Hi all,

I need your general advice.

Recently, I purchased a Tamron 28-75 F2.8 lens, used, from a trader on an auction site Oztion. Having been told it was only used a few times, no scratches or dust in the lens, I received it and to my amazement see a 1cm scratch smack bang in the middle of the lens.

I'm pretty mad at having been duped this way, but in any case I enter into negotiations with the seller on either a refund or compensation.

My question is: if I were to ask for compensation, how much would this scratch bring down the price? In other words - what would YOU pay for a scratched lens such as this?

I bought the lens for $400. It's pretty new actually (in the sellers defense) except for this scratch. I've tested the lens, the scratch does not seem to show up in pictures (as I probably expected) so it does not make much of a difference. The focus however seems to be a little off, but not by a mile. The IQ however, was not as I was hoping for with images being pretty darn soft actually when wide open and zoomed at 75mm.

Anyway, attached are some pictures of the scratch:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/775...1markedoh1.jpg
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/200...2markedsa6.jpg
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/642...3markednv8.jpg

It was difficult to capture but I think I show the point.

So please let me know what a fair figure for compensation is. A refund is also possible, but to cut the story short - I don't trust this seller. It took a month for the lens to arrive (even after I paid for registered/express post) and it arrived only after threats which I don't like to do. So I'm not in the mood to send the lens back and hope for a refund.

Thanks guys.