Japanese ebay sellers

[Hogarth Ferguson]

This pretty much applies to sellers from any region.

I've had nothing but good experiences from Japanese sellers, including some under-rated bargains, but then again, it's important to pick the right sellers...no matter where they are from.

It's not all that difficult.

I think the only reason this thread is about Japanese sellers and not everyone is, because of the prevalence of camera equipment coming from Japan.


I generally don't buy from ebay anymore, I prefer to deal with Bellamy. Sure, he has fees and higher prices, but I trust him and he has been great to deal with.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Since we're talking Japanese sellers, my favourite place to buy camera equipment in person is Tokyo. The sheer volume of vintage equipment never fails to amaze me & I've always come away with something cool.

 

[Peter Jennings]

Everything I buy from Japan is purchased off the Yahoo! Japan auction site through a proxy service. The item prices are dirt cheap, and, being that I live so close to Japan, the shipping prices aren’t bad either (and no import taxes here, as well). Also, there are rare items that seldom turn up on eBay.

My last two purchases were a Konica IIA with 48/2 Hexanon and Kowa Kallo W with 35/2.8 Prominar. These two cameras I have never seen on eBay. I do assume that everything will need at least a partial overhaul. But, since most of the stuff in my collection is from the 50s, that assumption applies no matter where I purchase from.

 

[Chuffed Cheese]

Everything I buy from Japan is purchased off the Yahoo! Japan auction site through a proxy service. The item prices are dirt cheap, and, being that I live so close to Japan, the shipping prices aren’t bad either (and no import taxes here, as well). Also, there are rare items that seldom turn up on eBay.

My last two purchases were a Konica IIA with 48/2 Hexanon and Kowa Kallo W with 35/2.8 Prominar. These two cameras I have never seen on eBay. I do assume that everything will need at least a partial overhaul. But, since most of the stuff in my collection is from the 50s, that assumption applies no matter where I purchase from.

Yahoo Auctions is definitely the key here. Those listings are heads and shoulders better.

 

[Stephen G]

I generally find the best condition gear from Japanese sellers on eBay.
And being in NY, items from Japan often gets here faster than some domestic sellers who take their sweet time getting to the post office.

 

[john_s]

I have had only good experiences with Japanese sellers on ebay, but my purchases are maybe not as venerable as those of the OP, being Mamiya 6 (not old folder model) and lenses, manual Nikon lenses, and smaller bits. I only deal with sellers whose photos are very good and descriptions very complete, and I often ask a question to try to judge them by their tone. Korea also very good (despite friends working there having had quite a few bad dealings with people).

 

[ReeRay]

Living where I do I buy most of my equipment from the Japanese ebay sellers and I'll state that in 10 years I've yet to have any complaints. As others have stated, their descriptions are accurate and prices very fair. Shipping and packing is first class.

 

[aizan]

japanese sellers on ebay all used to be great. good quality items with good photos (high res, good lighting) and accurate descriptions.

in the last coupe of years, a small coterie of japanese and chinese sellers joined the fray and flooded ebay with average to lousy items that come with small, misleading photos, and descriptions whose purpose is to make you think that maybe it'll turn out ok even if i can't really tell what condition it's in.

 

[Ronald M]

I bought some Nikon F2 plain prism cameras from Japan. No issues.

If I could buy in USA and see first, that would be better.

 

[nanthor]

I have nothing against international sellers but there are issues that do crop up. The farther away an item is the more chance of it getting lost or damaged in shipping, customs, baggage handling, etc. I always try to make contact with the seller which gives me an indication of their response time and whether we communicate well (language differences lead to problems sometimes). If they understand me I try to get a thorough description of the item in writing on the ebay reply pages. I will ask them to shine a bright light through and specifically look for fungus, haze or cleaning marks on lenses. I will admit that I have noticed more and more gear showing up in Japan on ebay than in years past. Is it possible they tried to corner the market on specialty items and then sell at higher prices? Maybe, but most items I see from Japan are not that elevated in price so the idea must not have panned out. Good deals out there, just have to be thorough and if something seems off, run away. Bob.

 

[Black]

This post seems to be a massive sweeping generalisation and hugely prejudicial.

 

[David Hughes]

I wish there was a way to permanently filter out these items on eBay UK. It's a horrible experience searching through them as their prices are garbage. their descriptions are bad and the VAT fees kill any chance of them being a good deal. Oh well, filtering the search for UK items only helps but still excludes European goods.

Hi,

You can apply a few filters to ebay searches; just go to the advanced search page and tick "UK Only" or "European Union" in the "Location" section.

You can also filter out words on the title or descriptions.

Regards, David

 

[gavinlg]

Japanese ebay sellers used to be reliably the best. Now, I'm finding a lot of items rated as EX++++ with visibly bad fungus and dents etc. I just last week received a lens that was rated as optically excellent and functioning perfectly by a Japanese seller that had very oily aperture blades - to the point where stopping down is slow. I can't be bothered to send it back and pay the shipping so I'll be keeping it and having it serviced, but it pains me that the once reliable seller archetype of the Japanese appears to have crumbled.

 

[jamin-b]

I too have had good experiences with Japanese sellers. While many other eBay sellers will oversell their offerings - usually by over stating the condition the Japanese seem to often do the opposite.

This has been precisely my experience 95% of the time with Japanese sellers.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Only very good experiences with Japanese sellers. I bought a Leica M7 and a Nikon FM3A in Japan a few years ago and the cameras arrived as advertised...in mint condition. No complaints.

 

[roscoetuff]

My experience with experienced, high quality Japanese sellers has been excellent. In fact, I think they are fairly easy to vet even as a beginner. In fact, I have very high confidence that a Japanese ebay offering is fairly easy to screen, but it must be screened like anything else. And the motivations and decision process the buyer employs can sidetrack from the solid offerings into a poor decision. Blaming a poorly motivated outcome on the seller alone is a bit of a stretch... and on a nation as a whole unworthy of a public forum.

I believe eBay makes the pricing more transparent in general. This tends to lift prices generally somewhat as confidence in buying rises. Initially this was offset by the flood of merchandise out of attics and basements, but as this has abated, scarcity increased. The global audience actually dilutes the likelihood of an actual bargain, so it is wiser to focus instead on getting a quality piece of merchandise at a fair, or slight premium with refundability. This is just the way it seems to work. Invariably, any disappointments I've had have been when I have been rushed or compromised my own rules. I can hardly blame the seller for my laxity.

FWIW, I have been stiffed only by one - an American on the West Coast selling a Zeiss ZM lens I suspect he did not actually have, or if he did, was fencing. I reported the transaction and eBay/PayPal handled the whole, with a full refund.

 

[John Lawrence]

I've never dealt with any sellers from Japan, so can't comment on the quality of items coming from there.

However, I have noticed recently that many sellers worldwide (including those long-established and with pristine reputations) are now stocking and selling items in conditions they previously wouldn't have touched - and getting the (high) prices they're asking for them.

I've no axe to grind, and more power to them if they can do this, but just wonder if this is because of scarcity or recent interest and 'resurgence' in this type of equipment?

John

 

[Archlich]

I tend not to generalize. You can meet decent and subpar sellers from any part of the world.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Most Japanese sellers include detailed photos.
Always look closely at the photos.
Translations may lie, but the photos don't.

Chris

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I had 50 1.8 LTM from Japan, advertised, with low fog. In fact, it was heavily fogged.
These days I often see old Leitz lenses and cameras advertised as excellent by Japanese sellers, but it is total junk on pictures provided.
It is not as bad as Russia, Ukraine sellers, where it is often total scam, but you need to pay a lot of attention for pictures.