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Re: eBay Photo Equipment Sellers Was: [OM] 21mm f2 close focus stop

Subject: Re: eBay Photo Equipment Sellers Was: [OM] 21mm f2 close focus stop
From: Garth Wood <garth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2001 12:33:18 -0600
At 01:42 PM 7/8/01 -0400, Johnny Johnson wrote:
At 09:53 AM 7/8/01 -0700, Gary Reese wrote:

I use the lens
anyways.  Beats writing a frighteningly revealing condition description
on eBay and taking pennies on the dollar.

What's with the sellers of photo equipment on eBay anyway?

[snip]

Am I just on a run of bad luck or is this typical of eBay photo purchases?

While I'm no "booster" of eB*y, it sounds more like a run of bad luck than anything. In a number of cases where I've not been satisfied with either the descriptions or further e-mail communication, I've requested the seller's phone number so that I can talk to them "live," as it were. If they sound at all evasive or uncertain on the phone, or worse, if they simply refuse to reveal their phone number to me, I don't bid, regardless of how badly I think I want the item. There's no substitute for a tingling "spidey-sense" when talking to a potential seller, and I've had my spidey-sense tingle a couple of times, that's for sure. And the few dollars you'll probably spend on long-distance is a lot better than the hundreds you can spend on a dud deal. Got some of my best deals after talking to people on the phone -- 90/2.0 and 21/2.0, for example, both in fabulous condition and for prices I couldn't hope to touch in the local market (or from KEH, for that matter).

I settled on this technique after purchasing a 200/4.0 Zuiko from a seller in Montreal, Canada, who described the item as "flawless" and "perfect." (This was my first eB*y purchase, by the way.) Either he had very bad eyesight, was incredibly lazy in trying to determine the lens' condition, or he was lying through his teeth. It came with the front and rear elements covered in a thick layer of dust, and when carefully cleaned off using canned air and methanol, revealed severe delamination of the coating on the rear element and a 1mm wide physical pit (from a point impact) on the front element. It was also an SC silver-nosed version, when he specifically stated that it was MC and black-nosed.

Needless to say, I was pissed, and the seller's attitude towards me in e-mail was "tough sh*t, pal." I re-sold it on eB*y with an honest description and took a bath on it (over $100.00 U.S. loss). I also blacklisted the seller, who has been active ever since, selling a variety of camera equipment. I suspect he's flipping equipment that he finds at garage sales, flea markets, etc.

**HEAVY SIGH**  Live and learn...

Garth


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