Hi guys, as some of you might remember, I posted a thread about a week ago seeking advice about what to do after I saw a listing on ebay selling my equipements. Some called me a troll because I only posted two or three replies over the few days, but the reason why I didn't talk much was because I did not want to alert the seller in any way. And I also requested the mod to delete the thread, which they did. Anyway, here is the update and the story.
My house was broken into. The thief stole my camera bag with my camera equipments in it and couple of my roommate's properties. I was at my friend's house at that time and it was my roommate who discover the broken in. Police already left when I got home. The thief didnt take my computer nor my roommate's computer which is good. The first thing came into my mind was try to search my things on ebay and craigslist in the following day. Honestly I did not expect to see my things on ebay because I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to put things that could be traced on ebay. But I was wrong, I found them on ebay and the seller listed all my things in one auction, a very stupid decision. I was 100% sure those were my things because of the timing and all the items matches what were stolen from me. I called the police and filed an additional report. The listing was a very short listing so at the time I discover the listing, it only had couple days left.
I made a plan which I was gonna ask my friend to buy my equipment back for me because I did not want my address to alert the seller. I contacted the detective who handles my case about my plan. Although the detective told me hes not gonna tell me what to do, hes willing to work with ebay once they verified the items. Two days later, I drove down to my friend's house to pick up the item once it arrived.
The detective and I set up a meeting to verify the package. I also want to point out that I did not open the package until I met with the detective because I think it is a good chance get some finger prints from the items. And I was right, they are indeed my equipment, and we pulled a very nice finger print from the UV filer. Once the item was verified, I went home and did some file recovery process on the memory cards and found couple photos that were taken after my camera got stolen (for windows, I use Recuva, its free and easy to use). I sent the photos to the detective and the next step should be me contact ebay and tell them the item had been verified and hopefully they would issue a refund.
What I have learned:
- buy insurance on your equipment
- if you are renting a place, ask the home owner about property insurance.
- write down ALL serial numbers (batteries, cf cards, charger, tripod, everything!)
- keep all your receipts, both physical and emails.
- keep your warranty cards in a safe place! make photo copies too.
- take photos of your equipment, possibly with you in it
Sorry this is a long read. Ask me anything, but obviously I am not going to reveal any sensitive information since the cops are still working on this case.
