New Bessa R

[pshinkaw]

This one caught my eye because the description was so interesting. He says it is from a police auction. Is it recovered stolen merchandise? Pilfered from some international shipment?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15234&item=3865864273&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

-Paul

 

[wlewisiii]

If I had any LTM glass that would be really tempting. Thanks for pointing it out.

William

 

[back alley]

i've seen this before. i think he bought a bunch of them, likely from a police auction, and has been selling them for awhile now. i would guess it's legit or he would have been thrown off ebay a long time ago.

joe

 

[pshinkaw]

I didn't doubt that it was legit. I was just wondering how fairly recent, NIB cameras ended up in a police auction in a port city.

Still makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that the difference in price was actually made up in other people's purchases.

-Paul

 

[BJ Bignell]

I bought one from his previous auction set, and I even have a tracking number. I hope it's not an empty box!

It's not unheard-of for stolen goods to be seized by the police, but never claimed...

 

[BJ Bignell]

Oh, and a nice seller btw... I asked if he could please not send the package by UPS, as I've heard they charge big fees when shipping into Canada.

He drove himself across the border and shipped it from within Canada, no extra charge.

 

[peter_n]

That's a very nice gesture! Welcome to the forum BJ! 🙂 Hey Joe, you got a neighbour!

 

[jlw]

I didn't doubt that it was legit. I was just wondering how fairly recent, NIB cameras ended up in a police auction in a port city.

Still makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that the difference in price was actually made up in other people's purchases.

-Paul

Police auctions might contain lots of things besides recovered stolen goods. They could have been unclaimed property (stranger things than a case of cameras turn up), or seized in a debt forfeiture, or even items purchased for police use and then disposed of. (I can just about imagine some purchasing gumshoe buying 30 Bessas at a discount price for evidence photography and then saying, "Oops, this isn't the right kind of camera...)

Or the seller just might feel that saying they came from a police auction yields more interest than saying he bought a closeout lot from a camera store!

 

[pshinkaw]

Good Point! It could have been an execution and attachment from a lawsuit judgement or a bankruptcy sale/purchase. It is more exciting to say that it was a police auction.

I shall relax.

-Paul