grrrrrr eBay numpties

Shan't go into too much detail. However.... Two in a week!!

Two items recently purchased. One a picture of a rocking chair, with the words rocking chair in the description. I SHOULD have asked if it was a rocking chair. Turns out it wasn't. Doh!

Lenses, "good condition", "no damage", seems not to include fungus.

I see I'll have to start asking the bleeding obvious.

Is your rocking chair a rocking chair?
The lens in good condition, can you see any damage or fungus?

I've had problems with the last three lenses I've bought off ebay.
The last one was an M42 described as "Excellent" and it was so stiff that it kept unscrewing off the camera. I returned it and the seller said he still couldn't see anything wrong with it but was going to refund.

I wrote back saying if you can't see anything wrong with it.... you have no business selling lenses in the first place

I've said it before and I shall say it again, NEVER use E-bay!

With you 100% on that one.


Take care.

Chris R.

Got to say, I haven't had that many bad experiences with ebay, and I've had some proper bargains. Never had a lens I've had to send back. Once I had something go missing in the post, but got a refund. Poor item descriptions go with the territory, but sometimes those poorly described items sell for less than what they're worth.

i have found you do have to ask the most obvious questions you can think of, the most common being, is the item in FULL WORKING UNDAMAGED order, and use capital letters, so there is no mistake and send a copy to yourself so you have proof the question was asked, as i notice some questions i have asked do not appear on the listing as they are supposed to

Your loss .. my gain

Indeed Mike, there are many good lenses to be had on eBay. I may be putting a few on myself soon.

I've never had a problem with Ebay, and I have bought everything from a lens cap to a car. It's probably not so good for the selling anymore, but still bargains to had, but there is always a risk. I do always try and get a feel for the type of person the seller is, by looking at their other items, their descriptions, and the general care they have taken in listing the items. I have also found that some of the negative feedback sellers get is from what appears to be unrealistic expectations of some buyers.

In my experience providing the seller has a clue what they're offering (and how to check it works) then you're usually fairly safe. I wouldn't spend big money buying anything from a non-expert, but so far I've only had one lens not as described (easily sorted - I contacted the seller, sent it back, then got an email asking whether I wanted the lens back as they'd had the fungus cleaned out, I accepted as it was otherwise in very good condition and was refunded my return postage).

If it wasn't for Ebay I would be without my K10 and K20 and four lenses etc....I have obviously been lucky as everything I have bought has been first class.

However, in the last fortnight I have asked questions of three sellers and none have bothered to answer. Too many people selling lenses that are wrongly identified (usually by the Hoya filter on the end :roll or unable to say what system the lens fits. Of course the lens in the accompanying photo invariably has both lenscaps firmly in place.

My pet hate is sellers giving me a heart attack as I skip through the days listings and see a 50mm f1.2 priced at £30 BIN only to find that when I open the description and take a look at the picture it's a f2.

Happens almost weekly.

I think the vast majority of Ebayers are thoroughly decent folks. There is a "numpty" contingent and a small minority of rogues.
God bless some of the the numpties, for without them I wouldn't have some of the great bargains I've been fortunate to secure.

Yes I bought an MG with a 50mm 1:2 listed as f1.2. It was only 35 quid so I didn't mind that I hadn't got the bargain of a lifetime. It was wishful thinking on my part anyway! In fact I in the end I sold camera and lens separately for a tidy profit.

I've seen some very "interesting" lens descriptions by people who obviously don't know what they're looking at, the misread aperture seems to be a favourite though. To be fair, Pentax did make it slightly confusing by putting "f1:2" instead of f2 on the front.

On a vaguely related note a friend who volunteers at the local Oxfam has volunteered me to help them figure out values for a pile of old cameras from their store room. No idea what there is yet, but I'm thinking I'll suggest they price items at the lower end of what they'd go for on ebay (as I doubt they'll get any takers if they price at ebay final bid levels - people may be willing to risk £10-£20 on a charity shop find but probably no more). The minty ME we regard as desirable is just an old camera to their average buyer, and I don't get the impression this area is overflowing with vintage photography enthusiasts.

Any thoughts on this? I know they should price optimistically and hope someone's willing to pay extra for charity, but I can't help thinking they'd rather just make a few quid from the kit instead of having it sitting around waiting for someone willing to pay market value.