rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

In over twenty years, I have never had an experience like that. I did receive a damaged lens once - I believe Fedex allowed it to get wet intransit and deposits formed on the glass - and my money was refunded without question

Carnpo Loc: North Carolina

I have had good experience purchasing photography equipment. Only buy if I determine that seller is a photographer or camera store. No estate sales equipment. ex. Roberts Camera sells on eBay. Have purchased a couple of lenses from them.

banders26 Loc: Illinois

Several years ago I bought 3 canon A75 cameras, they have a known defect in the sensor, and specific symptoms. They camera I got did not have these symptoms even though the description had them. I sent it back and the seller was very rude. Buyer beware. I used the camera for underwater photography still have 2 and work great.

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

I recently bought a "non-working" ring light from a small camera store who said it wouldn't charge and had some corrosion in the battery compartment. I got it, cleaned the battery compartment with Detoxit, installed some batteries, and Viola, it immediately charged up... It had been listed at $18, I offered $10 and they accepted.... Granted, I took a chance but in this case it worked out...

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

My favorite Buy and Sell site is on Fred Miranda. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/10

Every transaction has been great. The members are as honest as they come and the photos they provide of the equipment are usually top-notch. Membership is free (allows you access to a better search engine) but there is a small fee for selling. They don’t allow any nonsense like posters highjacking your ad saying your prices are too high, or that you can get a Panasonic version of a Leica camera for much less. I’ve seen that here.

Richard Engelmann Loc: Boulder, Colorado

I must say, if the photos show that the mud (!!!) wasn't cleaned off before taking the photos of the product, it's probably a good time to pass. Photography products that have been loved will be clean even if a little dinged up.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Whatever I look to buy at Ebay (photo, tools etc) I always check to see the seller's feedback. Unless it is >90% positive and there is a sufficient selling history, I don't waste my time.
For high $ camera equipment I still rely on the known names (B&H, Adorama, KEH, etc.). May be a few $ more, but they back up their sales and provide support if you need it.
I guess the motto we all should follow when buying online is "buyer beware". This is even more true when looking to buy photo equipment.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

I recently bought a Panasonic Lumix LX-100 from a guy on Ebay. The story was he had bought it for his son and his son lost interest. The ad also said "probably only a couple dozen shots." I was able to find the process to check the shutter count - it was over 900. Not terrible but a lot more than a couple dozen. Otherwise the Camera was in great condition and seems to be working fine.

SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

I've been buying and selling for years on eBay. Simply, there are those that you can buy from, and those to steer away from. All those examples are sales to stay away from. Stick with sellers with a long solid history and solid feedback score. That they wouldn't know anything about the camera and or, they are selling for someone else, I would steer away from.

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

..I only buy from 99.8% rating or better and decent history. Even then, due diligence. Adorama, KEH, Roberts, etc.....all very decent on eBay.
~ So, conclusion being, to me at least, Be Smart - Be Aware.

OlinBost Loc: Marietta, Ga.

I have bought two cameras on Amazon and the last one came in the original box with the manuals still sealed up. No bad issues.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

I have not had many problems with e-bay. I, however, READ the descriptions very carefully. If someone says that they don't know that an item works, I assume it does not work.

Recently, I had a problem with an item (not photographically related) where the shipper did not send the item but claimed they did. E-bay refunded the money immediately. I have had other small issues that the sellers cheerfully and quickly resolved.

Aside from small accessories, I don't use e-bay to buy photography items. KEH, B&H,Adorama provide good quality items that can be returned if necessary. The price is usually better than can be found on e-bay too.

Recently, e-bay shippers have been far more prompt than Amazon.

cactuspic Loc: Dallas, TX

Sometimes the situation is that the seller really doesn’t know whether the item works or not. I was in the market to replace my large format printer and decided to get the Canon Prograf 2000. I found one on Ebay for $75. I had to arrange shipping. There were no representations as to whether it worked or not, “as is.” To check it, you would have to buy an $1100 ink set. I took a chance. I did not regard the purchase of the ink set as a risk As I would have to buy one even if I purchased New because their initial teaser ink supply runs out quickly. So was I taking a chance that my costs for shipping and purchase price would be thrown away. Sure. Did I think it was worth $425 to possibly obtain a working unit of a $2900 printer. Yes. Was I lucky when it worked. Yes.

It seems to me that the OP would have no grounds to leave negative feedback, unless the seller kicked an screamed before refunding the money. He did not choose to buy new. In choosing the camera, he chose a camera from a seller who stated that the camera previously worked when last used instead of a camera where there were affirmative representations. The OP lost no money. Why did he buy this particular camera that contained no affirmative representation as to its present condition? Presumably, he bought it because it was cheaper than units with an affirmative representation.

The OP may rightly decide that he would never have a similar transaction in the future. He could opt to buy new, buy used from a known vendor, buy from an Ebay vendor that makes affirmative representations. From what I have seen, the level of risk is reflected in the pricing. As far as the information given by the OP the seller did nothing wrong. As it didn’t work, his total costs were refunded. All he was out was the time and bother of reversing the transaction.

With risk, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t seek the benefit of risk (a cheaper price) and fault they seller when the risk materializes. Sometimes we have to put on our big boy pants and own up to the consequences of our choices.

Irwin

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Many have shared their "bad" stories, and how they deal with these things. Watch for red flags, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably/most likely is, if anything sounds flaky, contact the seller, (some don't know how things work and don't explain properly) if you still have reservations on the purchase after communication and additional pics and such, then walk away.

I have bought and sold (generally by auction method) numerous (several hundred) times and all but about six or seven purchases were fine, the others required additional effort, but were usually fixed by the seller. My sales have been good too, and I offer returns, only one buyer tried to scam me (in the last two years) and immediately backed off when I sent him a shipping label (I think he wanted a freebie, or a huge reduction on a pristine, latest and greatest Sigma 18-250, box and all), he then decided to keep it and had the gall to bash me in a review, but the sale went through and I got my money, he got the lens for much less than any of the major resellers would have come close to. Funny how a "Crappy Lens" was suddenly worth keeping!! I was nervous though, it was a for all intent and purpose, a new lens, I had bought it and used a couple times during a 12 month period.

Some sellers and some buyers will try to scam, but at least it is all long distance, no gun to my head. If you don't like the item/it isn't as described/broken/etc., and seller won't do anything, EBAY will, and it will be resolved even if it takes their EBAY Money Back Guarantee.

The good is that I have learned to buy only from those who offer returns, as that generally speaks to the item being real, and the seller is willing to do whatever it takes for a happy outcome. Many sellers (especially the new ones) don't realize the standards they have to meet too. I have learned that if the info is scarce, lacks detail, bad photos, unusually cheap, "sometimes doesn't work right", and after inquiring about those things and the answers don't fulfill, you still have concerns - then you should move on to a sale that doesn't make you nervous.