B & H (USA): 408 GBP (600 USD)

Last week SRS: 479 GBP

This week SRS: 599 GBP

Park cameras: 769 GBP (are they serious?)

...this is getting crazy. I was seriously thinking about buying this at 479 GBP from Chris at SRS...but at now 600 GBP, this aint gonna happen.

Chris....you contacted Pentax UK at all recently? or is that akin to bashing head against wall? how about Pentax Japan?

Because if these volatile and nutty increases keep happening, Pentax UK and it's dealers are going to struggle. (yes I know all about xchange rates)

cheers Steve.M.....

I am amazed that ebay caved in. They must have had serious threats of big legal action. They could have nipped this in the bud if they could be bothered to.

Re students paying out 1000 GBP plus on ebay...I have ZERO sympathy for them....where on earth do STUDENTS get this amount of money in order to play roulette with on auctions?

cheers Steve.

" They seem to have branches all over the place"

....except if you live in by far the largest urban area outside London.....the West Midlands.

I would be very surprised if anyone hired any pentax gear in the UK...because as we all know, Pentax is for amateurs ONLY..

....everyone knows that surely?

Bags are a very personal choice.

Many people these days use backpacks, but I cannot bear them. They make my back sweat, which makes carrying them uncomfortable and they are impossible to get fast and easy access to the gear.

I much prefer a simple shoulder bag. But there again, many people like Lowepro & similar bags, but again I do not. I find many Lowe bags (and similar) to be over complex, with far too many flaps, pockets & zips all over the place...and often many of them are of little use.

I prefer simple, fast, well made and good ergonomics....and in my experience, this includes:

Billingham (UK), Domke (USA), CCS (UK), Fogg (UK) and also 'Artisan & Artist' (Japan).

cheers Steve.

...also, I have noticed many, many potential bidders on ebay from Italy, France & also the Eastern EU states..presumably they are having issues getting the items in their own countries, or the prices are higher? these bidders are often responsible for lifting the prices higher than you might expect to pay within the UK.

I agree 100% with G. But, it seems many do not judging by the often over the top prices, usually on the auction site, due to the 'lens shortages' and peoples impatience.

cheers Steve.M.

check out ffordes.com and MXV websites.

Hi,

John, I disagree wholly with the farcical p+p max rates now applied by ebay in regard to books, since in many cases they are simply barmy. However, this reply by you is incorrect:

"As an example, there is now a £2.75 limit on postage in the UK for a fiction book"

There is a higher max p+p rate allowable for 'antiquarian & collectable' books...I think this rate is about £4.75...and many fiction books can easily fall into that category.

I recently used that category to sell some books myself.

cheers Steve.

"Why not accept chqs or cash only"

....on ebay you cannot do that either. As of about a year ago, all ebay sellers HAVE to offer paypal..which means in effect that sellers have to take it, whether they want to or not. If you fail to accept a paypal payment from a buyer, or refund one and ask for different payment, you are infringing ebay terms & conditions and ebay can terminate your listings, or basically throw you off if they wish to.