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Darn Ebay!


jeffrey_abelson

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I just won a PD prism for my 1000s - I got it for $171 - not the

worst price - but the same seller selling the same item - in an

auction that ended 1 minute earlier - got a price of $113! This is

more of a rant than a question - but to stay on topic - has this ever

happened to you?

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Not exactly the same situation but once I was bidding on a body with speed grip(ETRSI) when I noticed a complete ETRSI with prism, and speedgrip and 75mm lens and put in a bid right after it was listed. Forgot all about it and went on to win the body/speedgrip. A day later I received notification I had won the complete camera also, for less than the body. Was very confused wether to be upset about paying so much for body or so happy to get the complete camera so cheap.
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Jeffrey:

 

-That kind of stuff happens all the time on the stock market.

 

-Think that the seller is thinking exactly the same right now, where he sold one for $113 when some people are willing to pay $171 for it.

 

-That's very stupid from the seller - the "serious" buyers are unlikely to be placing bids on both items, so he loses some bids, i.e. some money.

 

-What matters is that you got what you wanted at a price which you think is reasonable - and if you don't think it's a reasonable price you shouldn't have bid that high in the first place.

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I just got a 1000s on ebay at xmas and when it arrived, i realized why i had sold my old one 10 years earlier--- it's fricking heavy! I've only shot one roll through it and hope I can sell it soon. Oh, and I bought the wrong enlarger lens (a 5.6 Schneider instead of a f/4) and I've got to sell it. My husband's a little wary of my purchases now, but he doesn't know a thing about photography! Ha.
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I highly recommend esnipe.com site for smart bidding.

 

Prior to the auction you will know for sure what maximum price are you willing to pay and you will not be able to reajust esnipe price 5 min prior to the auction. These approach saves a lot! I got all my Contax gear from ebay and I have to tell - it saved me a lot of money becouse I have a constant tendency to overbid.

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I recently purchased a Yashicamat 124 on Ebay..billed as "recently serviced by me etc. etc.", for $112.50--not too bad, I figured. Camera arrives and "Surprise!" the shutter mechanism is "frozen" and the self-timer is stripped...I contacted the seller and he wants me to file an insurance claim (under his name), and return the camera to him for "repair"...under no circumstances was the camera damaged in shipping--So, since I "don't do" insurance fraud, I took the camera into a repair shop and after an additional $95.00 (of repair work)have an "average" condition $150.00 camera for (only) $217.50! The seller told me "Good Luck" when I didn't buy into the insurance scheme.... Then he left ME negative feedback!
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Mark,

The same thing happened to me, also with a yashicamat 124. There were actually 3 or 4 pictures of the camera, but while they were fairly good photos, they did not do justice to the wear and tear on this thing. Or the fact that the back half of the flip-up hood (the part with the sport finder in it) was completely missing. I had to pay the $95 for an immedaite CLA. The good news for me, however, is that I got almost all the money back, and ended up paying only $10 for the camera...

 

allan

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eBay is great if you know what you want and research the buyer.

 

I have done over 50 transactions, and have almost always obtained near mint or excellent photo gear for about 40% of retail. I've never lost more than the shipping charges on the couple of transactions where there was a problem.

 

Overall, my savings on eBay dwarf my loses. It is clear that I would have lost a lot more in just one retail transaction through depreciation.

 

Ebay has simply made it possible for me to own cameras I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise.

 

Plus, if I decide the camera I bought on eBay does not suit me, I simply resell it on eBay and get all or more of my money back. It is like a free trial use of any camera that catches my fancy.

 

My 0.02

 

--Randall

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