Yes I was looking on EBAY. Found what I wanted, but not how I wanted it. Dust, dent, or coming from Japan. I never have trusted buying equipment (cameras/lenses) from Japan or out of the USA. I'll purchase accessories (camera grip strap/filters/lens hood, etc.). And the ones where the lens I wanted was in the condition I wanted and priced like I wanted, the seller's rating was less than 100% and I only buy from sellers with 100% rating.
Thanks though. I'll just have to keep checking back on Ebay until I find one that meets all my conditions.

A 100% feedback rating is still no guaranty. And eBay does not change the feedback ratings unless there is actual fraud or other serious misbehavior involved.

Some of my friends, and several commenters in this thread have noted that buyers now use the "I'll leave negative feedback" threat to extort extra things from legitimate sellers, such as price reductions (after the fact), or additional items. I'm sure there are many legit sellers who don't sell on eBay for that reason. Negative or even neutral feedback also lowers the seller's visibility, i.e. where there listings appear in the "best match" rankings.

When I see less than 100% positive feedback on a seller I make it a practice to read the negative or neutral ratings. I also check the feedback on those who left the feedback. I'm afraid this practice is more widespread than we suspect. You can generally tell the good sellers from the bad, even with less than 100% feedback.

Andy

Scooter,
So sorry to hear that. I had made some small purchases("buy now" purchases, not bids) several years ago, and had bought a used version of Microsoft Office Professional last year. All good experiences, so considered purchasing a Canon SL2 DSLR on eBay. however, did a little research review wise on a Googled review, NOT on EBAY) and read several reviews in which Ebay did NOT stand behind the customer in getting what they want when wrong, inferior, or damaged merchandise was sent to the customer, so have decided NOT to take the chance with them again,(probably not ever) especially not on expensive merchandise. Thank you for sharing your experience, it just confirmed my resolve. I am sure there ARE honest people on there, however, if eBay is NOT willing to excerise good customer service, AND good business ethics, by helping the customer get truly get what they are purchasing,(and you know these scamming sellers probably know they are safe)or the honest sellers getting their money for their items as they should, I will NOT do business with them.
Oh, just to let you know, some of the reviews were from sellers, who also said Ebay does NOT stand behind them either, when a customer does not pay. So I don't think I would SELL anything on EBAY either.

Scooter,
Sorry I accidentally hit send before I had the opportunity to say sorry for the long reply, and I would take their refund,(as I'm concerned that even though they "got caught", they may ONLY have inferior, and/or damaged lenses) so may just send you another such one.



Also wanted to say, should you put in an offer on Greentoe.com, be aware that they do NOT really go by the lowest online price, and if you let them know you found it elsewhere(even an authorized, reliable dealer for that brand, the Greentoe representitives will ignore what you tell them(even though their emails tell you to "let them know if you find a lower price online) or they will tell you to offer based on the lower price you found, then the DEALERS they do business with will ignore the lowest online offer you have found, and quote the same Lowest Online Price as Greentoe.
Also, at the bottom of their emails, it says if you have further questions, email or call them, and gives a phone number. However, when you call the phone number, the message says please EMAIL us, NOT accepting phone calls at this time. I called at a reasonable time, when someone should have been easily available to answer the phone,(not super early in the morning, late at night, or what might have been likely lunch time, and was careful to observe time differences in calling.

I had originally found good reviews for Greentoe, and had mentioned on the email contact on their site that I had seen the Tamron 70-300 mm lens on B&H Photo, a reliable,(based on reviews here on the forum and Googled) Authorized Canon Dealer, and most likely an Authorized Dealer for Nikon, and Tamron too, for $129, although Greentoe was listing the Lowest Online Price at $159.95. A Greentoe.com rep emailed me, and told me to base my offer on the $129 price. When I offered based on that price, and wrote the Lowest Internet Price I had seen on B&H Photo under the offer's Anything else we should know" question, a dealer came back with a counter offer of the same "Lowest Price Online" as Greentoe.com, at $159.95, STILL stating that as THE Lowest Online Price, although it is not.


I believe I DID offer too low, but feel this dealer could have been MUCH MORE flexible, and still have done well on the transaction.

Between making the offer, and getting the counter offer back, I Googled Greentoe.com again, went to a different site, and they had several bad reviews, some of which the customers said they got damaged merchandise, the dealers they got it from were not only unwilling to work with the customer regarding a refund, or exchange, but also rude. These customers also stated that Greentoe.com drops their customers like a hot potato if there are any problems with the purchase, and CANNOT be gotten hold of, and do NOT return the customers' email messages.


So again, sorry for the second long email, however, just wanted to share my experienced of these sites, for people to be aware.
To be fair, some people have had good experiences with this Greentoe.com, however, after feeling ignored price wise by both the rep and the dealer, and hearing about customers getting ripped off with damaged merchandise, I am not likely to try them again, and will just stick with B&H Photo, or my nearest camera shop, who I Know are reliable and knowledgeable.
PhotoNat

Report to ebay....the seller has a time period to respond and either send the correct lens or refund al your money and ask also for yur shipping as it was not the correct product.
If you paid through paypal....whch I highly recommend for any internet purchase, report to them as well.

This happened to me on a much smaller scale with a video game. I had to send the video game back and then I received al the money including cost to ship back.
Insure it and track it so they cant claim it was damaged. Also take pics of the lens.
I have done ebay for at least 10 years and that is only problem I ever had.

You won't get burned if you just stick with the sellers who have been around a long time and have top feedback ratings. As many of us have done, just make sure you have lots of photos. The good ones always do. Ask questions and see how they answer you. They should be very accommodating. If they are put out by any questions, then just move on but you won't get that from the reputable sellers. I have bought several cameras from different camera systems, from Nikon, to Canon, to Sony, all with lenses and accessories, and then finally ending up with Olympus, with 3 lenses from separate sellers and every single purchase has been perfect! Of course there will always be one that falls through the cracks but should that happen, make sure to contact eBay and PayPal immediately. Keep all correspondence with the seller through eBay messaging and you will be just fine. If anyone should need any help out there, I've been a buyer and seller on eBay for quite some time, feel free to reach out to me at anytime. I'll be happy to help you!

For an example of why feedback isn't the end all and be all...

I just made an offer on an item whose seller only had 66.7% positive feedback for the past year. And I feel confident if he accepts.

Yes, he only sold three items this year. He's a collector, not a dealer. Going back through prior years there was no negative feedback on the few sales he did make. There were tons of responses on him as a seller - all positive.

So I read the negative feedback. The buyer said that the strap on the camera he purchased looked "new" in the photos but wasn't when he received it. He wanted a "new" strap in a response written in very poor English. The other two recent buyers were very positive.

There are as many buyers on eBay who prove to be complete jerks as there are sellers. Maybe more.

And that's why you have to dig a little deeper. If he takes the offer and proves to be a jerk, I promise I will post on that subject as well, but I don't think I'm going to have to!

Andy