Ebay is aiding and abetting my adventures in deciding just what gear is best for me.

I bought my Sigma 50-500 zoom wisely. It was a bundled package with the 2X teleconverter included free. I also found a 15% discount deal when I bought it. That said, my ebay auction netted me enough to cover the purchase price of the lens, shipping and sales tax, as well as ebay and PayPal fees. In fact, if I hadn't decided to give the winning bidder a break and include shipping at the bid price, I would have made a profit.

Surely all auctions wouldn't work out this well, but I've done well enough on these transactions that I'm not shy about moving up or moving on with any of the gear I'm interested in.

For the buyer, ebay's not as friendly. You have to look longer and harder for good deals and exhibit self-control when the bidding goes beyond your limit.

BJ

BJ

Zenfolio gallery

BJ, I have looked on Ebay alot as of late but have you ever bought from them? any problems? The reason I ask is that I am a little nervous about sending a large amount of money (500+) to someone I don't know. I would be affraid to get burned. I know that there are very reputable sellers there (yourself included)but does Ebay have any safeguards against getting stiffed? Any input would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
Paul





Through Perseverance Comes Perfection

PAUL K.(The Connecticut Nikonian)
Through Perseverance Comes Perfection.

I havn't bought any photo gear but I have been buying watches for about 3 years. Mostly in the $100-300 range with no problems what so ever. All of the sellers have been very honest.
Recently I have been using Pay Pal with no problems. I think Pay Pal is the way to go. I believe if a seller doesn't deliver Pay Pal will intervene on your behalf.

Steve

Paul

I recently bought my AF20-35mm f2.8 Nikkor on UK Ebay UK for £535!! (approx. $750) The seller was a secondhand camera shop, the lens was in perfect condition. I made sure that I knew all about the lens first, especially contacting the seller...

I am really happy with it and would probably buy again but that does not mean that there are no bad sellers out there, just be careful, look at the seller's history, even get in contact with some of the seller's previous winners and find out more..

Hope this helps

Neill

Neill

Website: www.epicdream.co.uk

Ebay = seller heaven most of the time.
Saw some used photographic stuff exceeding the listed new price at B&H.Lunacy but you do get occasional bargain for rare non collector/unpopular stuff.

jasper

I tend to agree. If I don't make it as a photographer, I'm going to live off of the random crap I can sell on ebay (example: microwave oven door handles). I think that I can possibly support myself that way. Let me give another example of a like ebay item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1425303409#DESC

Need I say more?

__________________________________________________________
You don't have to work as a photographer to be a photographer

I have bought a couple of lenses and a camera from Ebay auctions, but probably won't again. KEH has anything you could want. And I am referring to vintage and neoclassical gear, not used current production items that cost as much as B&H's grey prices new.---scott

--scott

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

Although I've sold a lot of camera gear on ebay, I've only bought one significant camera item, a TC-201 converter. I found an auction with good images of the actual item, the seller had excellent feedback, and I won the auction at a very reasonable price. Other times, I've put in a bid for my highest reasonable offer and have been outbid. I never go beyond the limit I set based on reasonable prices for new or used equipment.

BJ

BJ

Zenfolio gallery

I have to give my endorsment for Ebay at this time in the thread.
Of all of my Nikon gear, only 3 items have not been purchased from Ebay....My F90X body(bought used from a local Pro photog.) and a 19-35 Tokina lens(new from B&H) and an SB28 new locally.
I've purchased another F90X body(since sold),Tamron 28-200(since sold), an F100 body, Nikkor 80-200mm 2.8, Tokina 20-35mm 2.8,Kenko 1.5 TC.,a Quantum battery pack, an SB25 speedlight and power cord for the battery pack along with a few filters.
You can see that about 70% of my actual shooting equipment is from Ebay. I admit, this took several hours of checking and double checking, bidding and waiting for the right products to show up. But my patience paid off because I have some great equipment that I will have for a long time. Now there were only a couple of glitches as far shipping and taxes goes but everyone I dealt with was great and helpful. I made sure that I didn't buy anything that didn't have a photo of the ACTUAL product(I don't trust people that cut and paste from a manufacturer's site and use their picture-how do we know if they even have the product!?) and usually used a credit card for security and fraud recourse if it happened. My biggest fear is sending off a money order for hundreds of dollars and not seeing anything in return.

Be cautious and do a lot of checking of what's available before diving in with a bid. And make sure not to get carried away. A lot of items actually go for more than walking into your local dealer and buyuing new.....or at the least, used in great condition.

Caveat Emptor is Ebay's motto.....abide by it and it's a great resource.
And hey, while we're speaking Latin....Carpe Diem-Seize the Day.


John
Toronto, Canada

"just act as though I'm not here"

John
Toronto, Canada

www.sportsshooter.com/johnriddell
www.torontofirephotos.ca

It is better to the the wise and patient vulture than the quick and careless rabbit. Your advice for buying from ebay is excellent.

BJ

Zenfolio gallery