Did your Ebay camera Work out of the Box?

Did your Ebay camera Work out of the Box?

  • YES! It worked Perfectly

    Votes: 425 70.7%

  • No. Did not work. It's a Paperweight.

    Votes: 45 7.5%

  • Required a minor Repair, Fixed it Myself

    Votes: 112 18.6%

  • Required a Major Repair: Paid to have the work Done.

    Votes: 73 12.1%

  • Requested a Refund.

    Votes: 46 7.7%
  • Total voters
    601
Overall, I've had pretty good luck on EBay in buying cameras and lenses. I've bought an Olympus OM-2n, OM-PC (which was supposedly non-working but worked perfectly after inserting new batteries) OM Zuikos 24mm f2.8, 28 f2.0, 50 f1.8 MIJ, 90mm f2.0, Vivitar Series 1 28-90, a couple Mamiya 6 bodies and the accompanying Mamiya 50mm, 75mm and 150mm lenses and all pretty much worked fine and appeared as represented or better. Maybe this is because I generally only deal with established sellers with excellent ratings.

The only time I encountered a problem was when I bought a beater OM-4T black camera from Adorama for $108. Truth be told, the camera although worn, didn't have any dents or obvious damage and worked fine for about two months, so I can't really blame Adorama. Then the meter display stopped working and I sent it to Olympus for repair and was instead provided with a refurbished OM-4T champagne body for about $250. So I basically ended up paying about $358 for an Olympus OM-4T champage refurbished body, which is not outrageous. I did have a problem with the OM-4T refurbished body after a couple of months involving the mirror charge assembly (the camera would fire by itself when the film advance lever was wound), but fortunately Olympus repaired it for free.
 
My first ever ebay purchase was a Yashicamat. It worked (and still does) perfectly. Slow speeds are accurate, the focus isn't off. Had no problems with it. Its the first 'Mat (the one that came after D), and I paid about $85 (including shipping) for it. It was also my first "real" MF camera.

In fact, I'm considering selling my RB67 and keeping the Yashicamat as my main MF camera.

As for ebay in general, never had problems.
 
I just got a Pentax Spotmatic last week...I replaced the seals and found a battery (#392) that would fit and work properly...I then compared the meter to my Nikon F5 and it was about spot on or within a 1/3 stop...
It has a loose strap lug that's bugging the heck out of me but other than that it worked out of the box...oh yeah it came with a perfect Takumar 50mm 1.4 lens...😀 🙄 😎
 
I've bought a tiny bit more than my fair share of cameras from ebay. I'd say that most of them need some work, ranging from minor cleaning to complete CLA. Even when I bought from a reputable seller who claims that all his camera are CLA'd before selling, I still had one camera (out of two) that needed rangefinder alignment.

Nevertheless, my approach is similar to that of Mr. Wilson, i.e. I expect to have to pay a little bit more on some degree of a CLA on all cameras I buy on ebay.
 
I'm about 1 for 5 on getting a camera that actually works out of the box on eBay. My Olympus XA appears to be the 1 winner, but I just got it on Saturday and I'm not done shooting the first roll yet. So it remains to be seen if I've had even a single verifiable success.

Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 - lens group appears to be coming apart or something in a way that I'm getting something that looks like wicked lens flare in a circular pattern around the whole photo.

Graflex Speed Graphic - basket case. Described as working.

Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 533/16 - looks exquisite but needs considerable rebuilding beyond CLA, including rebuilding of lens group & rangefinder.

some random Canon P&S - battery acid in its guts. But I'm only out $6 so this one won't make me weep like the Zeiss and the Speed Graphic.
 
Yashicamat 124... meter corroded and also physically "manhandled" .. the guy dumped about 10 items before it caught up with him. Right now it's a paperweight waiting for a meter .. so far no luck finding a replacement meter after 1 yr.
 
the very olf sp1000 i bought in february worked fine out of the box after a little cleaning. it came exactly as described. a couple of weeks ago, the film advance started hiccuping. i'll get it fixed this summer.
the fujica st605 i bought about three weeks ago was near spotless, and works perfectly. it is a dandy little slr, very RF-like.
the minolta a5 i bought in february was even better than described and works perfectly.
i fell a little burned on one lens - a pentax 55/2 that was described as having a knock or two, and a little tightness in the aperture. it's tight, all right, with a scar to show why. but, it works perfectly as long as i don't twist it off the body when setting the aperture. i reckon i'll have to learn how to take it apart to remove an aluminum burr or two. for now, it is in repose with the sp1000 in a drawer ...
 
Just got my Yashica-mat a week ago, run 3 rolls thru it (damaged the first one, though 🙁 )
The camera worked OTB having small issue (stated on the eBay by the seller) - you have to slightly press on the shutter speed ring when changing it
 
Got my first brick from *Bay last week. You don't believe this but it's a Zorki 4K 😉
Well... I don't mind. I'll take it as a repair project.
 
I started buying cheap used cameras on ebay, thrift stores etc at the start of the year. Probably 50% worked straight away. 20% I've been able to fix, 30% have been beyond me.

My most recent frustrating camera is a Hi Matic 7sII I picked up for $45. The shutter fires and the front element glass is fine, but the back element has a little bit of fungus. And the battery cap is absolutely locked in place - I've tried vinegar, BoltOff, just about everything I could think of and the thing won't budge. The rear element doesn't want to come off either. I need to do some soldering to address a disconnected battery wire but was holding off on that until the other issues are addressed.

Very frustrating as the camera is close to being a good user (assuming the glass isn't etched yet...) but i still haven't been able to get to the problems themselves.

Aside from 'I can't get access to what i need' failures, my only real failure was on a FED2. The curtain needed to be reattched but it turned out one of the rollers was already broken. Nothing I could do. That camera is still in parts as I have hard time investing time in reassembling something broken.
 
I've had good and bad experiences. The ads that bug me the most are when they say the camera is "As is" and that they don't have a battery to test it, but it's probably fine, but no guarantees. I've only fell for it once, and of course the camera didn't work at all, wouldn't even turn on, and it took AA battery's, who doesn't have those lying around?

Another bad one was a Nikon FM wit a light leak. After a few emails back and forth I just gave up on arguing.
 
My records show 20 cameras from eBay; some had hidden damage requiring replacement parts as well as CLA, some needed a good cleaning and lube, but for the most part I've been very fortunate in what showed up on my doorstep.

The most recent used camera body from eBay was a Hexar RF Limited from Matsuiya Store, described as Excellent+, and it was indeed like new. The previous six were all Pentax SLRs (one a 645) that arrived in like new condition... except one black MX with a dented top cover that also needed CLA. No surprise, though, as the Nova Scotia seller accurately described it, and I'm ok at $89.

It pays to be careful and know your product, but there will always be surprises good and bad. 🙂
 
Of the seven cameras from EBay so far, only one has not worked as advertised. The seller offered a full refund without wanting the gear back (old Minolta SLR body and 2 lenses). In the end we split 50/50 because the lenses worked. Later I was able to fix the camera myself.

Stick to sellers with a high feedback score - nothing under 99% and you'll do OK.
 
The survey needed an answer between the current 3/4:

Minor/repair adjustment: paid to have the work done

I bought a used M8 around Christmas of 2009, and it was just as described, and came with a bunch of extra stuff. Only minor problem was the rangefinder was a bit off in vertical alignment. A minor repair, but I couldn't fix it myself.
 
Now, let's just hope my eBay-purchased Fuji GW690III arrives without any need for service (it's currently stuck in customs, *sigh*).



Edit: it is here, and is perfect!
 
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I have bought a lot of cameras and lenses etc. on Ebay. Every thing was as described and worked perfectly with the exception of an old Gossen Lunasix meter that turned out to be not very accurate. I only buy from buyers with 99% positive feedback or better that offer a return guarantee. I will only pay with paypal because they hold on to the money in case of any disputes. I never buy from anyone outside of the US only because it might be more of a problem to return items. If you are very careful picking the sellers I think your odds of getting something nice are greatly improved.
 
Old Mamiya M645 1000s - Perfect with extras added in
Contax G2 - perfect
Flashes etc - no worries

Only probem I've ever had buying off ebay was getting some film that was expired when the ad said it had a 2011 exp date.
 
Rolleiflex-got a great deal on a 2.8E, in condition described--usable but benefitted well from a CLA. Oh, and the nub that the back clipped to fell out after a few days' use, but I just epoxied it back in.

Just bought 2 large format lenses from the same seller, who appears to be high-volume and has good feedback, and 1, a Petzval, didn't have a functioning focus knob (not a big deal when using a modern camera, but not noted in the ad), and 2, a Heliar which had glass as described, but the shutter was missing am iris blade. Seller promptly sent a new (more up-to-date model, in fact) shutter, but the new shutter wouldn't take the old aperture scale and the cable release block was broken off. Seller refunded a portion of the money needed for SK Grimes to fix the problems.

Bought a bunch of meters, lenses, and other minor accessories with a decent degree of success. A Rolleiflex strap was different than pictured, for instance, in width and type of pad.
 
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