Advice Needed! Purchasing Super telephoto from POTN or FM forum

[RaptorMan]

Guys,

Im considering a super telephoto lens on FM. We are on opposite sides of the country and this is the first big ticket photography related item and id rather not buy it on faith!!!

Can you please share experiences with buying and selling like this? What kind of terms are considered fair to ensure that neither party gets $crewed...etc.

Any help with your experiences is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

[Woolburr]

I would do a bit of sleuthing. I don't know what the other party's stats are, but personally I would be very hesitant to do business with you. You are pretty new here, don't list your location, don't have a ton of forum presence and participation and most importantly, you don't appear to have a website of any sort. I might do a deal with you for a nifty fifty....but there is no way I am doing any type of big ticket deal based on what I see.

The same conditions should apply to the seller. If they are secretive about their location, unwilling to share contact information and are unwilling to allow someone local to see the sales item....I would run away from the deal.

[RaptorMan]

hmmm...when you put it like that i wouldnt trust me either. Im a hobbyist whos just starting out.
Regarding the other party, from what i can see, their feedback is all positive (certainly better than mine which is non-existent).

This is kind of what im getting at...What percentage of cash ahead of time would make it go? If the amount is too high then the deal is a non-starter for both parties...the B&H catalog is looking awfully good right about now.

[tommykjensen]

I agree with Dan.

I only sell on danish forums/auction sites but thats primarely because the used price in Denmark is higher than in for example USA so nobody from USA would buy from me.

I always require buyer to pay the full amount including cost of shipping up front before I even pack the item for shipping. I would never accept a partial payment. If buyer is not comfortable with sending money first they can always pickup the item at my home.

[Woolburr]

The added benefit to B&H....you get a warranty.

Don't get me wrong. You can safely purchase big ticket items from lots of sellers. But the more valuable the item in question is, the more common sense needs to come in to play. A savvy used car buyer has his mechanic take a quick look before he/she makes an offer....and you certainly wouldn't buy a house without benefit of a home inspection.

The seller has to take similar precautions. There are easily a couple of hundred people between here and FM that I wouldn't hesitate to do business with.....I can also rattle off the names of several that I wouldn't trust any further than I could throw this web page.

[neilwood32]

I think it comes down to common sense.

If you put yourself in the other parties' position, then you can see the pitfalls and the reasons why trades/sales don't always work between private individuals.

I would look differently at dealing witha person who has been posting for years and shows no signs of disappearing than a new member who has, as mentioned above, very little presence in here (through no fault of your own).

B&H might be your best bet.