What's up with Japanese ebay sellers?

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Huss

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I'm looking for the old style Mamiya 6 and pretty much every Japanese seller has a description that does not match the product. Forget the liberal use of 'Mint", 'Excellent +++++++" etc.
These are descriptions that say things like perfect glass, no scratches etc..

Exhibit A:

Excellent ++++,
< Optics >
Beautiful condition.
There is no fog.
There is few small dust.
There is no fungus.
There is no scratches.
There is no separation.

But the ad shows fungus if you closely.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Excellent-...434831?hash=item56c3e027cf:g:CacAAOSwOGFctbnW

Exhibit B:

Same description as above, major marks on lens when u actually look at the pic

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OVERHAULED...660529?hash=item41ff279d71:g:nT8AAOSwckVcCCQ5


Exhibit C:

"Near Mint"

Optics 【Lens and View Finder】
Beautiful condition.
There is no balsam separation.
There is no fungus.
There is no wipe scratches.
There is thin haze in view finder.
There is a few dust in view finder and lens.

But looking at the pic shows the lens looks like it was wiped w sandpaper.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/APP-N-MINT...111580?hash=item4b62bd2a9c:g:qLMAAOSwt~1ctPwZ

This is just the first three that appeared when I search for New Listings. Going thru the list they ALL are like this.

My past dealings with Japanese sellers have had about a 50/50 hit/miss ratio. Which frankly is not good. Searching for this camera shows not one ad matching the photographic description.
 
Pitty. My expirience with japanese sellers/buyers have been great. Just bought 2 backs for my Horseman and they came in the described condition and with fast shipping.

Just bough a Bronica ETRS body and I hope it arrives safely.


By the way, just find a little funny that the from the camera body I bought has this description:


■ Optics
No fungus, haze, scratch, little dust, no effect on the photo.

This although it is only the body I'm buying 🙂

Seems like copy-paste text to me.

So, lesson is see the pictures to ensure what are you buying.


Marcelo
 
I have had many perfect experiences buying cameras from Japan. It has been a few years, though.


I'm not sure if they now do this with cameras, but with guitars and bicycles ebay sellers in Japan often don't even own the merch. They are actually in a local shop (for much less!). If someone BIN then they hop down to the shop, buy it, and then send it to you. Multiple listings for the same piece is the usual indicator of this...
 
My Super Fujica was advertised as excellent from Japan.

Almost word for word as your OP Huss... lol

I looked pretty close at the photos, the price was right, and it arrived optically and mechanically fine within like 10 days. I was pretty impressed.

By no means excellent condition tho! Haha
 
Japanese sellers used to be the most sure fire way to get good gear on eBay, but you're right - recently, it's become much harder and cameras described at excellent or mint are often seriously flawed.
 
I have never had a problem with any Japanese seller (touch wood). In fact I quite often search for items from Japan as I find the item descriptions to be honest, the dealers to be business like and trustworthy and in fact quite often where problems are mentioned by sellers they are usually over stated, not understated so when I get the item I am pleasantly surprised. (Old adage for good service - under-sell but over-deliver).

The thing also seems to be too, that in Japan, lenses say, which have a touch of fungus etc seem to be in less demand so any BIN price usually is less than in other countries in my experience. Japanese tend to be perfectionists in their buying habits (besides which, Japanese photo equipment naturally is in good supply hence cheaper). Finally the handling and postage fees charged by Japanese sellers almost always are very fair unlike some countries where the opposite applies. I am sad to say I have almost given up on USA as its not unusual with smaller items for shipping charges to far outweigh the purchase price due to crazy USPS fees (not to mention the often ridiculous USPS slooooooooooooooooooooooooooow deliveries). Sad but....

While on that subject I also find that items shipped from Japan arrive extraordinarily quickly (admittedly I am in Adelaide in the state of South Australia so I guess we are reasonably close as international distances go) often within a week. This surprisingly is sometimes quicker than it takes me to get a package bought on eBay from another Australian state capital like Sydney. Since international inbound packages tend to come into Australia through Sydney I have no idea how this can be so - but it is. On reflection maybe it is because as soon as I buy something from a Japanese seller they ship it the same day whereas other sellers like those in Australia may sit around, scratch their backsides, do the crossword puzzle, read the paper, have a beer and in a few days to get around to shipping it.

Nope as far as I am concerned Japanese sellers tend to be still amongst the best.
 
You're absolutely right Huss, I've come to the exact same conclusion.

Huss said:
I'm looking for the old style Mamiya 6 and pretty much every Japanese seller has a description that does not match the product. Forget the liberal use of 'Mint", 'Excellent +++++++" etc.
These are descriptions that say things like perfect glass, no scratches etc..
Click to expand...
 
Several sales in Tokyo & mail order..... they have the goods.... fast delivery....no disappointments.
 
I think somewhere “excellent” is being lost in translation these days.

Unless it’s Wayne’s World! Wayne’s World!
 
be careful. there are some mainland chinese sellers posing as japanese vendors. they have a physical presence here and they ship from here which makes it hard to detect. 😱😱😱
 
Even my brand new Ebony 8x10 came with mucho cosmetic issues that should have never left the factory..
As always..buyer beware..
That said..most of the Japanese camera gear I've bought used from Japan..a Rittrick 5x7 comes to mind here..has been of excellent quality..and the descriptions very accurate..
 
benlees said:
I have had many perfect experiences buying cameras from Japan. It has been a few years, though.


I'm not sure if they now do this with cameras, but with guitars and bicycles ebay sellers in Japan often don't even own the merch. They are actually in a local shop (for much less!). If someone BIN then they hop down to the shop, buy it, and then send it to you. Multiple listings for the same piece is the usual indicator of this...
Click to expand...


Wow! That's an eye opener.


WRT to the OP, I have given up on trying to divine legitimate meaning from those Japanese listings. I just skip them. All.
 
Well, I can't tell if it is every seller now. But I have noticed the trend mentioned in OP some time ago. "Mint" Leica lenses with very bad glass.
 
I've noticed those type of adds before, and sometimes they have more accurate descriptions/disclaimers lower on the page. But then as Richard says, the market has been infiltrated, so one does have to watch out. You have to see if they are also using the same photos from another auction/BIN. I once saw three listings for the same lens (the serial number was plain as day) in one search, but eBay did nothing about it after I reported them.


PF
 
it all went to hell several years ago. the only seller in japan i bother with now is irohas.

shueido in taiwan is also good.

one seller i gripe about these days is kevin cameras. they don’t haggle in my experience, and everything is 3-4x more expensive than it should be. ugh!
 
I haven't had an issue with Japanese sellers, but maybe it's because I don't pay much attention to the usually very sparse description, and instead look at the photos and the price. If the price is too good to be true, it is. If the price is low, you have to wonder why. To be sure, I have received items that did not live up to the descriptions (and so study pictures very carefully now) but have never received something where the price did not match the actual condition.



My experience indicates that what Japanese are willing to sell on ebay to foreign buyers is usually second rate - it's stuff they won't put on the shelf in their shop.
 
aizan said:
it all went to hell several years ago. the only seller in japan i bother with now is irohas.

shueido in taiwan is also good.

one seller i gripe about these days is kevin cameras. they don’t haggle in my experience, and everything is 3-4x more expensive than it should be. ugh!
Click to expand...


True, but at least it all smells fresh!
 
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