Ebay package deals?

[Parks71]

Are they worth it if you are brand new to this and have nothing? They have like 2-3 lens, filters, camera bag, tripod, memory card and all kinds of stuff for a few hundred more. Is it worth it?

 

[Vinny]

NO! I would not spend that much money from an ebay merchant. What quality are you getting? You don't know. Does it carry a warranty? It might not.

My advice is to go to a store, look at the cameras that interest you and get a price. The store I bought from gave me a price that was about $100 less than what I saw on-line from the big camera stores. As was said on this site before the lens is important and buying an ebay lens not knowing what you're getting or how to tell what you're getting is a big mistake. If you can't afford everything all at once buy the camera body with it's kit lens and get used to using it. Buy another lens when you can.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I don't agree at all with Vinny about ebay merchants. There are a**hole merchants everywhere. Not just on ebay.

Now, a package deal, no matter where, is usually not worth it. It usually is just a way to sell you some cheap crap that sounds good as part of a deal but is really worthless when you look at it piece by piece.

Not to say you shouldn't buy one of those packages. Sometimes, you will find one that is worth it even if you end up throwing half of the stuff into the garbage as soon as you get it. The big question is whether or not you are able to figure it out before buying.

 

[Big]

Definitely don't do it. Here's a quick story... Last summer, I was looking to buy a 40 or 50D so of course I went to Ebay and found a dealer. I saved up enough money and when I went to buy it, I sent them emails with questions about guarantee and some other things. I never got an email back after I sent 3 exact copies over 3 weeks. So I decided to go for it anyway and turned out, the company had gone out of business and when I read the feedback it was LOADED with negative comments about how people never received their orders after paying thousands of dollars...
Glad I didn't do it... Went to Ritz instead, paid more but I know what I got...
Everything happens for a reason!

 

[TiCoyote]

If you pick out the items you want, and buy them individually, you'll pay a little more and get much better quality. All of those cheap lenses, cleaners, filters, and tripods have a huge markup. Start with a used or refurbished body and one or two decent lenses. Then see what else you need from there. You probably don't need a bunch of cheap filters.

 

[prodigy2k7]

I got my Canon Rebel XTi (in a package deal) on ebay, i threw away about half of what I received....Most of it was CRAP.

 

[benhasajeep]

Most of the items in the ebay "packages" are just cheap fluff to make the numbers bigger. Another thing to watch is they will list things that normally come with the camera anyway acting like they are including them in the "package" as a bonus.

But one of the biggest scams is the big lens "packages" like a 5 or 6 or 7 LENS "Kit". When in fact several of the items they are calling a "lens" is nothing but a screw on lens ADAPTER!. Which is useually of questionable quality. These kits are for people who see big numbers and thinks its a good deal. They prey on the uninformed!