Recent Ebay lens buying experiences

Hi Garrett, I did ask her before I bid and she said the M2 was working great.

When I wrote her after I received the camera, and sent her the pictures, at first she said it must be a different camera because the one she sent me was fine. Then I sent her a pic of the rust, where the camera serial number was visible. She then tried to put me off until past the point of where PayPal would release the money to her. I've sent the camera back, but now she is traveling and says she'll deal with it after the first of the year.

So we'll see then. Again, a real pain in the backside, which is why I'm not going to be doing any more Leica stuff on eBay.

Best,
-Tim
 
most people are VERY aware of how much they can sell leica stuff for locally, so you really have to question why they would give ebay a huge cut. Many sellers on ebay also know nothing about what they are selling.

...buy local.
 
60 pecent of what I buy goes back, fungus usually, or reeks of mildew. It's really irritating. Seems to me that most sellers on ebay these days are liars. It also occured to me that 90-95 percent of the things I actually use I bought in person. I don't buy leica, fwiw.
 
Ebay Experience...

Ebay Experience...

Yep...I am with the eBay is really starting to suck camp.

First, I have pencils (Blackwing 602) that are worth a crapload of money. I've been getting $US35/each for them. The problem? I could just ship them in a stiff envelope and get tracking in the US. I found out pretty quick that there are a lot of no shows called in Italy and south america. Ok...I have to charge someone $US42 to ship a pencil worth less than that. Crazy. That's the only way that they will reimburse you if it get's LOST.

Second, I bought a lot of five Point and Shoots (Mju i, Mju ii limited, Mju ii DLX, Oly 35-70 and Oly 35-80) and 20 packs of outdated film. I wanted the three Mjus. I talked the guy down on a buy it now. Basically, I paid the equivalent of what the three Mjus were worth. Big picture was the film and zooms were cream in the coffee.

The two zooms were the problem; granted they are worth 10-20 each. I got the cameras and tested them with the film that was in the package. Big mistake. The two zooms did not work as advertized. Infact one would power up and not fire off the shutter. The other was shutting down because of a bad switch on the slideing lens cover.

So, the least expensive 2 cameras of the 5 did not work. I asked them if I could keep the three and return the two for a partial refund. No go. Return all or nothing. Of course, I used 3 of the 20 included rolls to test the cameras.

That turned the discussion. Now, they wouldn't take the whole kit back because all of the items were not in the condition as shipped to me...again...because I used the film included in the kit to test the cameras.

The big picture is that I got three perfectly usable olympus stylus epics...for the price of admission. It's just a shame they wouldn't correct and obvious error in their ad by stating they were in perfect working order.
 
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I've bought or sold very little in the last few years. I either get outbid on the really good stuff - guess I'm not willing to put up too much money for the risk of getting a problem camera, lens, or accessory. I did get a Leica finder last year, for about half what it goes for from camera shops. But, there were good pictures of the item and it did seem like someone was selling off granpa's estate.
 
I have been buying a lot and selling a little on ebay over the last 10 years and have in general been happy with my purchases.
That said i think the risk buying depends on what it is. Over the last several years i have bought many large format lenses and other large format gear and have never had to return anything nor claim a refund. Is it because most large format shooters are a little older and mature? i don't know.
What i do know is that buying small format gear and bicycle parts can be risky.

Last week i had to return a leitz lens that was not as described, i did get my money back immidiately including shipping both ways so no problem there.
As has already been said we do take a risk buing something that we can't put our hands on before we let the money go but i do think we are better of with ebay now than a few years back when they mostly protected sellers.
 
I recently bought a couple of Canon LTM lenses (from different sellers), and they were spot-on as per the description (actually the 50/1.4 was better than I expected - almost mint and amazing for its 53-year age).

On the other hand I bought a Schneider LF lens/shutter advertised as being fully functional (or words to that effect) and found the B setting on the shutter was inoperable and the front face of the shutter was free (sort of...) to rotate. I took it off and discovered a bent pin inside which could only have been caused by really ham-fisted reassembly. So I wanted to return it but no, the guy said he would have his "technician" look at it and "repair" it. Weeks passed, I had to hassle the guy for a tracking #, and it finally came back, in apparently working order. But knowing how Copal shutters work, this makes me uneasy, especially if it was the same "tech" who bent the pin in the first place. At least it wasn't extremely expensive 🙁

Slightly OT, a while back I bought a cosmetically beautiful IIIf RD ST, advertised as having been CLA'd. Given the appearance I was willing to pay more than I probably ought to have and shortly after I got it the shutter started sticking (without even putting a roll of film through it). Rather than mess around with the seller I decided to send it off for a real CLA. More $$$ but at least I'll have a gorgeous, working IIIf when this is over. Caveat Emptor.

I agree with others here that if you want an accurate description and hassle-free return policy, KEH is the way to go.
 
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