Buying on ebay

bigsnowdog · February 2, 2008

Have any of you purchased lenses on ebay, and if so, how did it work for you? Do you find it a good way to buy?

SloYerRoll · February 2, 2008

It's all about the sellers ratings.
Also trust your gut.

Ebay is good if your not a sucker..:D

Telecorder · February 2, 2008

Perform Due Dilgence

SloYerRoll wrote:

It's all about the sellers ratings.
Also trust your gut.
Ebay is good if your not a sucker..:D

e-Bay can result in some great deals IF you do your due diligence as suggested and check the ratings for the seller; know what the prices for new & used equipment are averaging and correspond with the seller if they're not a mass e-tailer; Set your upper limit and don't exceed it by getting caught up in last minute bidding frenzies; consider using an auto sniping software if becoming frustrated (can sometimes be an evil necessity)

I've purchased my D50 as a Cameta Camera Demo Kit -- great firm but their auctions can be bid up for their Demo kits to more than the cost of new;

I purchased my Bigma lens for $535 :ivar

when most used Bigmas were going for $750; It took about 6-weeks of bidding multiple offerings and it was from a private owner but I checked out his feedback, examined the photos of the lens carefully and asked a number of questions via e-mail -- response time and wording can give indications of whether seller is trust worthy;

I purchased my Kenko Pro 1.4X TC from Kea Photo in Hong Kong for $135 delivered with no issues in any way

Thus, one can get great bargains BUT one must be patient, do their due diligence carefully and know what's a fair price for the item (keep an eye on the shipping as a lot make up for the low price by out rageous shipping costs... and remember caveat emptor on too good to be true scenarios)

jdryan3 · February 2, 2008

I'm not sure what you are looking for but have you tried the Flea Market here (dgrin), or Fred Miranda's Buy & Sell ?
Also B&H and Adorama have decent used gear. I haven't bought any from them, but from what I've read they usually rate the gear fairly conservatively.

DsrtVW · February 3, 2008

Ebay yes but
I won a Nikon AF 50mm f1.8 made in japan 73.00+10.00 shipping I won it on the night of the 31st and it arrived in todays mail. It is mint and it shoots well on my camera as far as I can tell for the 20 minutes I played with it tonight. This was a 100% feedback sellersince 1999, and by his perfomance on his shipping proves him to be a top notch ebayer. I had been watching these lenses for a week watching prices for 1.4, 1.8 and even 1.2 manual and auto focus. Bid on some but did not get caught up in a frenzy you have to let them go sometime. this one I got and I am going to shoot a wedding with it.
I bought a Sigma 400mm prime f5.6 APO for 390.00 shipped I probably could have found one cheaper but they do not come up as often as the 50mm
Still a good lense that fit my budget and takes great pictures.
Do not get caught up in the bidding frenzy do not take it personal if someone outbids you. It could be a plant that is trying to jack up the bidding or just a snipping.
Watch for a while if it is a common item. search for mispelled brand names.
Look for lots of pictures and ask lots of questions a good seller will be willing to answer or provide more pictures.
Good hunting

gus · February 3, 2008

I buy almost everything through ebay & a lot from asia. I buy camera gear/television parts/food processors you name it.

My 2 rules are :

1/ Buy from a well established power seller & before bidding/buying check that the feed back goes well back & thus isnt a hi-jacked account.

2/ ref rule one.

.

rpcrowe · February 4, 2008

I have bought several lenses on eBay...
I have had no problems with the purchase of the following four lenses 90mm f/2.8 Tamron Macro, 400mm f/5.6L, 400mm Tokina ATX (which I purchased prior to obtaining the 400mm f/5.6L) and the 300mm f/4L IS lens. Actually the 400mm Tokina is a pretty darn sharp lens and I fell in love with the 400mm focal length. It doesn't autofocus as fast as the 400l (few lenses do) but it certainly was not a lemon.

I got the Tamron and Tokina for less than $125 each including shipping and I got the 300L and 400L for just a little more than the price I would have paid for a new 100-400L zoom.

I was only stung a wee bit when I purchased a Manfrotto 488RC2 Ball Head. I used this head for a couple of years and then I realized that I was working with the predecessor to the 486RC2 head not, the 488RC2. I didn't realize the difference until I took a close look at a picture of the 488RC2. That was my own fault though.

OsirisPhoto · February 4, 2008

The only issues I have ever had buying from Ebay are with sellers based in China. Counterfeit memory card, conterfeit video card, seller lying about location (said UK based, was Hong Kong), 2 cases of no-delivery (a pain since quoted delivery time is up to 4 weeks), zero communication (filing an issue report with Paypal seems to work).

Things seem to 'get lost in the mail' a lot from HK

I always keep purchase amounts to a few £ when buying from there.

As for feedback scores, Ebay seems designed to discourage genuine feedback .. buyers worried about recieving negative feedback if they do so for example.

Remford · February 4, 2008

Hyperbaric wrote:

As for feedback scores, Ebay seems designed to discourage genuine feedback .. buyers worried about recieving negative feedback if they do so for example.

Such is not the case anymore.

claudermilk · February 4, 2008

gus wrote:

I buy almost everything through ebay & a lot from asia. I buy camera gear/television parts/food processors you name it.

My 2 rules are :

1/ Buy from a well established power seller & before bidding/buying check that the feed back goes well back & thus isnt a hi-jacked account.

2/ ref rule one.

.

Good rules there. Also, check for what the going price is for the item & decide on a maximum amout you're willing to bid for the ebay item (obviously it should be lower than wha t you can just buy it for elsewhere)--then stick to it. If someone else bids the auction higher, walk away--another one will show up later. I see so many auctions go for higher than the normal price because people get caught up in the "I have to win" mentality. Case in point, when I was jumping into digital it took me six auctions to get my camera because they kept getting bid higher than I was willing to spend, eventually one didn't & I got my target price--from Cameta coincidentally.

Buying on ebay

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