Worst Ebay Lens Purchase Story

I want to buy a lens off of ebay but I'm scared that I'll get ripped off. Send me your worst stories to ward me off.

HAHAH what an interesting thread...
yeah i wanna be scared off too :P

I think you can protect youself from bad ebay buys with just a little common sence...

For example, a dead give away is bad seller ratings.. I usually look for people with few hundred positive seller rating with atleast 98% or higher feedback.

Read the auction... make sure you are bidding on what you want.

See if its actua pictures vs stock pictures.

And my favorite.. ASK QUESTIONS TO THE SELLER! Its a pretty decent way to see if a seller is legit.

I bought 2 lenses off ebay, both are great lenses. Canon 28-105 f/3.5 and a Sigma 28-300 f/3.5, Happy with both. Just check sellers rating, make sure he has previous history with ebay and make sure you read the whole add. Sometimes they like to slip things in. When I was shopping for my Canon 28-105, I almost bid on one that claimed to be a f/3.5, all the way at the bottom of the add he edited his add and said it actually was a f/4.0. Big difference in the two lenses. Good luck.

I like it, ebay has been good to me. I've bought three
lenses (70-200 2.8, 300 f/4L and an 85 1.8) all three
were as advertised and slightly nicer than expected...
for selling it's great too... I listed a kit lens for $65 delivered
a few weeks ago, didn't get any responses here, it lasted
less than a day at $75 + ship. probably a wash, but hey
I sold it...

That said, I avoid anyone with bad feedback, no feedback, any
tomfoolery like alot of mispellings, bad grammar or any flakiness
in responding to questions etc... and I've learned this... if you
ask for a tracker and don't receive one there's only one explanation
it's because IT DIDN'T SHIP... get the seller's contact info and start
following up immediately... and if the item is not what you expected
start following up nicely but assertively...

I bidded for a few items on eBay and most of the time I got out bidded by some one who bidded over retail. Not for me!!! Might as well buy retail!!!

My riskiest purchase was the 35L. I saw it on FM, but he had no rating there -just a single digit post count -complete newb. I told him to put it on feebay because of that... and he did. I brought it - I had checked his address and paid knowing that if there was no lens in reality, well, I could ask Visa to pull the deal. It was everything he had said and a great example.

I bought my (brand new) 100-400L on ebay, saving around £350 on the cheapest price I could find elsewhere. So long as you take sensible precautions you shouldn't have a problem, ask the seller if it is OK to collect the lens and pay cash on collection if you win. If they are scamming, they will say no (because they haven't got a camera or lens) you must send them a cheque. In which case, don't bid.

You don't actually have to go and collect it in person, the simple fact that they are willing to let you is a good sign that all is well.

The big camera sellers, often in Hong Kong, are generally good people to deal with (check feedbacks before bidding) but be aware that importing the lens could leave you liable to customs duties and / or sales tax (VAT if you are in the UK) before you get it.

several purchases on ebay all good

Hi
Look at sellers feedback and rating before buying anything and inquire about shipping costs in advance. If you do this you never have any problems and get really awsome deals. I have purchsed a dozen differnt cameras and lenses or accessories and never had any problems (All sellers had rating over 97% or I would not even bid).
One ebay-store I really recommend is Henry's they give a 180 day warranty on lenses. I bought several from them and they were fantastc for the price.

paypal is the key, I was ripped off once when I bought a 20' monitor for $400, it was my first purchase pn ebay and I paid with western union. Needless to say , I never recieve my monitor the address and name was fake, so I lost out.
I will never payfor anything without paypal.

DaveL wrote in post #2258432
if you
ask for a tracker and don't receive one there's only one explanation
it's because IT DIDN'T SHIP... get the seller's contact info and start
following up immediately... and if the item is not what you expected
start following up nicely but assertively...

Not true. USPS Parcel Post, Priority and First Class do not offer tracking. It is Delivery Confirmation, useless to you as a buyer, and only tells the seller that the item was safely delivered. Some sellers will provide the information, some won't. That doesn't mean they haven't shipped it. It just means they don't want to give you the number only to have you email back **** because it's not being tracked.

You have to have Express or a common carrier service such as UPS, FedEx, or DHL to have tracking on all shipments.

Camera equipment seems to have the largest saturation of items for sale by dealers, most of them offering the BuyItNow option. For some items you need to go to about page 4 to get to anything sold by a non-dealer. I suspect filling the first few pages with redundant offerings is done on purpose to prevent buyers from locating the more legitimate items.

I've seen "sellers" trying to sell items that use another seller's photos and descriptions while the original (real) item is still active on eBay. The bogus seller was in Romania, offered the item at about 20% of its value, insisted on being paid by Western Union, and avoided my feigned efforts to pick the item up in person and pay cash. That scam is kind of obvious, but some are more subtle.

It's good to be suspicious. One "trick" is use is to tell the seller that I'm actually going to be in the area (wherever they are selling from) and will pick it up in person and pay in cash with the currency of their choice. No scammer will ever agree to that method.

Even 100% sellers are not so reliable. I got ripped, not too long ago, by a 100% seller, with a 50+ rating, with over 100 positive transactions. Paid for the 5D, and two days later, fleabay sends me an email, that the seller's account has been 'compromised.' I still have a case pending with my CC company, and Paypal...so, once I win, they will have to eat it!

Never gonna do that again!

dbahn wrote in post #2258660
It's good to be suspicious. One "trick" is use is to tell the seller that I'm actually going to be in the area (wherever they are selling from) and will pick it up in person and pay in cash with the currency of their choice. No scammer will ever agree to that method.

I'm not a scammer and I wouldn't agree to that either. I don't want random people showing up at my home. I'd rather not have your business.

I bought my 50 and my 24-70 on ebay, and my 10-20 from a member on here. I have been very happy with my purchases, and in buying slightly used, I've saved over $200.