Rebel XT Packages on E-Bay

As some may have read, I have decided on a Rebel XT. I spent a few minutes on E-Bay and have found some nice packages that are in my budget. One in particular at Cameta.com. has a complete package with 2 lenses, big card, tripiod carrying case......

Should I be leary of these offers? Maybe seems a bit too good to be true.

Please advise

Pilot

Their Reseller Ratings score's pretty good.

My buying philosophy is this. I look up the price at B&H. If I am in a hurry, I buy it there. If I am not in a hurry, then I look around for deals like this one. If the price is within about 10% or so of the B&H price, then that is good. If the new vendor has a reseller rating that's pretty high (e.g. 9), then that sounds like a good deal

The reason that I mention "in a hurry" or not is because some of these vendors advertise great low prices on items that they do not have in stock. In some cases, you will get your item in a few weeks. In other cases, you will be waiting months later.

In the past, I was tempted by a price that was more than 20% lower than B&H, and I did not know that the vendor had a poor rating, so I fell into the trap. The story goes on from there.

---Bob Gross---

Why don't you post a link to that package on Ebay? Usuall those packages include alot of useless junk that you really don't need. They also include lenses that they claim are worth hundreds of dollars when if fact you can just buy them from BH and other online vendors at a really good price.

make sure hes an authorized canon reseller otherwise no warranty for you!

if hes got good feedback sure why not. most ebay packages include generic junk that i just rather not have. ive even seen camera packages with cell phone antenna booster stickers...

I'd look at Amazon.com as well. They have links to several other retailers and alot of the things from Amazon will be free shipping.

Watch out when using Amazon. They often have links to rip-off artists that advertise low-low prices on cameras. Sometimes a site gets hijacked also. For example, on Amazon I saw a pet store with a good rating show up as having the lowest price for a 20D. However the link took you to an entirely different site where they are waiting to steal your money.

The rule of thumb is to watch ot when the deal sounds too good to be true. Other than some special cases such as when Dell has multiple coupons you aren't going to find much difference in price between any of the large reputable on-line retailers.

Cameta has not too bad of a eBay rating, however I would be inclined to review the 29 negative feedbacks that they received in the past month before making a purchase from them.

When you strip off all of the extra fluff that is basically worthless, their prices are competitive with buydig.com, B&H or others. For example, B&H will sell you the same kit as from Cameta for the same price minus say a cf card wallet, camera case and microfibre cleaning cloth. All of those items add up to $50 to $75, and if they are things you don't need they are just a waste of money.

Also, you would need to check to see if the camera and lenses are grey market. If they are, who is going to service them for you if they break? I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy from them, just that you need to thoroughly check them out before you do.