Topic: Ebay purchases

[Pete_R]

Not sure if I've just been unlucky recently but the last four purchases I've made on ebay (one camera and three lenses) have all been 'not as described'. I get the feeling there are more people buying up gear, from who knows where, just to resell and they know nothing about it so their descriptions are dubious at best. Just wondered what other's experience has been.

[Kai-san]

It seems to me that you've had more than your fair share of bad luck. The last year or so I've purchased less on ebay than I did previously, I buy more locally. But after more than 20 years of buying on ebay I must say that the share of bad buys is below 1%. But it may well be as you sat that many sellers are buying cheap goods and selling it on with a profit without checking it. Many people warn about Japanese sellers, but I find they are among those who provide the best description of the goods, and I have very few complaints although I have purchased a lot from Japan. Over time I've become very cautious and I read the descriptions very carefully, if something isn't described I move on. If I cannot see all sides of an object in the pictures, I drop it. This moves me up the price ladder, but I'd rather spend a little extra to avoid trouble.

[Francois]

I haven't bought much from eBay this year either. Just a Zorki-6 which I simply tested with a short length of film but haven't found the time to take for a good shakedown (though it looks OK in every aspect and was bought from a guy who just sells just FSU camera gear).
One thing I always do is send a ton of questions to the seller asking them to confirm pretty much every important detail. If they don't satisfy my questions, then it's on to the next.
But I did notice that there are more bad pictures and descriptions than before.

Also, the sales on the site have slowed down considerably. I have a few vintage non-photography related items on the site and I've been dropping the prices steadily for over a year and nobody is even tempted. Last month I sold some super rare 7-up related material that had started at around 80$ and ended-up selling for 20$+shipping... not a fun thing but I figured that having 20$ in pocket sure beats having nothing.

[astrobeck]

I'm with you Pete.
I've noticed that my good versus bad rate is skewed to the bad lately.

I bought an Olympus point and shoot listed as "Pristine", a dubious word at best, that just didn't work at all.
I contacted the seller and he said it was pristine when it left his hands...so I reported it and got a refund. I'm very doubtful it was pristine as it had old grimy dirt on it that did not get on it during shipping. Ugh.
Not a way to do business.

I look at a seller's other items just to see what his market game is....and if it is camera gear, I expect better descriptions and not the go-to "untested", "had no battery or film to check"  cop out story some of them do....plus I look at their reviews and ratings.
It's almost like solving a crime scene at times, trying to figure out the truth of the situation.
Fun, if you have the patience and time, but a bit tiresome in the end.

Lately I've had better luck just swapping with the local film users here in Albuquerque.

[Indofunk]

I look at a seller's other items just to see what his market game is....and if it is camera gear, I expect better descriptions and not the go-to "untested", "had no battery or film to check"  cop out story some of them do....plus I look at their reviews and ratings.
It's almost like solving a crime scene at times, trying to figure out the truth of the situation.
Fun, if you have the patience and time, but a bit tiresome in the end.

I was going to write something similar, but Becky nailed it. Basically if it says untested, that means it's been tested and does not work 😁 Move on 😉

[Pete_R]

One thing I always do is send a ton of questions to the seller asking them to confirm pretty much every important detail. If they don't satisfy my questions, then it's on to the next.

I do that too but often the sellers just don't seem to know how to check things properly so they say everything is good, or whatever, and then it turns out not to be. The three lenses I bought recently were all described as having no fungus but they all did and one had 100% haze too.

Also, the sales on the site have slowed down considerably.

I've noticed that too. Things I've sold have gone for less than I would have liked. Also, I frequently check the 'ending soonest' items and many just don't have any bids at all. I think there are less people looking to buy cameras to use. It's the collectors and the fashionistas that are still buying and that means certain models sell for way more than they are worth but many don't sell at all.

[Pete_R]

I bought an Olympus point and shoot listed as "Pristine", a dubious word at best, that just didn't work at all.

Yes, amazes me how many items are described as mint when they clearly aren't. The cameras I buy are usually ones I'm very familiar with that I buy to repair/service and resell. So I know where to look for the tell-tale signs of use. Some examples are clearly well used but still described as mint.

I also laugh at those sellers who say things like 'shutter speeds are spot on'. I've yet to find a camera where the shutter speeds are exactly what they should be. And I've seen it said for TLRs. TLR shutter speeds cannot be 'spot-on' - at best, the effective speed can only 'correct' at a specific aperture, at other apertures it will be wrong. Just goes to show people don't know what they are selling and will say anything if they think it will help sell it.

[Bryan]

I just went through my purchase history on eBay for the last few years, looks like I bought one camera and a few lenses.  I need a new camera like I need a new hole in my head but when has that ever stopped me.  I purchase more at estate sales when I find a really good deal and I can inspect the item personally.  I do still buy parts and accessories like viewfinders, enlarger parts, etc.

[Francois]

A lot of the little things I now get from AliExpress. The Hoya filters I get there are pretty decent. The imitation Manfrotto quick release plates are good enough for most light cameras. Soft release shutter buttons, lens caps, a lot of the darkroom accessories are good enough for me.

For cameras, while I like getting them at garage sales, a lot of the current sales are just plain overpriced. Last summer I was given s*** by a seller who was ready to start a fistfight with me because I refused to pay 50$ for an old Minolta SRT-101 with a sticky mirror, a dented lens and shot light seals.
Lets just say I didn't like having to get to the car faster than he could walk just to avoid a bleeding nose. And he had the nerve to tell me that that camera sold for 570$ on the internet... I don't know which website he goes to but I should sell there!

I'm wondering about something though: how are the shipping charges where you live?
Here, the cheapest I can get is Canada Post and I rarely can ship anything for under 40$... this really drives customers away.

[Pete_R]

I'm wondering about something though: how are the shipping charges where you live?
Here, the cheapest I can get is Canada Post and I rarely can ship anything for under 40$... this really drives customers away.

In the UK, shipping within mainland UK, I can ship a small parcel up to 2Kg in weight for £3.39 for a 48 hour service including insurance up to £150. There's several other options if you want a faster service or insurance isn't important.  I sent a camera (about 1Kg) back to a customer in Spain the other day for £13.50 tracked.

[Pete_R]

I purchase more at estate sales when I find a really good deal and I can inspect the item personally. 

We don't tend to have estate sales and rarely garage sales here in the UK. The other options I have are to buy from established dealers or shops, from auction houses or from other on-line platforms (Facebook etc.). None are ideal. I do wonder what happens to gear that is part of an estate. Large collections turn up at auction houses but small collections probably go to house clearance people and then to ebay...

[Bryan]

I purchase more at estate sales when I find a really good deal and I can inspect the item personally. 

We don't tend to have estate sales and rarely garage sales here in the UK. The other options I have are to buy from established dealers or shops, from auction houses or from other on-line platforms (Facebook etc.). None are ideal. I do wonder what happens to gear that is part of an estate. Large collections turn up at auction houses but small collections probably go to house clearance people and then to ebay...

We have a lot of estate sales where I am.  A lot of the stuff that doesn’t sell either gets donated to a charity shop or sold online or at an estate liquidation store.  I have noticed prices going up a lot lately, especially for vinyl records.  One sale I went to recently wanted $14 per record.  I’m used to paying $0.25 to $2. 

As far as shipping from Canada goes, I don’t buy anything from there.  Shipping from Europe is cheaper.  I buy records from European dealers and only pay a few dollars more for shipping than I do in the U.S.  U.S. shipping prices through the postal service are artificially low because it’s subsidized by the government.  If they were a private business they would be loosing money like crazy.  Since it’s my tax dollars paying for it I have no problem asking advantage of it. 

[Pete_R]

I'm starting to think some of the problem with crud being sold on ebay is caused by buyers who accept the crud because they aren't educated enough to know good from bad. Maybe they are people wanting to try film and don't know what to look for in a film camera.

I was just looking at some items from a particular seller and the descriptions are obviously (to me) a complete fabrication with descriptions that don't fit the item being sold. Such as "Film advance crank/lever rotates nicely" for a camera that doesn't have one. So I looked back at some of his previous sales and his feedback, which is 100% positive, and see comments like "as described" so I check the item and it's nothing like the description. Duh?

As long as sellers can get away with it, I think it will just get worse.

[Francois]

In the UK, shipping within mainland UK, I can ship a small parcel up to 2Kg in weight for £3.39 for a 48 hour service including insurance up to £150. There's several other options if you want a faster service or insurance isn't important.  I sent a camera (about 1Kg) back to a customer in Spain the other day for £13.50 tracked.

Wow, that is cheap!
Within Canada, I can rarely get away with less than 16$ tracked (arrives when it arrives). USA, around 40$ tracked (depends on your zip code). International, it depends where you live too (and I dare not even look it up (about 10 years ago it was 90$ for a very small box air mailed to Japan!).

And now, they want to increase the price of a single national stamp to 1.24$ for a simple letter to "compensate for the fact that people don't send letters anymore"... to me that's more making people not want to send letters anymore.

But yeah, I did notice too that descriptions on eBay so often seem lifted from another ad.
The worst I've seen so far is a Nikkor lens that sports the name Pentax on the front... now that is... how could I say... not exactly a sign of a great mind.

[Phil Snaps]

It happened to me twice recently. First was a Pentax MZ-5n sold as "functional". I think the guy just stuck a battery in to check if it powered on, but didn't test further. The mirror motor or gear is likely broken. I chatted with the seller and when he understood trying to repair it was kinda useless, he gave my money back and told me to keep the camera. I now have a Pentax paperweight. Oh well, let's say I got a fresh battery and a body cap for free…
Last week I bought a Ricoh XR7, the seller told me his dad used it so it was working. Not sure when his dad last used it, look at the batteries and battery cover below! Of course the camera didn't work at all. I'm in the process of sending it back. There were pictures of the camera, but not of the bottom. Otherwise it was in great condition.

[Francois]

I don't know how expensive La Poste is but it really sucks when you have to return something.
With the current tarifs, when I have to return something and the shipping is half the purchase price (mailed from outside Canada), it's really a major pain.