The emptors are not caveating!

[ondebanks]

If you sleepwalk to a purchase on ebay you can get burnt. Here's someone who's going to get imminently burnt, buying a Leaf/Mamiya system. I hope it's none of you guys.

There are 11 bids up to AU$1525 on an auction ending in a few hours for a "Leaf Aptus17 Digital Back w/Mamiya 645AFD Professional", item 130421562964. Note the following:
- the seller has Zero feedback.
- the item photos are all stock ones culled from the web. Several of them show a 645AFD with a _film_ back. One of them shows a later model (645AFDIII) with a later lens (80mm D). The only one showing a Leaf back is an Aptus II, not an Aptus 17.
- the item description says nothing about the condition or provenance of the item. You'd think that if someone in Thailand had such a nice kit, he'd like to say what he used shoot with it or point us to some of his favourite photos taken with it.
- the item description is a cut-n-paste job, consisting only of the manufacturer's specs.
- the postage cost is unrealistically low for something this big and valuable.
- the seller has no other items for sale, just this one big valuable thing.
- the seller has no completed listings

Despite these obvious alarm bells, there's been no lack of bidders willing to part with a chunk of their cash. As I said, the emptors are not caveating!

In my experience, if you carefully check the feedback, photos, descriptions, policies, shipping costs, seller's other items, seller's completed listings - then you should be absolutely fine on ebay.

[deejjjaaaa]

report it @ http://cgi1.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReportThisItemRedirect&active=0&itemId=130421562964&seller=qmiw43

[ondebanks]

Thanks, I did report it. I would have alerted the high bidder too, but the "private auction" setup prevents this.

[Greg Campbell]

Yikes,  RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY!!!!  

(You forgot to mention, "No returns accepted,"  That in itself would make me think long and hard before bidding.)

I hope the Aussie buyer gets his camera, but I'll bet you a six pack he's been hosed.

[Alex MacPherson]

Rules of thumb for ebay camera equipment auctions:

1. Never buy from a seller with zero feedback... ever.
2. Never buy from a seller that has had no transactions within 6 months. Ever.
    It is very common for fraudsters to hijack accounts that have good feedback
    but have been inactive for awhile.
3. Never buy from a seller from fraud-common countries like Indonesia,Thailand,Russia, Nigeria,ect.

4. Never bid on 1 day auctions. Fraudsters try to pull something fast before someone notices.

My story:
I bought on a 1ds Mkii a couple years ago for $2000 on an auction from a seller from Indonesia,
presenting themselves as an American business man living abroad. The sellers account had not had
any activity for 6 months but had 100% feedback from 20-something auctions.
The seller provided a tracking number and a package (an empty box)  was sent to my city, received by someone
at a different address, and signed for.
It took more than 6 months to recover my money from PayPal... because the package was received and signed by someone
they said it was the sellers proof that it was sent... EVEN THOUGH they told me on the phone that
the sellers account was HIJACKED. I ended up reversing the charges on PayPal through my credit card and a long battle
began. Eventually,  Paypal relented but it took 6 months and a lot of hassle.

[feppe]

My story:
I bought on a 1ds Mkii a couple years ago for $2000 on an auction from a seller from Indonesia,
presenting themselves as an American business man living abroad. The sellers account had not had
any activity for 6 months but had 100% feedback from 20-something auctions.
The seller provided a tracking number and a package (an empty box)  was sent to my city, received by someone
at a different address, and signed for.
It took more than 6 months to recover my money from PayPal... because the package was received and signed by someone
they said it was the sellers proof that it was sent... EVEN THOUGH they told me on the phone that
the sellers account was HIJACKED. I ended up reversing the charges on PayPal through my credit card and a long battle
began. Eventually,  Paypal relented but it took 6 months and a lot of hassle.

And mine: I bought a 5DII from a seller with good feedback at ok price. They claimed it was in stock in the listing, but it quickly became clear they didn't, and couldn't even deliver it. eBay was not helpful at all in getting a refund. I'm finally getting the refund in weekly instalments, but it has been over 18 months of excuses, delays and frustration.

This is a business, not an individual seller, and still sells on eBay.

Next time I'm going to court the second I smell trouble.

[psorantin]

I had similar problems with paypal - they acknowledged that a fraudulent seller was involved - but rejected any engagement.

Paypal seems to care very little about buyer protection.

Frankly, I think paypal sucks and that is another rule I have - "avoid paypal".

Peter

[darylgo]

I would like to add another rule of thumb:  when buying a high ticket item go to a reputable store and look at the item.  It only takes one bad transaction on ebay to nulify all the savings in the last 5 or 10 transactions.  There are exceptional sellers on ebay and this is easily seen in feedback descriptions, if I don't see superlatives I re-evaluate very carefully.   

[TimothyHyde]

Another important rule:  Never send an item to a buyer except to a PayPal Approved Address, even if the money has already been transferred to your account.  I had a D3 sale (at too good of a price, looking back on it) go through the process, money was transferred to my account, sent the camera to Indonesia (another mistake), only to have the money withdrawn from my account six weeks later by the credit card company because it was a stollen card.  The CC company didn't even notify me, they just grabbed the money from my account.  PayPal would have stood behind me if I had sent it to an approved address, but I thought, "what the hell; I have the money already, how can i go wrong if the buyer wants it sent to a different address?"