. I only pay with PayPal. As was previously stated, you can not get emotionally involved in the bidding. I search for the item and place my max bid that I am willing to pay and don't go back to the auction until it is over, because I am one of those people that ebay seller's love...I've "gotta" win!
Try 19% as we have in Holland - and we are not the highest in EU.
9.5% in Seattle
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Didn't you crazy kids just win some sort of "best place to live in the Universe" award or something? Perhaps there is something to all that taxation
Then don't come to SoCal !!!
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I suppose we all pay tax though the method varies. In Europe we have very high sales tax on the principle that people who can afford to buy stuff they don't strictly need should pay the most. Stuff like food is generally zero rated for sales tax, books too in some countries. Unfortunately cameras do not qualify as a necessity anywhere in EU!
Businesses get a break in that sales tax can be reclaimed when you need your camera for your business. Then sales tax can be zero on cameras. Plus you get to deduct the cost from income (same in the US) so you can end up paying one third of the sticker price for your new gear. One advantage to setting up your business properly as a legal entity.
Not sure why I bother to write this, except I am putting off the gardening.