Buying experience from Ebay

[drave199]

i am wondering if anyone here has buying experience from ebay? i always feel like even though it says "brand new in box" that it isn't.

was looking at this one Panasonic DMC G5KK 16 MP Compact System Camera with 14 42mm Zoom Lens 3 inch LCD 885170098879 | eBay

anyone find a better deal maybe?

its unfortunate cause i found a great deal for $598-came with the body, two lenses, and a memory card. but that price went up

thanks

 

[runnah]

buyer beware is the first phrase that comes to mind.

 

[BrianV]

A seller using Ebay for almost 15 years, 100% feedback on over 3000 transactions, about as good as Ebay can get.

An alternative is cametacamera.com, which gets a lot of close-outs. I bought a new-in-box EPL1 from them for $139- and it was new, in the box.

 

[Rick58]

Always check the feedback. 450 transactions and I've never been stung and have no regrets.
I just picked up a ETR-S body for $50, the guy said it was in good condition. I'd rate it much higher.

 

[drave199]

A seller using Ebay for almost 15 years, 100% feedback on over 3000 transactions, about as good as Ebay can get.

An alternative is cametacamera.com, which gets a lot of close-outs. I bought a new-in-box EPL1 from them for $139- and it was new, in the box.

so considering i missed out on a great deal and this is the cheapest one ive found w/ a lens, i should just do it?

i always just feel weird buying from ebay because you never know if it really isn't new, if it was damaged, fake..etc

just a question considering your a seller, he has over 3000 transactions, most of which were electronics, where does this person get all of them to sell?

 

[JeremyD]

When buying from ebay you can see if the product is from a online ebay store, and as well you can see if it was used or new. If its a store check the feedback and if they have good feedback I would go for it. If its not a store It could be a individual seller so find he feedback again to make your choice to purchase or not., I have purchased many items from ebay and nothing terrible has happened.. yet.

 

[drave199]

When buying from ebay you can see if the product is from a online ebay store, and as well you can see if it was used or new. If its a store check the feedback and if they have good feedback I would go for it. If its not a store It could be a individual seller so find he feedback again to make your choice to purchase or not., I have purchased many items from ebay and nothing terrible has happened.. yet.

how do you check if its an online store or not?

 

[David8]

When buying from ebay you can see if the product is from a online ebay store, and as well you can see if it was used or new. If its a store check the feedback and if they have good feedback I would go for it. If its not a store It could be a individual seller so find he feedback again to make your choice to purchase or not., I have purchased many items from ebay and nothing terrible has happened.. yet.

how do you check if its an online store or not?

On the items page, it will have the "sell information" box on the right. It will say either "See more from this SELLER", or "Visit ONLINE STORE".

I have had a few issues with eBay, one years ago when I wasn't so eBay savvy I didn't check the feedback and never received my item. And another the seller didn't contact me for a week after the sale, but it worked out in the end. There is no need to avoid eBay, just as others have said, check the feedback and try to make contact with the seller before purchasing anything. Just so you can see how promptly they will respond (preferable no less than 48 hours in my opinion (but then again, I live on email so...)).

 

[Railphotog]

Keep in mind PayPal will go to bat for you if you have a problem. Only had a problem once, quite a few years ago for an inexpensive item. Never received it. Contacted eBay/PayPal, they said give us a week. At the end of the week they credited the full amount to my PayPal account. Made me a happy camper, even though the dollar amount was low.

 

[WillisBeansIII]

Bought an old yashica contax 18mm lens that was described as mint. First shot the aperture blades stuck. It was described as used. Couple times no fungus, no oil. It went right back.

 

[bratkinson]

The Latin phrase is Caveat Emptor...Let the buyer beware. Ebay, especially so.

I've been 'taken' a couple of times on ebay, but that was in buying used computer parts that were indicated as working and in one case, a too-good-to-be-true "genuine" copy of Microsoft Office. It was a copy alright, from the sellers CD burner.

As for buying photography equipment on ebay, I've never run into any problems. OK, I bought what was sold as a Canon BG-E9 grip for a 60D for $45 or something like that, from China. It was a good fake, and worked very well, so I wasn't disappointed. The price was too good to be true for genuine Canon, but I didn't know better at that point. I've bought two used Canon L lenses on ebay, both very good deals. I made sure it was a reputable seller by looking at feedback for the past 6-8 months or so, and checked the pictures very closely to see if there were any scuffs, dings, etc. I especially want to see the condition of contacts on the back of the lens, to see if the lens has been on and off the camera a zillion times or perhaps 100-200 times. Of course, the description should also state no fungus, scratches, etc. One seller was a camera store in Japan. The 80-200 f2.8L I got from there was as close to mint as there can be. It works perfectly. My 200 f2.8L came from a seller at a small company that had perfect feedback and had sold some camera gear in the past, as well. When I moved from a point-and-shoot to a used 30D and 2 lenses (3 different sellers), I did the same level of due diligence to make sure my $300, $400 or whatever wasn't getting ripped off. Lesser priced stuff, $50 and under, mostly, other than 'dumb digital rookie photographer mistakes' like buying screw on macro and telephoto converter 'set' for $35 or so, have mostly had OK results. But over $50, I start looking quite closely at the sellers reputation.

The same goes for online stores with impressive web sites such as "Big Savings Camera Depot" (made up name) that nobody ever heard of selling new Canon 5D3 cameras for $500 less than anybody else, etc. Those are guaranteed to take you money and never be heard from again. Or they ship you other than what you bought and paid for, or you wait MONTHS to get it...

And, for what it's worth, I've found that ebay is OK for selling used camera gear, as I have. But their 9% BITE out of the wallet for sellers fees surprised me big time when I sold my 24-70 f2.8L about a year ago. I also have a perfect rating as both seller and buyer.

 

[goodguy]

I hae been buying and selling on ebay for few years now and got burned only once and paypal returned my money so no problems there.
I am very comfortble on ebay but there are few rules to buying on ebay.

1.Check buyers feedback, how many and is it close to 100%
2.There are certain countries I will try to avoid buying from
3.Check the item and ask question if needed
4.Insist on item sent with tracking
5.Always buy with paypal where you have buyers protection

This is like everything else in life a matter of comfort and getting used to, no matter how you look at this there is always a risk factor but as I said in all my dealings except one I was very happy with ebay.

 

[Edsport]

That seller has 3232 transactions and a rating of 100%.
If you knew how the rating system works you shouldn't have any hesitations of buying from him. Also if you pay with paypal your transaction is guaranteed that you receive the item as described or Ebay will see that you are refunded minus shipping costs...

 

[adventurenick]

It's pretty safe to buy on ebay - even if you do get a crummy product, paypal almost always sides with the customer and getting your money back is usually easy. I've had very good success buying on ebay and have gotten some great deals on cameras. Do a search for the completed listings too and you can see what the lowest price the gear you want has been sold for before....gives you an idea of how much you can expect to pay and what kind of deals are occasionally out there.

 

[cynicaster]

The great thing about eBay is it lets you take advantage of all those people who buy nice gear on a whim, realize that they're too lazy to learn how to use it, then turn around and sell it in barely-used condition for much less than retail.

A few months ago I picked up three speedlights from eBay--a Canon 580 EXII,a 430EX, and a 320EXII--all for several dollars less than what it would have cost me to buy just the 580 brand new.

All of them work great and are in perfect condition; I've really enjoyed experimenting with off-camera multi-flash setups in the warmth of my basement while the cold winter passes by outside. I ended up giving the 320 to my dad for Christmas, and kept the other two for myself.