Welcome to EBAY - the home of stolen goods being fenced, misdescribed goods, mythical goods that never show up and a whole range of other ciminal and fraudulant activity. No wonder 9 out of 10 crooks prefer ebay.
I'd forget ebay, save a few weeks longer, and go with a local retailer whose counter you can hammer your fist on if necessary.
Welcome to EBAY - the home of stolen goods being fenced, misdescribed goods, mythical goods that never show up and a whole range of other ciminal and fraudulant activity. No wonder 9 out of 10 crooks prefer ebay.
I'd forget ebay, save a few weeks longer, and go with a local retailer whose counter you can hammer your fist on if necessary.
Whilst I fully appreciate that each has their own way of seeing things, probably based on personal experience, I can perhaps give you an alternative point of view as regards eBay.
I personally have had contact with several hundred buyers and sellers in the last few years and none, zero, zilch, nix, nada, keinen, null have ever given me a problem. Goods I have bought have always been as described in the auction.
My son makes a far greater use of eBay than I and bar one, his experiences have equalled mine. More than that, he is in very regular contact with a wide variey of sellers and buyers on eBay, none of whom have given rise to any sort of issue or problem.
Neither myself, my son, his close friends and business partners are in anyway involved with stolen or misdescribed or mythical goods, of that I am 100% certain. I happen to know the sources of almost all their "stock" and amongst them are internationally known retailers and auction houses, not to mention the entirely original items that they have produced for themselves to sell on eBay. Frankly speaking, I feel these comments are an insult to the many hundreds of thousands of traders and buyers who routinely make use of eBay.
I am sure there are plenty of exceptions to what my overall experience has been with eBay but life has taught me that it is a fact that one bad apple does not always spoil the barrel. And it has also taught me that bilious - and potentially libellous comments like this - are best kept to oneself.
To get back to the original question I don't know about the supplier concerned. I would check the feedback that they have and make your own mind up from there. If you have any doubt simply take the best part of the advice already given to you and stick with the High Street stores or the reputable on-line traders.
You may also wish to check out the safe buying policies that eBay have introduced over the years: you may feel rather more comfortable about buying through their affiliated stores having done so.
Location: Formerly South Wales. Now South Carolina.
Posts: 7,199
Quote:
Originally Posted by judge9847
Whilst I fully appreciate that each has their own way of seeing things, probably based on personal experience, I can perhaps give you an alternative point of view as regards eBay.
I personally have had contact with several hundred buyers and sellers in the last few years and none, zero, zilch, nix, nada, keinen, null have ever given me a problem. Goods I have bought have always been as described in the auction.
I am sure there are plenty of exceptions to what my overall experience has been with eBay but life has taught me that it is a fact that one bad apple does not always spoil the barrel. And it has also taught me that bilious - and potentially libellous comments like this - are best kept to oneself.
Well, aside from my own less-than-rosy experiences of buying stuff on ebay, I must point out that when I was managing a charity shop, I frequently had people referred by the courts to me. In Britain there are "Community Service" sentences for some offences. What the offender has to do is to work for X hours for nothing, in the community. This means the courts dump their human effluent on the charity shops and we had to make them do their 200 hours work. Many of those referred had been pedalling stolen and counterfeit goods via ebay. As soon as the sentence was over, they went back to pedalling their stolen/counterfeit goods. I used to see the same faces over and over again. They'd be sentenced to 100 hours and would do that then 2 months later they'd be caught and given another 100 hours. It was just economically viable for them to do that. Going back to the old saying there's no smoke without fire, they' would appear to be the tip of the iceburg. One guy was sentenced to 200 hours for producing and flogging pirated videos. A pair of girls were sentenced to 180 hours for fencing stolen goods. These are just two examples - we had many such people.
I would suggest not purchasing a camera over eBay. I've never had an issue w/ eBay, but know those whom have (as I'm sure we all do). For me, it comes down to how much you're willing to risk. Things I would buy from eBay: memory, batteries, charges, or just about anything under $50. If I get cheated out of $50, I'm angry, but life goes on. But if you're planning on spending $500 on a camera, I feel it's worth it to spend the extra amount just for piece of mind.
My opinion is eBay is good for discontinued items (like cool Star Wars figurines) and stuff you might find at a garage sale. I shy away from anything I could buy just as easily at the local shop. Also, I NEVER buy anything of value without emailing the seller (just to get a better feel), and at least one of the customers.
Just understand that there's a considerable risk w/ eBay, whether purchasing used, stolen, or broken goods. When you start thinking about hundreds (thousands?) of dollars, I shop for quality and piece of mindover cost. Just something to think about.
Location: Formerly South Wales. Now South Carolina.
Posts: 7,199
Quote:
Originally Posted by scottyja
I would suggest not purchasing a camera over eBay. I've never had an issue w/ eBay, but know those whom have (as I'm sure we all do). For me, it comes down to how much you're willing to risk. Things I would buy from eBay: memory, batteries, charges, or just about anything under $50. If I get cheated out of $50, I'm angry, but life goes on. But if you're planning on spending $500 on a camera, I feel it's worth it to spend the extra amount just for piece of mind.
My opinion is eBay is good for discontinued items (like cool Star Wars figurines) and stuff you might find at a garage sale. I shy away from anything I could buy just as easily at the local shop. Also, I NEVER buy anything of value without emailing the seller (just to get a better feel), and at least one of the customers.
Just understand that there's a considerable risk w/ eBay, whether purchasing used, stolen, or broken goods. When you start thinking about hundreds (thousands?) of dollars, I shop for quality and piece of mindover cost. Just something to think about.
That's excellent advice. Those I've met who've not had problems have all been selling/buying low value items such as comics, old newspapers, beanie babies etc - low value potential collectables. The horror stories all come from the high-value items favoured by criminals such as mobile phones, cameras, designer clothing, perfumes etc.
Well normally I wouldn't buy nothing that high dollar form Ebay. But after reviewing this guy's feedback he seems to be legit. I mean a score of 99.8% is quite impressive.
Well normally I wouldn't buy nothing that high dollar form Ebay. But after reviewing this guy's feedback he seems to be legit. I mean a score of 99.8% is quite impressive.
The feedback of a seller on eBay is an indicator of performance but not the be-all and end-all. Have a look at the list of customers leaving feedback and see what they're saying and how many there are as well. To put it into perspective, a feedback of 99% is impressive but if the number of overall positives is in the tens of thousands, then that percentage means quite a high number of dissatisfied customers to my way of seeing things.
It's up to you whether you buy from eBay or not. It is true that a lot of illegally gotten items are known to be traded there but that's generally by sellers with low numbers of transactions. Avoid them is the best idea. But there are many thousands of reputable dealers who conduct their businesses, or part of them, as "shops" on eBay and that's another factor you might like to consider. EBay also goes to great lengths these days to protect it's reputation and does have policies in that respect which you can read.
As my last word on the subject, I'm certainly not going to defend eBay - it can do that for itself quite comfortably - but it simply isn't true that it's only good for "low value potential collectables", a statement which demonstrates a lack of understanding and knowledge of what it's all about. A little research would show that there are thousands of such items where bids are made which comfortably exceed the sorts of prices you'd see for digital cameras and where the auctions are successfully and satisfactorily completed. It's all a matter of perspective.
Perhaps it's also worth remembering that the writer who condemns eBay out of hand as being the first refuge of the crooks and frauds is exactly the same person who, in a previous thread, was encouraging law-abiding citizens of the UK to illegally import digital cameras by flying to the States and on return, failing to declare them to Customs, thereby joining the very community he now rails against.
"Nowt so queer as folks" comes readily to mind.
Finally, the best idea is that if you're not 100% sure about spending high $$$s on eBay, then don't. "If in doubt, stay out" is the best advice.
Location: Formerly South Wales. Now South Carolina.
Posts: 7,199
Quote:
Originally Posted by judge9847
Perhaps it's also worth remembering that the writer who condemns eBay out of hand as being the first refuge of the crooks and frauds is exactly the same person who, in a previous thread, was encouraging law-abiding citizens of the UK to illegally import digital cameras by flying to the States and on return, failing to declare them to Customs, thereby joining the very community he now rails against.
Pardon? Customs don't care a hoot about bringing a camera back - they're not after individuals who go to buy a bargain for themselves. They're after traders who'll come back with a suitcase full of digital cameras that they'll sell on. Just the kind of people who'll be buying a load cheaply in the US to flog at just below normal price via e-bay.
Pardon? Customs don't care a hoot about bringing a camera back - they're not after individuals who go to buy a bargain for themselves. They're after traders who'll come back with a suitcase full of digital cameras that they'll sell on. Just the kind of people who'll be buying a load cheaply in the US to flog at just below normal price via e-bay.
While customs does go after traders, they also are concerned with individuals who are evading import duties. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Ebay seller "cametaauctions".
Up to you
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