Serial Numbers in eBay Listings

<p>Can someone please tell me why people don't just give the ACTUAL serial number of cameras when listing them on eBay. I received an e-mail showing one of my saved seller's newly-listed items. One is an early Nikon F and the seller indicates that the serial number is "64xxxxx".<br>

<br />Why not just provide the ACTUAL SERIAL NUMBER? It's not like it is a license plate number on a car that can be traced to the owner.<br>

<br />Just one of those little things that irks the daylights out of me. Perhaps if someone can give me a GOOD reason why this is done, it will irk me a little less.</p>

If someone has your exact serial number, they can report it as stolen, and you may have a hard time selling that item.

Perhaps few would pull a prank like that, but why give them a chance?

<p>I never had that problem(so far). With lenses the serial number is important because it tells you what year, or what version of the lens the seller is selling. Maybe you should contact the seller personally and ask them for the serial number of the camera. If they do not give it to you then it could be there is something fishy going on.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses! Point well-taken, Shun, about someone reporting camera as stolen - although I cannot imagine why anyone would go to that kind of trouble.</p>

<p>But in the case that I described, the seller posted a photo of the top plate of the camera and the serial number is there for all to see.</p>

<p>I don't really give a darn about the camera anyway. But, as I said, it is just one of those little things that irritates me.</p>

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<p><em>"If someone has your exact serial number, they can report it as stolen..."</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>A red herring IMHO. There is a higher chance of being struck by lightning. Reporting it stolen would involve filing a police report, and no competent police force is going to blindly accept such a theft report at face value without some proof of ownership from the claimant and/or proof of a robbery or break and enter, etc, etc. It would take a pretty stupid doofus to attempt such a fraud by making themselves known to the very law enforcement agency that would then arrest and charge them for making such false claims if they investigated and the poster of the item for sale presented proof of ownership. In over a decade of reading numerous on-line photography forums I have yet to read of a single, solitary instance where this has ever happened.</p>

<p>In the case of a Nikon F, assuming the seller is providing decent photos of the camera for sale, as you note it's a bit silly to not disclose the s/n in the auction text, since it would be plainly visible to anyone viewing the auction.<br>

<br />I have sold over a thousand cameras and lenses on eBay in the past decade, listed the full s/n for each and every one of them, and never once worried about the item being reported as stolen. The RCMP have yet to knock on my door (at least, not for that particular reason).</p>

<p>It's just total, nutty paranoia, that's what it is. No one can claim a camera is stolen just by having a serial number. They would have to have proof of purchase, ownership, and have a police report filed. It's like people that take the little red dot off Leicas, or tape over the name! Come on, no thief wants your old film camera, no matter how much YOU think it's worth. To a thief, a camera is a camera, and preferably a big DSLR w/ a zoom. That's what attracts them, not someone shooting a rangefinder. The urban myths are very plentiful.</p>

<p>What irritates me, I don't know why, are those amateur/wanna be pros that clutch their DSLR's by the lenses like mad to avoid someone stealing them! My favorite thing is to walk up to them and say "What in the world are you scared of? That's just another crappy Japanese digital camera. It's not like it's a Leica"! Nine times out of ten I get the same response from these pros. "What's a Leica"?</p>

<p>Posibly the item is already stolen, as many things sold on eBay. This gives good reason not to list the serial number, since the original owner could easily track his equipment and recover it, at loss to the eBay seller - and possible jail time.</p>

<p>I won a bid on violin on eBay. After arrival, it was abvious that maker name and serial number was scraped off to prevent any identification. Seller bought it from an unnamed street vendor that could not be identified.</p>

<p> </p>

<p><em>It's just total, nutty paranoia, that's what it is. No one can claim a camera is stolen just by having a serial number. They would have to have proof of purchase ... </em><br>

<em>What irritates me, I don't know why, are those amateur/wanna be pros that clutch their DSLR's by the lenses like mad to avoid someone stealing them!</em><br>

Don't follow the logic here. In the computer age. faking documents is easy - giving full serial numbers may encourage some idiot to make a false accusation of theft, which may not stick but which will take some time and effort to refute. Leaving out the last 2 digits prevents this while allowing products to be dated accurately.<br>

Point #2: Don't know where you live, in Europe we have plenty of popular tourist destinations which are crawling with muggers (including those who approach at speed on a scooter or roller skates and slash the straps of cameras and handbags with knives). Not only this, but holding the lens means it points downwards, does not bang into things and does not bounce on the wearer's stomach! My advice to you - find a new favorite thing.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>What irritates me, I don't know why, are those amateur/wanna be pros that clutch their DSLR's by the lenses like mad to avoid someone stealing them! My favorite thing is to walk up to them and say "What in the world are you scared of? That's just another crappy Japanese digital camera. It's not like it's a Leica"! Nine times out of ten I get the same response from these pros. "What's a Leica"?</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Don't you think this is a tad bit arrogant? Why make the person clutching their lens feel bad by asking them about Lieca's? What did they do to you? </p>

<p>Plus I really don't blame them for holding their cameras tightly. If you think that only Liecas are getting stolen, you must live in a different world.</p>

 

<p>Collect enough serial numbers and you can add them all to your homeowner's insurance (or whatever insurance) then you report a theft. Sure you will not get anything returned and that is not the purpose. But, at the end of the year, it is a deductible on taxes. And, I guess, the insurance company will pay you.</p>

<p>In my old home state, the amount of "personal thefts" reported of cash, etc., go way up nearer tax filing time.</p>

<p>Thanks to all! Very interesting points-of-view.</p>

<p>Tom, I understand your point. But if I wanted to go to that much trouble to make a fraudulent claim on my homeowner's insurance, what is going to stop me from substituting my year of birth for the four X's that the seller places in the serial number? If the insurance company is going to accept it without any proof of ownership except for the serial number anyway, what's to stop me from making up a serial number from the first few digits?</p>

<p>Sorry - I'm not buying.</p>

<p><em>If the insurance company is going to accept it without any proof of ownership except for the serial number anyway, what's to stop me from making up a serial number from the first few digits?</em><br>

<em><br /></em>Nothing! In fact the insurance company will want to see proof of purchase (a receipt) and will have a great deal of expertise in sniffing out fraudulent claims. However this wasn't the original question, which was why e-bay sellers do not quote full serial numbers, to which the answer is - to make it somewhat less likely that they will be implicated in someone else's fraud!</p>