An Ebay Buying Exploration For Photographers
An Ebay Buying Exploration For Photographers
Ebay is a place to buy other peoples crap, most of it is junk or just brand new retail stuff and even some with more than bricks and mortar shop prices, yet people still pay over what they should, probably because they are lazy or bored or too much time on their hands or think because it's on Ebay it's cheaper, maybe it was years ago but now it's just mostly a massive junk shop, if you spend more than a week browsing, giving time for items to run out, you'll notice it's the same old crap regurgitated over and over, it's like watching TV.
There are some things that are useful, depending on what you need but don't rely on the inhouse search engine that just feeds you what it wants, noticed how your 'other suggestions' are usually not even in your Country and nothing to do with what you are looking for, high priced or more junk and what's with the obsession with shoving Japan in your face!
So here's my version based on most of what I do:
- Use the option buttons, Condition, Format etc to weed out the junk, as an example, type Nikon and you'll see about 50k returns, choose 'Used' and it dwindles, then choose BIN or another choice and you'll end up sometimes with less than 10 items from 50k! *Even from 'All' 48k results with 'Nikon' and set 'Used' in Condition and you'll get to about 18k, so 30k of mostly of cheap knockoff crap....Worse than Grabazon.
- Reveal all!
- Any pics that don't show all of the item, depending on what it is, needs caution, I recently saw a camera and there were no pics of the Baseplate, so I asked for one, and low and behold, there was a screw stripped and no head!
- Here's an example: No full face back pics as usual from good sellers and notice the wear on the Play button etc....My, from new, D200 isn't that bad! It takes me back to my car days when we used to tell if the mileage was high by checking the wear on the pedal rubbers and seats.
- Where's it from again?
- Almost every item that states it's from the UK will not be, why even mention it, you don't see Flags in your High street shops stating the bleeding obvious, genuine sellers don't need to, those fancy graphics in the thumbnail should be a give away.
- Original is cheaper!
- If you need, say a Nikon Accessory....Do not bother to buy a 3rd party copy as it will not last as long as the original, or be better 'quality', there's loads of stories out there that things don't fit properly or the plastic breaks easily etc....And what makes it hilarious is the OEM version is sometimes cheaper or not much more than the snide version, in the long term you will save money. There's also a lot of 3rd Party expensive alternatives to do what you can already do with what's available but it's not cheap looking Jonesy.
- Know your gear!
- Do not believe anyone who says that tiny/small/barely visible/ marks on any Lens do not make a difference, especially the rear glass, it's nonsense and misleading, cleaning marks are the same, they cannot be removed, well they can but you need to remove the coating with rouge and a cotton cloth, exciting eh, especially for the value of it, with Lenses especially, most can be repaired mechanically but not the glass.
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Example: 50mm EL Nikkor - Mint and Boxed - Condition: “rear glass marked” How can it be mint if it's damaged!
- Reliability.
- If you buy a lot then try and use the same sellers, there are good ones but you need to buy something small first to see how they perform, is everything as they say and to your expectations, I use a few of the same ones and all has been good up to now, the moment it isn't I stop buying from them, don't need the added stress of wondering if what turns up is what I bought.
- Alternatve methods.
- If you just need a lens, then look at Cameras with lenses, it's sometimes a good way to buy something cheaper than standalone, some sellers don't realise the Lens is sometimes more valuable than the Camera it's attached to and some don't care.
- Dig deeper!
- Ebay shows you what it wants not always what you are looking for, be more specific in your searches and some sellers don't list in the correct category, so look at 'All' always first, then be more specific, some Nikon spares/parts do not come up in a general Nikon search, you have to find the correct catagory and hope the seller has listed it correctly, also try some mis spellings, I've seen, Nikor, Nikkon, Nion....You get it.
- Value:
- Non official Nikon AI Conversions will devalue your Lens, if you hear different, walk away....It may add utility value, which is very important to some but for half serious collectors/users it adds horror and nothing to the monetary/investment value, original is king.
- Not today!
- I refuse to pay sellers for their dreams of buying an island with their excessive postage fees, also from sellers who are 'Private Sellers' but just dealers so they don't have to follow consumer protection and responsibilty under Selling Regs as in the UK there are very few 'Consumer' Laws that protect either party in private sales.
- I also don't buy from sellers who say "
We accept no responsibility for goods delayed due to the services of Royal Mail or the courier." Whilst the time it takes to arrive is out of their hands, so the warning is mute, be aware though, the last time I looked the seller is legally, fully responsible for the item to be delivered to your hand, any non delivery issues have to be sorted by the seller with the Mail Service and anyone who says different is BSing you.
- Not such a bargain!
- Don't forget some prices have up to 20% added because of ebay Fees, if you are not sure of what to pay, look at the 'Sold' prices, they are more realistic and take an average not just the first one random overpriced, overpaid for item that usually sells for less if you look further.
- Don't rely on one source!
- Check independant websites, not everyone uses ebay, it's a chore but worth your while sometimes, you get a warranty usually, easy return policy, any return fee nonsense gets the boot.
- I'm currently looking at a Nikon TC-201 and on EB it's £38.50 inc postage, from the same shop's own website, it's £32.95 inc postage and what is 20% of £38.50....almost the same as the difference in price for the TC-201. (See above)
- Maybe baby....
- When I read "There maybe some...." I walk away immediately, there either is or isn't, when I look at something I see it, I don't think...Mmmm maybe there's something there I can't see....Pretty silly when the object is in front of me.
- Feeling lucky!
- Be wary of 'Untested' claims, not saying all are dodgy but why wouldn't you test something if it might make you more money, not got a Kettle plug or figure of 8 or a set of Batteries, which are cheap enough to have a stock of ones for testing, I do and you would have thought someone selling on Ebay would, apparently not, although if you want to take a chance as some sellers don't know how to check something and I've had bits and pieces that were 'Untested' but worked fine with some tlc.
- Some 'House Clearance' Sellers don't always know what they are selling and can be some nice finds as they don't care about the item, just getting paid. I recently (Oct 23) picked up a, looks like new, 'K' 28mm f3.5 Nikkor for £20 from such a seller.
- Patience rewards!
- Unless you are desperate, Ebays fav mood, or you've just timed it right, never pay for the first thing you are looking for, first, there will always be another at the right price, I was recently looking for some cheap Bellows to try some macro stuff on and found a nice set of Novoflex Balcast ones for £35, fair price, nice condition, manual inc....
- So I saved them while I had another quick look, a couple of days later bought a Novoflex Bal-S Bellows and attached to a Castel Focusing Rack which gives me more options for £20 plus it has a Pentax Adapter I can sell on, oh and they have the option NIVEL Spirit Level inc.
- Then there's a bit of good timing involved in the 105mm f4 Micro that was listed for £70 that had 'one screw missing', upon further inspection there was indeed a screw missing from the aperture ring but also the mount screws were bordering on looking like chewing gum the heads were so err, chewed up, wrong screwdriver is the usual suspect, so I offered £55 and thankfully got rejected, 2 days later I bought this:
There's nothing wrong with it mechanically, a little fungus on the edge that doesn't show up (Can be cropped out as on edge) in pics and will be cleaned in the future to make a nice lens.
The Last Bit:
Do a little homework, I was looking at some 200mm f4 Micro Nikkors the other day and some came with Tripod Mounts and some didn't, but priced similar, did you even know it should have one, I asked one seller if it was included as it wasn't in the pics, he replied that in the past it had broken off, mmm! have you seen how they look, they are designed to stay on, not easily break off!
Think that's it for now, happy shopping....It might seem like a lot to remember but it sinks in quick and is mostly common sense so becomes almost automatic when on EB.
Oh yeah, the last bit after the last bit:
Only pay what you think it's worth, not what everyone else thinks, I've never paid what the 'going rate' is, all most do is copy/paste other prices, look at the mostly different price gaps between Sold items and For Sale items of the same description, some sellers are realistic and it's those you need to 'Save'.
Some recent examples:
- 3 Nikon Close up Filters - 0>2, NOS, inc leather cases, boxes, docs. £40. - Some single ones go for up to £35 from some sellers, not hard to work out.
- PK13/PK12 Extension Tubes, hardly used. £17 - Single ones sell for more.
- Nikon TC-201 x 2 Tele Converter, as new. £30 - Cheapest one in a while.
- Nikon DR-3, with Key and adapter for 22mm thread. £30 - Fair price not seen often.
Never take one persons opinion of whatever you are looking for:
Let's not pick on anyone in particular as you could compare any 2 reviews (Still only personal opinion, no matter how long you've been doing it) and have different 'reviews', it's what some base their decisions on or partly, which can be done but shouldn't really.
A Nikon SB-400 to some is the bees knees, light honey dripping from ones lips....What I missed was the, what I call the Past Future Test, it's not scientific, it goes like this.
The SB-400 by all accounts does what it needs to, when it works and when it was released, what anyone couldn't predict was how easily they seem to break, only now in the future do we learn this, look on Ebay, last time I looked there were more broken ones than working, check yourself, it will happen on one place though as the items repeat and things are sold but there's a common theme.
It applies to most things in general but you don't hear of many broken PB-6's because they are reliable, it says it most places, how long have they been out there, not many would hesitate to buy them, even pay more than one should but desire can be expensive....And some silly folk think they are just tools....moving on.
If you only read a glowing review, and base your decision on that then take your chances, Ebay isn't the only resource of course but a good base to get a good grounding for real prices and looking for omissions, let's not talk about them yet....If you looked for more recent reviews (There's a lot of 'Old gear, good this year' Videos out there) and discovered it maybe wasn't as reliable as you might have been lead to believe if you only have one old source of information, would you change your mind and look elsewhere or still buy one, it could last years or could break the day after, the same as anything applies but common faults are a thing.
- I've fixed 2 Nikon FG's with dodgy winders by fixing them the same way, taking the base off and poking around with a chopstick, the Chopstick Fix is my name for it.
Don't be sad though, this isn't always a negative, it might read like it but you learn from your mistakes, it might cost you some money but you can usually recoup most if not all sometimes when you sell things on, even broken things, one might consider 'breaking' a piece of gear into smaller parts as people still DIY Repair, old Cameras are perfectly usable, even digital ones, I've got a D200 here with 2 bent CF Pins, cost £20, I already have a broken one, the sensor is useless, so even if the pins break I have the broken one to salvage a new CF Reader, easier to change than a Sensor.
The broken one owes me nothing, it paid for itself years ago, and a good source for spares or parts to fix another cheap one, maybe? Not everyone though wants to fix things but I'd still use the same thought process whatever my interest level, mostly common sense really just highlighted my way.
Whatever you buy, good luck, I like a challenge so I'm off now to look for some cheap PB-4 Bellows and some T Close Ups Filters, could be a while....
Notice how sometimes sellers who sell photo gear all the time take dodgy pics when it's conveniently appropriate, you'll know what I mean if you browse Ebay alot, you've been warned!
Don't let the fancy graphics and cool display stands distract you from the item, they mean nothing, also if something was 'Rare' you wouldn't need to tell everyone, they'd know it, if it's something that is 'Rare' as collectors use 'Save Search' for a reason plus 'Rare' doesn't mean valuable but can mean overpriced. I own a really nice Tokina AT-X 60-120mm f2.8 (OM) and you don't see them often, so could be considered 'Rare' by some or 'Hard to come by' but was only £10.
A final warning about Lenses, when you see those marked, slight marks doesn't effect image, is that true though:
https://richardhaw.com/2016/12/24/study-damaged-lens-artifacts/
See for yourself, not some no no decription from some seller but real life proof they do.
Remember: EB isn't the only place to buy gear, only this morning I saw 50mm E Series for £45 and a SB-400 for £65, so forget EB prices and look around first, Oh yeah both from CEX which might scare you but old rumours don't mean it's the same, our local one is excellent and show me where you can get a 2yr Warranty on SH Gear!
Be aware that 'Untested' Lenses listings are misleading, you don't need a Camera to test any lens that doesn't rely on electronics to work, even then the mechanical workings can be, it takes 2 mins to check most lenses, aperture working and is the glass clean....It's not rocket science especially for those who sell Camera gear who miraculously forgot how to lie properly....
Notice how most 'Bundles' always have somethig OK and one comlplete piece of trash, well how do you think sellers dump their crap....on you.
Remember also if you stick around on EB for a few weeks you'll notice the same Junk over and over, bet there really are only hundreds of real new things to buy on EB every week and not the thousands they make out, they have competition now, Vinted etc....And can't compete unfortunately, although yet to find an online sales site that isn't full of dickheads, let's not talk about FB Marketplace....The moron magnet....
Ebay is pretty much dead for anything nice or cheap unless you look hard and are persistant, it's mostly expensive junk or retailers desperately trying to move old overpriced stock, look at the listing dates for some, May, June....If it was that cheap, it would have sold months ago.
UK Seller, yeah ok then, there's no FREE SpeedPAK in the UK but EB doesn't care what or how people sell junk as long as they get their fees....If you took all the BS away, you'd be left with about 10 Genuine sellers or a Myspace look lookalike ; )
It's pretty much dead and I find cheaper and better quality from independant online retailers, plus you get a Warranty on most gear, even SH (CEX gives a 2yr Warranty, on SH Gear, no where does that happen in the UK.
An fine example of EB BS:
Repected by who? And what's a 'Digital fit'....It's a £25 Lens at best.