Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/09/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I was interested to hear of your problems. Alas, they are not at all atypical. I have pretty much given up on ebay for cameras. In my experience most sellers consistently overrate equipment, gloss over minor blemishes, feign ignorance and do not offer full disclosure of known faults. This does not include instances of overcharging for shipping, or paying for insurance only to find an expensive uninsured package lying by the door where any passer by could have walked off with it. I have bought perhaps 6 or 7 cameras since I signed up on ebay (1998) and 2 of those were non-functional when received, while another 2 or 3 were in poorer condition than described. Neither of the non working cameras' vendors agreed to a refund or adjustment in price. One said the item was working when last used (some 2 years before his auction) which was a lie for the film transport was jammed, while the other hid behind "it seemed to work". IN both cases I had asked explicitly if all functions were working and received affirmative answers. As for items that are in poorer condition than described, there is simply no way to hold the vendors accountable. My VG may be your EXC+, so unless the item is returnable there is not much that you can do. I well remember when I won my first ebay camera, a Yashica FR I with a 50/1.4 lens. It had a non working film counter (a known design flaw in this model), about which the vendor claimed to know nothing. He refused to cover repairs, or take the camera back. I was going to leave him negative feedback, but was advised, correctly, by experienced ebayers not to do so. He had over 1000 positives while I had 13 (I have 25 now) and his almost certain retaliatory negative would have adversely affected my rating. By the way, this is one of the cameras that I would consider working but in poorer condition than described. Much of the ebay bidding frenzy on user items is due to misguided buyers who do not do their homework and who believe that buying directly from an individual on ebay is cheaper than buying second hand from a dealer. Often this is not true. As an example, I was looking at Canon T90's recently and was not at all surprised to see them going for more on ebay than at a reputable dealer's. Add in a 10 day return period, a 60 day store warranty and it makes no sense to go ebay. Even if the camera had been, say 10-15 % higher at the dealer it would have been worth it just to get the warranty. I do realize that there are list members who are not near large stores, but many large dealers do have internet sites with extensive listings of used gear. This is not to say that there are no bargains on ebay, or that *all* sellers are crooks. It's just that based on my experiences and those of others, there are so many marginal sellers around that I no longer bid on anything, not even books, unless the item if offered with a return/inspection period. I could go on and on, but will stop here. Sorry chaps, AFAIAC buying user camera gear on ebay without an explicitly stated return privilege is a mugs game. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roland Smith" <roland@dnai.com> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>; <leica@topica.com>; <rollei@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>; <idcc@KJSL.COM> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 21:12 Subject: ebay sellers to avoid > Listed a Retina IIIC and delivered a Retna IIIc. Refused to accept a return > or adjust the price. > Eugene a56837@comcast.net or a56837@attbi.com > > Roland Smith > Oakland, California > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html