Ebay?

[Jullee]

I've never used an SLR camera before but I'm at the point where I'm very much ready to move beyond using a point and shoot camera... so, I'd like to purchase my first digital SLR... probably the Canon Digital Rebel.

Now, I'm lost as to where to start when considering where to buy the camera... a few friends have recommended Ebay, and frankly, the deals are quite good, but I'm a bit apprehensive...

Some of the auctions have nifty packages ranging from 1200$ Canadian to 1500$ (and when you include everything in there, it's much cheaper than buying each piece individually... camera, memory card, card reader, camera bag, etc).

Has anyone purchased a bundle from Ebay and if so, do you recommend a specific seller or group (I've noticed many of the sellers are actual auction stores)??

If this isn't recommended, what's the best place to buy equipment in Canada? (I'm located in northern ontario, so I'd probably be best to order from somewhere as there's not much locally).

Thanks!

 

[Big Mike]

I'd stay away from anything that looks too good to be true. There are a lot of those on E-bay.

You may be able to find a deal on E-bay but I personally like buying from a reputable dealer when making a purchase this big. Lots of stores do sell on E-bay...prices are probably not much different from their regular prices on most items.

Some Canadian Retailers...

http://www.henrys.com they are in Ontario

http://www.mcbaincamera.com here in Edmonton, they have free shipping in Canada and a lowest price guarantee...see details though

http://www.cameracanada.com/ this is an on-line outlet so the prices are pretty good. In Ontario as well I think.

Canon currently has a rebate program...if you buy the D Rebel they will send you $100.

 

[Canon Fan]

I still highly recommend www.buydig.com thats where I bouhgt my 10D from and had great service and super fast shipping. Good prices too.

 

[Bokeh]

I'd stay away from anything that looks too good to be true. There are a lot of those on E-bay.

Mike,

I've been doing business on ebay for years... Here are the secrets to staying safe on ebay IMHO, I hope it helps:

1) NEVER buy from out of the country - EVER! The only times I've gotten burned have always been out of the usa
2) NEVER buy from a buyer who is new
3) Always check the "total" price - many people try and 'slip in" high shipping costs and lower the selling price
4) Always wait until the very last minute to bid. Why get in a bidding war and create a high selling price? That only helps the seller. I don't use those "sniper" programs but have considered it on one item I kept losing on and had a hard time finding. Oddly, Ebay is fine with people using those things.
5) Prefer the "Power sellers" and, in general, the more feedback a peson has the better. Trust me, feedback is ultra important to people. I had a guy one time who I bought a disk drive from. He said it failed just before mailing it. He went out and BOUGHT a brand new one (the one I was buying was used) and cited feedback as the reason - he got great feedback from me of course.

More on feedback... If someone has negative feedback, don't just decide not to do business iwth them though; check out "why." OFten times some guy was a jerk and just got pissed. Check the reasons for the negatives. What to look for obviously is "I never got my item, he ripped me off!" But ignore negatives like "He hurt my feelings "

But, if someone has less than 95% feedback, I tend to shy away. And if someone has less than like 50 entries, I shy away also unless it's a pretty inexpensive item.

In short regarding feedback... The more feedback the better. The higher price of item you're buying, the more cautious you need to be. Favor the "Power Seller"

Regarding buying new vs. buying used

I personally favor buying used equipment, and here's why. When you buy new, esp. electronics, you take a hit right away. If you buy used, often you can get out of it roughly what you bought it for. Case in point, just sold my 300d. I bought it for about $650 about 8 months ago. I sold it for $575. That's awesome. If I had bought it for the $1000 it was going for 8 months ago, I"d have taken a huge hit. Unfortunately, I had to buy a 20d new since there aren't many of those running around used yet.

Cheers

 

[Bokeh]

Has anyone purchased a bundle from Ebay and if so, do you recommend a specific seller or group (I've noticed many of the sellers are actual auction stores)??

Thanks!

Most of the time the "bundle" kits are targeted at newbies who don't know exactly what they're looking for, and when you start looking at the details of what's in the "package" it is sub-par items.

 

[Big Mike]

1) NEVER buy from out of the country - EVER! The only times I've gotten burned have always been out of the usa
2) NEVER buy from a buyer who is new
3) Always check the "total" price - many people try and 'slip in" high shipping costs and lower the selling price
4) Always wait until the very last minute to bid. Why get in a bidding war and create a high selling price? That only helps the seller. I don't use those "sniper" programs but have considered it on one item I kept losing on and had a hard time finding. Oddly, Ebay is fine with people using those things.
5) Prefer the "Power sellers" and, in general, the more feedback a person has the better. Trust me, feedback is ultra important to people. I had a guy one time who I bought a disk drive from. He said it failed just before mailing it. He went out and BOUGHT a brand new one (the one I was buying was used) and cited feedback as the reason - he got great feedback from me of course.

All very good tips.

I have nothing against buying on E-bay. I have purchased quite a few things over the last couple of years. With high demand, high ticket items like the Digital Rebel and other DSLR cameras...it's best to use caution because these are the items that shady sellers use to take advantage of naive consumers. There are plenty of good deals but if it looks too good to be true...it probably is.

Plus, being in Canada. There are more complicated shipping issues to deal with. Tax, duty & hidden fees from the currier can jack the price up really quickly.

 

[Bokeh]

Plus, being in Canada. There are more complicated shipping issues to deal with. Tax, duty & hidden fees from the currier can jack the price up really quickly.

OH yeah, another note, when I said don't buy out of the country, I didn't include Canada in that statement; I've bought and sold to there. It's like another state, only better because it has socialized medicine 8)

 

[Big Mike]

It's like another state

I disagree

only better

I agree

:twisted: :roll:

 

[Bokeh]

It's like another state

I disagree

only better

I agree

:twisted: :roll:

LOL

 

[Daniel]

NEVER buy from out of the country - EVER! The only times I've gotten burned have always been out of the usa

No offense, but the only time I've gotten burned was from the US.

 

[Bokeh]

NEVER buy from out of the country - EVER! The only times I've gotten burned have always been out of the usa

No offense, but the only time I've gotten burned was from the US.

That's odd, it's never once happened to me. I suspect some of the other rules of thumb mentioned above were violated; did you check the feedback?

Bid away; I know I'll never buy out of the US again. Take care

 

[toxic_stars]

what i do, there are many sites online that sell new equpiment cheaper then what you will find on ebay.

www.nextag.com

a few years ago when i bought my first digicam:
camera price: $400
going price on ebay: $320
stores near me: $350
i ended up paying $270 AFTER S&H from an online store.


abesofmaine (i got my N80 from them, NO problem!) has the digital rebel body for 693.99 AFTER rebate.

 

[Jullee]

Thank you all for the great feedback...

I'm not looking at purchasing before the spring anyway, but it's good to have an idea of how much to save and who to deal with.

I have purchased other things on e-bay, both in Canada and also from Italy... but nothing this expensive... haven't had a problem so far, and I'd rather stay away from a problem when buying my new electronic "baby".

As to the packages, yeah I would imagine they are made for newbies and that the equipment really isn't that great.. but does a newbie really need fabulous expensive equipment to experiment with?? If so, what do you recommend?

I have heard of Henry's but I'll check out the other recommendations.

 

[Bokeh]

what i do, there are many sites online that sell new equpiment cheaper then what you will find on ebay.

www.nextag.com

a few years ago when i bought my first digicam:
camera price: $400
going price on ebay: $320
stores near me: $350
i ended up paying $270 AFTER S&H from an online store.


abesofmaine (i got my N80 from them, NO problem!) has the digital rebel body for 693.99 AFTER rebate.

Yes, sometimes people get into price wars and drive up the price to the point where it's cheaper to buy new; you have to know your prices and what you'll pay before hand on ebay, you can't just go and bid until you win.

 

[ksmattfish]

The only time I've ever been screwed on Ebay was from a Canadian!

The guy didn't know what he was selling, so he guessed, and he was wrong. I couldn't tell until the part (a film back) arrived, and he felt that his description was close enough: he said it was a 6cmx4.5cm Hassy back, when actually it was a 4cmx4cm superslide Hassy back. Pissed me off, but really my only recourse was to give him negative feedback when he refused to work something out. And then he left me negative feedback in retaliation of my neg feedback, even though he got to keep all my money.

The lesson is never purchase anything unless the seller has a clear return policy if you are dissatisfied.