No More Auction Site

[ForestCap]

I still buy from eBay, and I'm happy with 90% of the purchases. I read the seller's feedback carefully(because some buyers don't know what they are buying and leave good feedback too easily), check the images carefully (not providing good pictures of the item? No buying) and I usually ask questions about the camera before the final click. But still it's a click 'n' pray thingy.

The only (really) bad experience was a purchase from a Slovakian seller. The camera was described as CLA'ed and tested, but it turned out to be having multiple faults. The nasty part was that the seller did not admit he overlooked them, only replied a full A4 page of BS claiming the why problems were there (like I didn't know), how long he has been doing camera repairs and it's common to have those problems on the cameras (wait, wasn't the camera tested?). Not showing any kind of apology.

No matter how careful you are, you still will get bad experience. But I guess it's something one has to deal with when buying from online sales.

 

[jvo]

a new(?) ebay buyer scam

a new(?) ebay buyer scam

just sold a cameraon ebay. i said US buyers only, but the person has a drop in Oregon and were apparently in china.

they said they rec'd the camera with the box intact, but that the camera was damaged. i paid for insurance and told them "make a claim at the PO." they wouldn't and wanted me to pay $90 for the repair to a broken film wind knob.

they opened a paypal claim by email. who ruled they should send the camera back and i refund the money.

i called paypal and the agent agreed with me and that they should make an insurance claim first. She said she would escalate this to the internal staff to investigate and enforce.

a week later, i still heard nothing. i called paypal and spoke to max. after a full 30 minutes of back and forth, i relented when he said "trust me, I've seen this before, they will drop everything, just let the clock run out for them to take any action."

turns out there are apparently nefarious folk😱 in paypal complicit with overseas buyers to scam sellers. if you call paypal, they then are able to rectify and clean house!

the buyers let the whole issue die!

(a bit long but a story of a scam usually is... this is just the highlights.)

 

[jvo]

everybody knows....

everybody knows....

The best one I had was a summicron lens that arrived with the aperture ring jammed solid and when I contacted the seller he told me it was fine when it left the US and the conditions in Australia had obviously caused the problem. lol 😀

toilets flow in the opposite direction "down-under", so obviously camera's that work above the equator wouldn't work below!

 

[ChrisPlatt]

In 1500+ eBay purchases I have only had problems perhaps a dozen times,
all but the earliest ones (10+ years ago) resolved by eBay customer service.

Read description thoroughly, examine photos carefully and always check feedback.

Chris

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

I've had very good experiences on eBay.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

just sold a cameraon ebay. i said US buyers only, but the person has a drop in Oregon and were apparently in china.

they said they rec'd the camera with the box intact, but that the camera was damaged. i paid for insurance and told them "make a claim at the PO." they wouldn't and wanted me to pay $90 for the repair to a broken film wind knob.

they opened a paypal claim by email. who ruled they should send the camera back and i refund the money.

i called paypal and the agent agreed with me and that they should make an insurance claim first. She said she would escalate this to the internal staff to investigate and enforce.

a week later, i still heard nothing. i called paypal and spoke to max. after a full 30 minutes of back and forth, i relented when he said "trust me, I've seen this before, they will drop everything, just let the clock run out for them to take any action."

turns out there are apparently nefarious folk😱 in paypal complicit with overseas buyers to scam sellers. if you call paypal, they then are able to rectify and clean house!

the buyers let the whole issue die!

(a bit long but a story of a scam usually is... this is just the highlights.)

It's been a couple of years since I looked into it (because I set up a delivery address in Oregon myself, but have never used it). But I seem to recall that PayPal's buyer protection terms and conditions only applied to delivery up to the buyer's listed PayPal address. If this is still the case, then, if the camera was subsequently redirected to China it should have been an open and shut case as it would have been ineligible for coverage in the first place.

 

[kiemchacsu]

Well,

I've had good and bad experience with ebay,
but, yes a big BUT, I must admit that it's a great source if not the greatest one for buying and selling.
I will use it, and accept bad experience (if any) as the cost/ risk of doing business there.
At the end of the day, you always have to face with risk/ cost anywhere, no?

 

[skucera]

I have very good luck with both buying and selling on eBay too. The only cameras that haven't worked out were ones clearly labeled as "non-functional, for repair only," which was fair enough. I've gotten a couple of cameras marked that way that worked just fine after I cleaned them up and put new batteries in them.

The only purchases that I've complained about were computer peripherals that just didn't work as advertised. Yeah, they were from China, but they refunded me instantly when I pointed out that the crap just didn't work and couldn't work. It's an odd way to try to do business.

Scott

 

[Tim Murphy]

It's an auction site and this sums it up

It's an auction site and this sums it up

Well,

I've had good and bad experience with ebay,
but, yes a big BUT, I must admit that it's a great source if not the greatest one for buying and selling.
I will use it, and accept bad experience (if any) as the cost/ risk of doing business there.
At the end of the day, you always have to face with risk/ cost anywhere, no?

Dear kiemchacsu,

You spend your money, and you take your chances. It's up to you as a buyer to determine how much you want to risk on an item that is unseen except for some pictures.

I have no problems buying from ebay. I go there expecting to steal something quite often but I also go there with a set price in mind. I do the same at real in place auctions too.

Sometimes things pay off and sometimes they don't, just like real life. You either count your blessings, or wipe your nose, but you still have to move on.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg, PA 🙂

 

[Huss]

I just bought a Flying Spaghetti Monster sticker for $1.60 paid for it on the 19th. Arrival date was meant to be August 21 but I finally got it yesterday - the 25th. I noticed that they shipped it (from the post office stamp) on August 21! One week after I paid for it.
Still, it looks great on my Jeep with its noodly appendages so I'm ok w/ that.

 

[teddy]

I've never had a problem. I ask for more photographs of the item. The serial, the condition of blades, focus rings, mechanical plays, etc, etc, etc. If the seller won't answer or don't have returns, I don't buy. I look at the images carefully. Separation or anything that looks like it is easy to pick, then I avoid. Once I took a gamble on a Rolleiflex 75/3.5 Xenotar. I agonised over the photographs, and opted to buy because the photos showed mainly dust and debri. In the end - I won a bargain - $200. The photos were bad using flash, this revealed more dust and dirt but I studied the pictures very carefully.

 

[p.giannakis]

My main source of cameras are charity shops and car boot sales - i am pretty happy with the cameras i have at the moment and i have stopped trading with that auction site.

If i ever sell, items up to £100 can go to the auction site, anything more expensive i sell it via stores like Fforbes - i have been very happy with them.

I keep an eye on bargains that might appear on the Auction Site - but never pay more than £50-£100 to get something. I have had some good scores but a couple of bad experiences have put me completely off....

 

[brbo]

I haven't been burned on eBay. Yet. There have been a few complications and returns, but I haven't lost any money.

The losses I had came from local online listings boards and RFF.