Questionable bidding?
Aug 30, 2011 11:06:04 #
I often wonder if the bidding on all this photo. stuff is legit, has any one actually gotten any thing off the bidding sites.
Aug 30, 2011 17:09:51 #
of course its a con job. If it is too good to be true it isnt. They cant buy the equipment anywhere near that price through legitimate distributors. heck Nikon cant make pont and shoots at their cost anywhere near what their dslrs are suposedly going for. The merchandise is probably stolen gray market. What gray market is is items manufactured to be sold outside the us market. the manual will be say swahili and there is no us warranty.
Aug 30, 2011 19:28:28 #
Aug 30, 2011 22:46:57 #
No problem. where you can get a good deal is buying used or evenn showroom demos. Go to adorama.com, b+hphoto.com or KEH.com. these are the three most reliable camera retailers in the US with excellant reputations. The first two sell used and new, thee third only used. all three inspect the items and will rate them stating in the description anything wrong. I dont know about the other two but adorama puts a 30 day guarentee on their used.
Aug 31, 2011 06:07:30 #
I gather you are talking negatives about the "$5 Canon SLR sold today" bidding site ads. I agree, if too good to be true, it probably is. HOWEVER;;;;
EBay paid by Pay Pal has bee a great and safe source of many items for me. I admit that I generally go for the "Buy-Now" items,rather than bidding. Almost all of my Filters have been purchased from EBay via China sources... great price and good filters. Delivery quick! Amazing that the last two, Gradient,grey, and blue, were about $5 each and shipping free.
It is key to read the item and shipping descriptions accurately. Someone in the TBCC, camera club, complained to me that the batteries they ordered from an ebay source were not as good as OE batteries. Well, perhaps, but I am satisfied and for the price if only 3/4 the charge life, so what; it is better to pay $10 rather than $30-40.
Ebay and Amazon are also a source for last years software eg. PSE 8 after 9 is issued. Beware of some of the SLR used that people go crazy on when bidding when they could buy the same new for a few dollars more (or less). Also amazing are the SLRs that are "for parts only" they sell for a lot!!! Why? Human nature,or a great tech who knows how to repair.
Go thru and put a number of the SLRs on your "watch list" and you will develop an idea of what they are selling for. Remember, there will always be another listed soon. You can ask for details, one had a shutter count of 25,000, what! that is a lot. So that is one detail you can ask also details about lens etc. I bought a Canon G-2 for $100 three years ago for converting to IR. Works great. I bought a Olympus 4 megpix, with under-water case for low price, great for seldom used. Low cost tel-lens attachment, ugh! BUT generally EBay and Amazon have been a great source of equipment.
PayPal has a dispute resolution arbitration that is strong and fair.
EBay paid by Pay Pal has bee a great and safe source of many items for me. I admit that I generally go for the "Buy-Now" items,rather than bidding. Almost all of my Filters have been purchased from EBay via China sources... great price and good filters. Delivery quick! Amazing that the last two, Gradient,grey, and blue, were about $5 each and shipping free.
It is key to read the item and shipping descriptions accurately. Someone in the TBCC, camera club, complained to me that the batteries they ordered from an ebay source were not as good as OE batteries. Well, perhaps, but I am satisfied and for the price if only 3/4 the charge life, so what; it is better to pay $10 rather than $30-40.
Ebay and Amazon are also a source for last years software eg. PSE 8 after 9 is issued. Beware of some of the SLR used that people go crazy on when bidding when they could buy the same new for a few dollars more (or less). Also amazing are the SLRs that are "for parts only" they sell for a lot!!! Why? Human nature,or a great tech who knows how to repair.
Go thru and put a number of the SLRs on your "watch list" and you will develop an idea of what they are selling for. Remember, there will always be another listed soon. You can ask for details, one had a shutter count of 25,000, what! that is a lot. So that is one detail you can ask also details about lens etc. I bought a Canon G-2 for $100 three years ago for converting to IR. Works great. I bought a Olympus 4 megpix, with under-water case for low price, great for seldom used. Low cost tel-lens attachment, ugh! BUT generally EBay and Amazon have been a great source of equipment.
PayPal has a dispute resolution arbitration that is strong and fair.
Aug 31, 2011 06:12:07 #
I purchased off of EBay with minimum amount of problems. You need to see what seller rating is, production description, there return policy, if the have Email and/or phone contact. If you have concern, send them an Email and ask them a question. If you use pay using PayPal, that is a good safeguard in case a problem arises because it's easy to get your money back. Also the above 3 suppliers people mentioned in this thread are very good to deal with. I have purchased product from all of them and I'm extremely happy with my transactions with them.
Aug 31, 2011 08:34:22 #
Aug 31, 2011 08:39:36 #
From what i understand these bid sites (brand new nikon for $5 etc.) every time you make a bid it costs you 60 cents or something like that and i could be that each bid can only raise it by one penny. if you get a couple hundred people bidding on it the seller can make 2 or 3 times the actual selling price while the buyer gets a deal. But you pay the 60 cents whether you win the bid or not.
Aug 31, 2011 09:26:00 #
dpullum wrote:
I gather you are talking negatives about the "... (show quote)
All great advice. I would also just mention that I have bought some of my gear locally from a Ritz/Wolf store to cultivate some face to face relationships. Has been a good idea for an additional source of advice and a source of need it right now purchases. - then maybe I am just a bit too old fashioned but I do really like having a person in front of me I trust and can just talk to or BS with. :D
Aug 31, 2011 11:46:16 #
WMRalls said: maybe I am just a bit too old fashioned but I do really like having a person in front of me I trust and can just talk to or BS with.
Oh no,not at all, your way is ideal! When I lived near Orlando FL I would go to the Orlando Camera and Hobbies store. The guys behind the camera section were like the ol' hardware store guys. They could instruct you, open the 3rd drawer down in the 8th column from the left and pull out that exact rare flash cord adapter you needed!! AMAZING!!
Those days are passing all too rapidly. In the good-ol'-days there would have been an independent, a Wolf's, and a Ritz store in a major town. Now, Ritz Camera has shut down all but a few locations in Tampa and they carry very few things and are staffed by 20-30 year old cash register people who ring up sales. Like "Peaches" record stores that were staffed by guys who knew all genera and recommended the "best" string group recording of .... well, gone are the days. Your lucky to have a R/W resource in K city.
Sorry to say, we are on our own, reading, forums, comparison of specifications, reputable review test sites and $$ in our checking accounts must be our guides. We live in a "Elanor Rigby" world and will lose our ears and vocal cords and grow extra fingers for typing. Good 1-2-1 interaction is difficult to find. Spans of attention are short. Personal knowledge base borrr-ring to most. And critical analysis a huh, whatsit? Who cares. I try to share photography with my neighbors and get a blank stare and a "gee, that's nice".
Look at the Printer and Ink forum in Ugly Hedgehog. One of the people gave a great web page source of info regarding archive and other research info info.
Oh no,not at all, your way is ideal! When I lived near Orlando FL I would go to the Orlando Camera and Hobbies store. The guys behind the camera section were like the ol' hardware store guys. They could instruct you, open the 3rd drawer down in the 8th column from the left and pull out that exact rare flash cord adapter you needed!! AMAZING!!
Those days are passing all too rapidly. In the good-ol'-days there would have been an independent, a Wolf's, and a Ritz store in a major town. Now, Ritz Camera has shut down all but a few locations in Tampa and they carry very few things and are staffed by 20-30 year old cash register people who ring up sales. Like "Peaches" record stores that were staffed by guys who knew all genera and recommended the "best" string group recording of .... well, gone are the days. Your lucky to have a R/W resource in K city.
Sorry to say, we are on our own, reading, forums, comparison of specifications, reputable review test sites and $$ in our checking accounts must be our guides. We live in a "Elanor Rigby" world and will lose our ears and vocal cords and grow extra fingers for typing. Good 1-2-1 interaction is difficult to find. Spans of attention are short. Personal knowledge base borrr-ring to most. And critical analysis a huh, whatsit? Who cares. I try to share photography with my neighbors and get a blank stare and a "gee, that's nice".
Look at the Printer and Ink forum in Ugly Hedgehog. One of the people gave a great web page source of info regarding archive and other research info info.
Aug 31, 2011 12:03:10 #
Must agree with all of you in lamenting the by-gone era of well-informed and easily accessible sales people. I've swapped blisters on my feet from hoofing from one camera store to another, for bags under my eyes from sitting in front of my computer too much! Interestingly enough, I've had good luck at my local thrift stores, like Goodwill. I tend to carry my camera with me most of the time and have bought filters, gear bags, etc. for pennies on the dollar. For example, last year got a Canon G3 for $15 with 2 good batteries (plus manual and battery charger). It's my favorite camera for work-related macro. Thanks to all for all the great info and sharing!
Sep 1, 2011 01:10:19 #
condor wrote:
From what i understand these bid sites (brand new nikon for $5 etc.) every time you make a bid it costs you 60 cents or something like that and i could be that each bid can only raise it by one penny. if you get a couple hundred people bidding on it the seller can make 2 or 3 times the actual selling price while the buyer gets a deal. But you pay the 60 cents whether you win the bid or not.
Yes, these new penny auction site have quite the scam. They charge anywhere from $.60 to $1 per "credit". Each credit will allow you to bid $.01 towards the cost of the item. Most items like TVs and DSLR cameras end up going for about $150.00 which sounds like a bargain until you do the math. $150.00= 15,000 bids. even at the discounted rate that's $9000 dollars made on that item by the auction site. For every winner, there are probably 1000 losers who all paid for the privilege of being "outbid".
Sep 1, 2011 08:51:59 #
Yes the seller gets a great deal, the winner gets a deal and there are a lot of broke disapointed loosers. I'll stick with ebay/pay-pal, I've had good experiences with them. I think some people buy a camera for their vacation and then sell it when they get home. I saved $200 on an olympus E510. Great little camera, it appeared to be new.
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