Finally got a bad deal on a used lens....

[bazooka]

I've spoken with the seller on the phone and via email and he has been completely accomodating. I have no reason to believe he's not honest and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I also realize scammers have no shame and can appear to be completely trustworthy. It doesn't matter either way really. The lens is defective. Ebay covers the purchase. Even if he didn't want to refund me, ebay would take care of it. My point is, had this been on craigslist, I would have been stuck with the repair bill. So from now on, I make sure I check my f/22's.

 

[mwcfarms]

Just take a picture of the sellers license plate when testing a lens for a craigslist sale. This usually makes them reconsider stiffing you.

This happened to me. Guy sold me the lens, it looked good, pictures were good through all apertures. Went to leave and when I had placed the camera lens facing down the weight of the lens showed a hairline crack at the mounting ring. Not sure what else to call it. So I immediately called the guy. He hummed and hahhed until I said ok fine don't give me my money back. I am going to the police to report the lens and see if its been stolen and give them your name and cell phone number. He met with me in 5 minutes.

Hopefully you reported him after you got your money back... could be your gear he steals next

funny thing is after we got my money back we hung around and drove back past the store and he was outside arguing with someone, he was dressed all white bread boy next door style and this guy had obviously seen better times. The way he was getting chewed out I believe he was just the runner. I mentioned it to my friend who'se a cop and he said not much they could do about it now.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

I've been extremely lucky lately. I've been putting together a Hasselblad film kit, and if you know anything about Hassies, you know how expensive they are. I chose to buy my initial kit from a photographer who provided me with documentation of the latest CLA service, so I was a little more comfortable. But I've been extremely weary of the subsequent parts purchased on ebay. I usually inspect feedback thoroughly. If they have 100% feedback as a buyer only, I dont bid. I want someone with a proven SELLER record. I usually reserve my ebay bids to things less than $100, and only a few times have I bought things that were more than that. If it costs that much, I want to see it, touch it, and test it before I drop that kind of money.

 

[Dao]

Just take a picture of the sellers license plate when testing a lens for a craigslist sale. This usually makes them reconsider stiffing you.

If the car isn't stolen.

Take a picture of him or her instead.

 

[bazooka]

I recently picked up a 24mm TS-E on ebay as well and just about got the shaft on that one too. The thing arrives and it's got a cheapo CPL filter cross-threaded on the front. For the life of my I couldn't get it off, even with the rubber band trick. I ended up combining a rubber band and some wire-ties to form a make-shift oil filter remover which fortunately worked. And fortunately the lens threads were fine. So I learned two things with that purchase... how to remove a stuck filter the macguyver way, and cheap CPLs can create some NASTY looking color shifts.

 

[Dao]

So far, I only had one problem lens from ebay. The seller did not mention about fungus on lens element in the listing. I found out after I received it, the seller refunded everything including shipping charge for both direction. All I lost was time.

When I buy lens locally, I will usually hold down the DoV preview button and turn the aperture wheel. (at least for Canon camera) Then you will see the aperture blades from wide open to the smallest aperture.

 

[mjhoward]

Seriously though, if you want to buy a used lens online, check this forum out:
Buy & Sell Photo-Gear - FM Forums

I've bought several things there, sold a few things too... never had a problem.

 

[ChefCanon]

Ebay is usually pretty good about taking care of the customer if something like this occurs, if of course the seller doesn't. Hopefully you can find another lens for a good price.