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
I bought a beautiful Konica and the shutter was off at 1/100 but good at other speeds. The seller said he'd CLA the shutter at his expense or offer me a refund. He even refunded my shipping. There's good sellers out there that stand behind their gear. Now I wish I would have taken him up on the CLA option...
 
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No, it did not!! Purchased a Canon QL17 that was advertised as perfect by the seller. I won the item with a bid of about $65. When I received the package, I was dismayed to find the shutter was stuck, the film door would not lock and the light seals were almost nonexistant. Otherwised it was in pristine condition. I raked the seller over the coals rather severly then took the camera to Garland camera and repair (Garland, Texas). In less than a weeks time, they did a fantastic overhaul job repairing all the issues of this "perfect" camera and adjusted the meter for a 1.5v battery. The total cost was $65 American. Will I ever buy from evilbay again? Probably not. On the other hand I have bought a number of cameras and lens from KEH and have always had the best of service.
 
Oh, The 'Bay..how my love-hate relationship with you continues to prosper:

Worked, no issues:
-Plenty of OM gear, and little, dinky vintage cameras (Balda Baldessa, Voigtlander Vitomatic, anyone?)

Worked, but then stopped after about 10 mins:
-Mamiya 6: hairline crack near remote shutter release; remote socket 'swallowed' by camera body; flash sync cord disappeared; shutter mechanism stuck. Total cost of repair: US$150 (paid for by seller after postage of repair invoice)

-Vivitar Series 1 (Tokina) 70-210mm f/3.5 OM (aperture ring jammed between f8 and f16; lens only worked f3.5 to f8.

-Olympus 35 SPn: arrived with undisclosed dent on top left corner above viewfinder; seller refunded 25% of the value

-Konica Auto S2 in 'EX+' condition: arrived with rewind lever loose and flapping in the wind. Camera completely stuffed. Seller refunded 75% of the value.

Undoubtedly, I have more stories but can't remember them right now...
 
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I purchased a Leica CL that the seller claimed to be in working condition. Meter did not work, and the rangefinder was out of alignment. Sell also claimed that I did not know what I was talking about, I nicely explained I have twenty five years as an Industrial/Scientific photographer and BFA degree from Brooks Institute of Photography. Ended up getting a refund.
 
I have bought several used cameras off eBay and have had mixed results.
  • Yashica Lynx 5000: DOA (refunded)
  • Yashica Lynx 5000: DOA (refunded)
  • Yashica Lynx 5000: DOA (refunded)
  • Yashica Lynx 5000: needed minor rangefinder tweek. meter reactive, but not really functional, so what else is new?
  • Yashica Lynx 1000: like new including case. Meter reacts to light, but not really functional.
  • Olympus XA: with A16 flash fully functional
  • Ricoh XR-2s: DOA (refunded)
  • Ricoh XR-2s: very dirty, but cleaned up nicely with no need for repair
  • Ricoh XR7: fully functional
  • FED-2: fully functional save for a small light leak that I am repairing
  • Ricoh Singlex TLS: like new and fully functional
  • Pentax Super Program: like new (including case) and fully functional
  • Minolta XG-M: fully functional
Of the above, the XA was the most expensive at $85 followed by the FED-2 at $40. All of the above required new seals, except for the FED-2 which does not have any.

My rule of thumb is to only bid on auctions where the seller explicitly states the condition of the item and where feedback is consistently good. Neutral or negative feedback with a nasty retort from the seller is a sure tip-off for me to shop elsewhere.

Above all else, avoid auctions from high volume sellers where the claim is made that they know nothing about cameras and can make no comment regarding condition. Or at the very least, don't spend much money with them🙂


Steve
 
Most eBay experiences have been excellent; items as advertised.

One bad case: XD-11 described as "excellent" but it was so dirty there was an insect carcass in the viewfinder. Seller apologized profusely, writing "my brother told me it was working fine" and offered me a refund or any accommodation I wanted.

Worse: a camera advertised as "mint." I bought it and wrote seller, "OK it's mint, but do you know if it works?" Seller went quiet, and didn't ship. Three weeks later writes, "just discovered it has no battery cover, so I'm having a machinist make a new one for you." In this case, I filed a dispute and eBay determined I should get the refund.

There have been changes at eBay; sellers can no longer give you bad feedback, and eBay resolution department will force sellers to do things.

Moral of the story: Read between the lines to assess whether the seller knows anything.
 
I've bought quite a number of vintage rangefinders on ebay, most of which were in good/fair working condition and only needed a bit of cleaning and/or adjustment. Some have been excellent. I did however get a Yashica Lynx 5000 that appeared to have been under water for quite some time ... like the innards were full of concrete. Nothing on the body or lens budged in the slightest. The condition was listed as good working condition but untested. It cost me return shipping to Canada but the seller quickly refunded the initial investment. I managed to find a mint Lynx 14 from another seller for next to nothing a day or two after sending the 5000 back so I didn't mind the hit taken on shipping the return.
 
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My experience has been variable. I just bought 2 Rolleiflex 3.5F cameras. One works, but will need a CLA. The other is cosmetically perfect, but has sat in a drawer for a long time, and needs a CLA now. After CLAs, I expect that both will be champs.

I bought a Hasselblad 903 SWC from a pro getting rid of some equipment. It had been recently CLA'd and works perfectly.

I've bought Leica IIfs here, one of which had been CLA'd and is perfect, and one of which is with Sherry K right now for mirror replacement in the viewfinder. It was usable as is.

I bought a Leica IIIC on e-bay that is perfect, but had been CLA'd.

I think that one needs to factor in the cost of a CLA when buying old cameras that are not advertised as recently CLA'd (and perhaps even if they are).
 
I've bought just a few camera's from the bay over the years. I've found I prefer to either pay more locally for new or have gone with places like KEH (again for a little bit more, but also with a limited warranty).

From ebay:

Canon EOS 750 with 50mm f1.8 metal mount: Both worked perfectly, sold the camera off within weeks and it oddly paid for itself and the lens.

Canon A2: As described and has worked fine for me.

Canon Canonet 28: Dirt cheap and never worked right.

Minolta CLE: Worked as described, but the battery door had a tendency to open easily. Picked up a new Zeiss grip and no problems with the battery door.
 
Received a Zorki 1e (1955) and a Zorki 4 (1957) both in very good nick all around. Sound shutter and shutter curtains. Just had to adjust the rangefinder on the 4 and relube the Jup-8. While it was dismantled, I polished all the parts. It's now nice and shiny.
 
I originally voted "yes it worked perfectly", for the one camera purchase I'd made: an M8. Since then I've bought a CL that had a bad RF (seller allowed me to return), and a perfect Contax RX.

Two out of three ain't bad (???).
(kinda feels bad)
 
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Well here is an update about buying cameras and stuff in general from the auction site...

I just did a couple of buy it nows:

$750 for a mint condition in the box black Nikon DE-1 viewfinder....

$385 for a 1975 F2body from Canada supposedly extra clean inside and out but with original mirror foam😕

I believe in the auction site! I hope it comes through again for me!!!

My contaflex was basically mint and came with it's original owner documentation for a paltry sum it works like a well tuned sewing machine...

I once bought one of those Fixed 40 Canons talked about in the OP...in fact I may be one of the people Brian refers to as I had emailed him about an issue with the black QL17 I had just dropped $200 bucks on...basically it worked but something was weird about it...it may have been me not being familiar with the model but I seriously doubt it...I still left positive feedback because I figured the quirk was not fatal and the camera and glass were just fantastic...

I've bought two P&S for pennies on the dollar...excellent purchases...

I've bought Zeiss and Nikon glass...never been disappointed yet!!!
 
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The days of the $35 eyelevel Finder for Nikon F's and F2's are over.

I bought a Mint 1974 Black F2 Photomic at Penn camera about 15 years ago. The meter was sticky, so they threw in the never-used Black DE-1 that had come in with it. I worked the meter, freed it up. The eyelevel is on it now.
 
Brian Sweeney said:
The days of the $35 eyelevel Finder for Nikon F's and F2's are over.

I bought a Mint 1974 Black F2 Photomic at Penn camera about 15 years ago. The meter was sticky, so they threw in the never-used Black DE-1 that had come in with it. I worked the meter, freed it up. The eyelevel is on it now.
Click to expand...

15 years ago they didn't have the auction site sir (well...it was a year old)... 🙂

And I bet Leica IIIc K's still brought big bucks even back then...

On a side note this makes me think of german cypher machines...namely the Enigma...in the early 90's you could pick up a decent example maybe with a couple of extra wheels from the Shotgun News or a local gunshow for a bill or two...go price one now...does it matter if it works or not? I see a lot of early Leica and Contax that go for big money and most say something like the shutter won't trip....an effect of the auction site and the internet combined perhaps??? Whatever it is I sort of like it...
 
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My first M3 + DR Cron bought off the ebay were both tampered with. It was advertised as CLAd by the seller himself, but arrived OK cosmetically but no so good functionally, with jamming rear curtain. The Czech seller seemed helpful at first and accepted the camera back for a CLA. After that it seemed OK and I took it with me on the travel, however it has jammed again and the seller stopped to respond. The lens also showed decentering, but it was too late to leave negative feedback. The camera desperately needed new shutter curtain and I finally sent it off to Youxin, who did a great job.

The lens is another story, I've had a local specialist look at it, he said it was badly damaged mechanically due to previous attempt of unskilled repair but he couldn't get the focus right at first. After some testing he figured out that the front optical unit is from the Rigid cron which is different. Hopefully he got it assembled right this time (a few days ago!), but I am yet to test it with film. I would not recommend buying any gear from this seller.

But this can happen with private advertisements as well, if the seller doesn't know his gear well. Anyway the RFF works much better for me!
P.S. My very first ebay purchase, the Bronica SQ-Ai turned out to have back that leaks light if the sun is bright enough which I noticed only after a few month use. The seller did not cooperate too. Now I know well what to buy and what not to buy on the ebay.
 
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jmkelly said:
My favorite seller line: "I'm not a camera person and don't know anything about this."
Click to expand...

I avoid those like a leaking gas line.

I guess I'm lucky I bought two here during the golden days of the RFF classifieds. I paid $30 each for flawless Canonets. Well, one needed new lightseals eventually, but that was fixed with a kit that was readily available here on RFF (again, during the golden days of the RFF classifieds).
 
I've seen good, and I've seen bad. The one camera that I really got reemed on, just because I didn't want send it back and miss the chance of ever getting another one, was from a dealer that said it worked, but he didn't know much about cameras. I made sure to include that in my feedback for him, which has been the only negative feedback from me so far. I even gave decent feedback to the guy that didn't want to send me an item because I got it at his opening $0.99, and no one else bid on it (I had $10 on it), because I don't know his circumstances. He did ship it Priority Mail after eBay got in touch with him, so that counted in his favor.

But my latest aquisition, a Ricoh Super Ricohflex was a showroom gem when I took it out of the box. Unfortunately it was being sold by someone other than the original owner, so he did not know where the rest of the Color Back was. It did come with a comprehensive set of Walz filters, a BellView hood and case (which these are 36mm push on, very rare), a Ricoh B-300 flash unit, a functioning GE PR-1 meter in leather case, and all the instruction sheets and guarantee card for the camera and accessories. And the camera works beautifully. I'll get the first roll back on Monday to see how bad I messed things up (I felt like a total clutz operating it. Maybe next roll will be better).

So far it has been running 95% good / 5 % bad-to-neutral on my purchases, so I am at least ahead of the game.

PF
 
I picked up a 'I don't know if this camera works, its a Olympus F' camera. $60 shipped. It had a filter on so I hoped for the best, figuring an Olympus 35RD as a parts camera would probably be around $60 worst case.

I expected it to be a bit of a project camera.

It turns out the camera is just about new. Even more surprisingly, the shutter sounds dead on accurate; no signs of the common shutter problems. I'll probably replace the light seals, test it and then sell it soon, as I already have a nicely working 35RD serviced by Zuiko but I know a lot of people interested in trying higher end compacts. Hopefully this sale will offset my recent 35GX purchase. 😉
 
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