Negative Ebay experience

[Filter]

Just thought I’d share this.

I approached a fella taking photo’s at a footy match one day a year ago, he shared his Ebay experience with me, it was all good. I started searching for a camera based on price and some reviews (not really understanding reviews at that stage). To end up with the Canon EOS 70D was a huge step for me after a $300 point and shoot. Being a Canon the one year warranty offered by the seller didn’t worry me, well, three weeks after the twelve months I encountered an err 30 (shutter issue), all suggestions from Google did not clear it so it went to Canon. The assessment was a faulty shutter mechanism. The $400 I saved on Ebay was gone due to no Australian warranty. I appealed to the Canon people that a Canon is a Canon and they should not be happy with this happening to a new model, they ended up wavering the parts cost.

This happened as I was about to head off on a road trip and it highlighted the need for a back up camera so I started looking for a second hand camera that would take the lenses I had and just do the job. Once again I was drawn to Ebay, watching and bidding for four days. I wandered into a camera shop while in Albury and the sales person convinced me that my 70d should be my backup camera and for shooting sport I should have the 7D Mark ii as my primary camera. It went against my economic sense but I am now the proud owner of a 7D Mark ii.

My Ebay experiences have all been positive but I will be weighing up the consequences a bit better for big ticket items in the future.......

[MissionMan]

I've always bought big ticket items from local retailers. There are plenty of local retailers that offer competitive pricing if you keep an eye out for specials.

The only things I buy overseas are the cheaper items that are less likely to be faulty and seem to have a much bigger margin. My D700, D750, 24-70, 70-200, 90 Macro etc were all purchased locally and were probably about 15% more than overseas when you consider GST, but some of this came down to negotiation with the dealer. For example, I bulked together a whole heap of stuff and got a decent discount as a result. The items I noticed the big margin on were accessories. For example, my Nikon 1.4x teleconverter I don't use often but I purchased it in 2012 for $431 shipped to my door and arriving within 2 days from a reputable ebay retailer. Locally they were about $750 at the time so the premium for a local purchase was ridiculous and almost double the cost. I figured even if it was stopped working after 2 years, I could get a replacement and not lose much.

I think it all comes down to risk. I would gladly do overseas for small ticket items, but big items that are more likely to be faulty, I would rather go local. The challenge with big ticket items is you have limited capacity to act if it's purchased outside of Australia. Paypal is a nightmare to claim on if it's one year into a three year warranty. Locally you have more protection from a government perspective.

[Cage]

My general rule of thumb is that if it has a motor, or a circuit board in it, I buy local.

My current wish list includes a Nikon 50mm f1.2, it's been around for years and is built like a brick outhouse. I'd have no hesitation in buying it from overseas because there is not all that much that can go wrong with it. I'm also lusting for the new Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 VC and there is no way I'd ship one into the country, apart from the fact that the local prices on Tamron lens are more than competitive with the international prices.

Like MM above, I got my Nikon 1.4 T/C from offshore (eGlobal) but all my other lens were purchased locally.

[sanger]

I bought a $50 macro extension tube set and supposedly it was meant to work with our D3100/D3300. One of the lenses works on mine and two on the other. I could get a full refund if I returned it to them but at $20 freight I couldn't be bothered over such a small amount of money. I approached paypal on their thoughts and they agreed to give me half back.
As mentioned above if it has moving parts I'll pay extra and go local and save ebay for simple things.
I have bought two Chinese camera backpacks off ebay and both are excellent.

[arthurking83]

My general rule of thumb is that if it has a motor, or a circuit board in it, I buy local.

Ditto!.... but it depends on the total savings for me.
If the saving is big enough, I'll take the risk as long as I have a semi decent understanding of the inner workings of the device.
In this instance being a camera, I'd have no hesitation in replacing for example a failed shutter, or some such other singlular part, if such a part is easily located for sale.

... My current wish list includes a Nikon 50mm f1.2, it's been around for years and is built like a brick outhouse....

While it's a nice lens, it's not as solid as some other lenses. Yeah it's heavy and the focus mechanism 'feels nice'(compared to modern focus mechanisms) .. overall my (old model) Sigma 50/1.4 is better(other than for manual focus feel!).
The supposed advantage of the faster aperture is not all that some people seem to think it is.
The older Siggy and Nikon f/1.4's are cheaper and will capture better overall images .. I suspect that at the prices the 1.2 tends to sell for .. for not too much more, a Sigma Art 50 would be the ideal choice.

[Cage]

Cheers Artie.

It's all about the skinny DOF and the bokeh. I had the Pentax version which, in hindsight, I should have kept and got an adapter. I don't see me ever using it off my tripod.

[ktoopi]

I guess it all depends on the amount of risk you are prepared to wear........I bought my Canon 5diii in Hong Kong ( in person not online) after much research online about the best vendor to purchase from as HK is notorious for ripping off and scamming tourists.....I bought the kit that comes with a 24-105mm f4L lens and saved well over $1000 on the cheapest price I could find in AUS at the time and I still have not seen the same kit for as cheap as I got mine although the prices are getting pretty close now. Anyhow my thinking was although I knew that I was pretty much buying with no warranty, the chances of something so severe going wrong with the camera that required $1000 or more in repairs was pretty remote. So I took the risk.....so far it's working for me touch wood Camera is now out of a standard warranty period so I have won in my eyes ........

[Lance B]

I generally buy local, especially the big ticket items. Yes, you may save a few hundred buying overseas grey market, but it's an irrelevent saving if it becomes a paperweight. If you can't afford to pay the normal ticketed local price, how on earth would you afford it if it ends up as a paperweight?

[Filter]

I guess it all depends on the amount of risk you are prepared to wear........I bought my Canon 5diii in Hong Kong ( in person not online) after much research online about the best vendor to purchase from as HK is notorious for ripping off and scamming tourists.....I bought the kit that comes with a 24-105mm f4L lens and saved well over $1000 on the cheapest price I could find in AUS at the time and I still have not seen the same kit for as cheap as I got mine although the prices are getting pretty close now. Anyhow my thinking was although I knew that I was pretty much buying with no warranty, the chances of something so severe going wrong with the camera that required $1000 or more in repairs was pretty remote. So I took the risk.....so far it's working for me touch wood Camera is now out of a standard warranty period so I have won in my eyes ........

Good reply ktoopi, I too dealt with the seller outside of the "Ebay" circle albit via emails as I changed up the package being offered. The words are still ringing in my ears from the seller "you are buying a Canon" I spose the other thing I need to understand is how much manual manipulation can the shutter take? Can you lift the mirror & wipe all the glass to get rid of that one spec of dust/fibre?

[MissionMan]

I think it all comes down to risk vs reward. If the difference is big enough, the risk becomes a feasible option. On the camera body and lenses front, the local suppliers are becoming more reasonable but I think it's also worth noting that local labor costs would contribute considerably and if we want to see local stores survive, we need to be prepared to pay more.

This isn't the U.S where there is a market of 250 million people, Australia is small. It's not to say we should be prepared to pay every cost or shouldn't take care to make sure we are not taken advantage of, for example, when Adobe pricing was twice the overseas price, that was ludicrous because there was no way to explain the differential.

[mpb]

Its not just risk and reward, its also comes down to supporting your local businesses.

I know for sure that the people in Hong Kong are not coming to me to get any engineering done, they will not be renting any shops locally, paying Council rates, GST or other taxes in Australia, employing any of my kids or family, buy food or cars here etc, etc.

They are able to offer products at cheaper prices for a number of reasons including paying lower wages, tax, super etc.
The suppliers also offer the products at a lower recommended retail price in different Countries. this puts our local suppliers at a disadvantage.

So just keep in mind next time you see a local shop closing down or have minimal stock, was that partly my fault for not supporting them?

[I @ M]

Hmmmm, ebay, that would be that company that hosts shonky merchants who claim to have stock of lenses up until they take your $1500.00 and then email you to advise that the lens will be in stock in 3 weeks.
At least the seller did the right thing and refunded the money within 24 hours. The big problem was that ebay's in house finance branch pa$pal decided that they couldn't refund my credit card for 14 business days.

Yep, that is my negative ebay / paypal experience and needless to say I don't have accounts with either anymore. That is from about 4 years ago and I am quite happy to buy through reputable channels and let those who choose to use backyard operators such as ebay merchants put up with the grief that the site is capable of inflicting on innocent purchasers.

[Mark L]

...... I spose the other thing I need to understand is how much manual manipulation can the shutter take? Can you lift the mirror & wipe all the glass to get rid of that one spec of dust/fibre?

No, don't do it.
Start a thread somewhere asking the best way to clean your sensor. It's been done before but forums need a fresh take every now and then.
http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...ensor-Cleaning