Julia, I may be not the most active ebayer here, but I have to say, it seems to be *the* place to look for equipment. Most of my photo gear came from there (LX, a bunch of lenses, a 6x7...). The general rule -- get in touch with the seller. If he's the guys who ignores questions -- forget about him immediately. Ebay has some kind of buyer insurance policy, but from my experience (yes, I've got screwed once, if anyone cares, it's Team-Photo, Germany) it's PIA and is limited to something like $200 minus deductible. So your best bet is to talk to the seller and make sure he's honest, sincere and easy to get in touch with, even if he cannot answer all your questions (btw, Shel has a terrific list of questions to ask if you buy an LX or any other camera for that matter). In most cases you can get a 7 days trial period, when you can make sure the equipment is as described and functional (although the s/h charges are usually non-refundable, although that depends as well) -- I had to resort to it a few times and never had any problems. Another important thing to remember is that no matter how sweet a piece of equipment may look, there'll always be another one in a few days/weeks, so if the price is not right, or you have any doubts about seller, just walk away. There's a nice piece on ebay experiences at http://people.smu.edu/rmonagha/mf/ebay.html
> Hi, Julia, > > Ask questions if you're not sure about everything. If it just says "seems > to work well", or something vague like that, write the vendor and ask > specifically if the meter works, for instance. Ask if all the shutter > speeds work, how many rolls he's put through the camera, if it was his, or > if he's "selling for a friend". If his answer is vague, or not forthcoming, > beware! Ask if the lenses have fungus, or spots or haze on them. Not that > all vendors are trying to screw you, but many people selling camera > equipment don't know much about them, for instance, if they are selling from > an estate or something. > > Know what you're bidding for, what the value is, and don't get sucked into > bidding wars. If you don't get what you want, another one will come up > sooner or later. > > Check the guy's feedback. Not that you should never buy from anyone with > negative feedback, or no feedback at all, but at least know what you're > getting into, and adjust your maximum bid accordingly. > > Personally, I don't buy anything expensive on eBay - so far my biggest > purchase has been around $60US. Remember, eBay is Caveat Emptor. If you > get screwed, your remedies are limited - yeah, you can give the guy bad > feedback, complain to eBay and get them removed as a vender (so they can log > on as a different user, and sell some more). At least if you don't spend > much, you can't lose much, either. > > That being said, you can get some great bargains there - I have, and so have > many others on this list. > > regards, > frank > > "J. Gerace" wrote: > > > Hi Everyone, > > > > Really enjoying the conversations here. Just reading a lot right now. > > But....you all got me thinking about buying lenses and stuff, so I've > > been checking out E-Bay. There's a couple of K1000 packages that come > > with a few lenses (that seem nice to me) and a SP1000 with a few as > > well. Would it be reasonable to try for one of these? Probably the K's, > > because of the lens mount...plus, then I'll have a spare body..... > > > > I was wondering too if you all wind up bidding against eachother? : ) > > Oh, and I saw an LX body for sale too...... > > > > Thanks, > > > > Julia - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
