Would you

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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Buy from an ebay dealer in these circumstance,first lets say its a financial and moral dilemma as ime in favour of supporting my local dealer and have been for a long time,money is short after buying the D5100 and ime on holliday in june and would like a lens with 300mm reach.
My local Nikon dealer has a 55-300 at £299 i found a ebay trader with a 100% positive feedback from 18466 sales he is in the uk has 12 in stock and wants £166 with free delivery,i can find them a little cheaper but the sellers dont have 100% feedback.
What would you do?

mike
 
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evan447

Senior Member
the dealer is in the uk, but the stock may well be grey imports. beware of hidden import taxes and the prospect of difficulties if you need to return under warranty. caveat emptor.
 
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Epoc

Senior Member
Find out the warranty terms from the UK ebay seller. If you happy with them, go for it. Make sure you pay via Paypal and then you will have insurance should anything go astray.
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
It will be a grey import on the part of the seller, as its next day delivery he must have them in stock and at that price they wont be Nikon import,unless Nikon sell them off in bulk with no warranty to these guys.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
What they said about warranty. "Grey market", in my understanding, only applies to bodies (which are sold by the regional Nikon corps) and not lenses (which are all sold by Nikon Japan).

Find out what the specifics are with the warranty on the eBay lens, and if it's new and warrantied then I'd at least ask your local guy if they're willing to match or get close. If it's not a warrantied product, then that's the reason it's that much less.
 
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Rexer John

Senior Member
I treat eBay like a pub.

Guy comes into the pub with a hat and dark glasses on, selling cheap lenses. Several people have bought from him in the past and give good feedback.

Do I give him £166 and watch him leave with my money, trusting he will deliver just as he has before for others.
If your answer is yes, then send money to a stranger that has good feedback.

I'd rather pay more to get the safe deal.
Also remember the old saying, if it seems too good to be true, it's probably is.
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
No body has yet said anything much different than i think,normally my ebay purchases are limited to things like 2 x sets of manual ext tubes for my canon 3d rig @ £6.99 each,£2.68 for lens hood,just paid £21.something for a battery grip,they are genuine Nikon lenses and new just never seen Nikon uk so the warranty is with the seller.Lots of these sellers are genuine have traded for a few years some are even camera shops who may sell pukka canon gear and grey Nikon,even knowing these things doesn't settle my mind any though.
 
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JohnB

Senior Member
I would check the warranty first also; but there are a lot of legitimate businesses on Ebay, I have bought lots of things from Ebay, they offer great buyer protection through Pay Pal, for the right price I would do it.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
As far as eBay goes, there are a lot of reputable and online dealers that use it as a clearinghouse of sorts. So while the bar analogy may fit, there are times you meet someone in a bar and you walk out meeting a new friend. Like any online dealer, do your research up front. 100% feedback on over 10K sales is more than enough for me to at least consider buying from them. The rest would depend on the promptness and thoroughness of any correspondence. I'd even ask for a phone number to be able to speak to someone.
 
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Somersetscott

Senior Member
I Bought my Tokina 11-16mm at the £350 mark, I checked feedback (trawled through to see if similar products have been sold and the exact feedback written) and analysed the auction post thoroughly (sounds a bit snobby but I also check for how it is written, you can tell if a teenager with a photography fad and a lens their parents bought them that has had a beating has written it or a conciencious fellow enthusiast is selling). Completely happy! Lens is exactly described!

Also, if the auction post is lacking exact information do make use of the questions to the seller section. If they don't repsond, are blah-zey or just dodge the question altogether I would leave it.


And also an element of luck, it may be fantastic and they package it badly or any variable like that.


Risk asessment can help, but its up to you :)



Ps, One of my colleagues is in a right pickle at the moment, she bought a horse box (vehicle) described as for two horses, looks phenominal! was average price etc etc. went to get an MOT they happened to find some unusual things and tested the curb weight - turned out to be just and just under it's limit and illegal if a driver was in it!

She tried to return within 10days - no luck. 6 months on and her court case is the end of this month.

Personally I think shes got the power as the listing and documentation she has clearly shows shes bought a mis-advertised vehicle and the evasive crooks that sold it blaitently knew!

But don't let that worry you, there is bad stories about everything.
 
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Epoc

Senior Member
Rexer John said:
I treat eBay like a pub.

Guy comes into the pub with a hat and dark glasses on, selling cheap lenses. Several people have bought from him in the past and give good feedback.

Do I give him £166 and watch him leave with my money, trusting he will deliver just as he has before for others.
If your answer is yes, then send money to a stranger that has good feedback.

I'd rather pay more to get the safe deal.
Also remember the old saying, if it seems too good to be true, it's probably is.
Click to expand...
​
Nice analogy, but you are sending a big boofy bloke with the guy to make sure he comes back with item. His name is Paypal ;)
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
With a couple of others I have my own camping forum,loads of our members have got there camping unit via ebay and the purchases range from crap to fantastic but they where all from individuals and some of these sellers do view ebay as a chance to offload rubbish,i only deal with business sellers with over 99% positive feed back and well over 10000 sales then normally only small items,hence my hesitation.
 
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carguy

Senior Member
From what I've seen with Nikon gear, new glass is pretty much the same price all over. There is some great advice in this thread already. Warranty aside, I would look at the difference between the lens your local seller is offering and the lens the online retailer is offering. Are they both grey lenses? Match them up line by line. My guess is they are two different animals and/or there is something shady going on with a price difference that great.

Follow your gut. If you felt concerned enough to post the thread, I'd stay away.

Just my $.02 :D
 
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Nikon Photographer

Senior Member
If your talking about Photogear2010 on ebay, the product won't be a Nikon U.K item, but I have bought off them in the past and had no trouble with them, infact I'm pretty sure it's where I bought my 55-300 from, if I was in your shoe's I'd get it off eBay, pay with Paypal as you get more protection.
 
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§am

Senior Member
Questions I would ask / look into:

Where did the feedback come from (was it similar items, other photographic stuff, or just penny items)
Is the lens new?
Is it a grey import?
Does it come with a unregistered warranty card?
Will the seller provide you with a sales invoice.

The last two on that that list would be needed to get you any form of UK warranty should you ever need it.
​Grey import is not a major issue, as Nikon covers lenses with a worldwide warranty
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Nikon Photographer said:
If your talking about Photogear2010 on ebay, the product won't be a Nikon U.K item, but I have bought off them in the past and had no trouble with them, infact I'm pretty sure it's where I bought my 55-300 from, if I was in your shoe's I'd get it off eBay, pay with Paypal as you get more protection.
Click to expand...


I wasn't going to say as i had no intention of advertise for any one but yes it is.

mike
 
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Samsonite

Senior Member
I bought a 1500 Dollar 70-200 off eBay... Just make sure the seller has good feedback, you're covered with PayPal of things go tits up!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk!
 
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evan447

Senior Member
e bay is not without its risks, but if you use paypal you are well protected. i have had to open a case recently over a dodgy lens that was past its normal return period and successfully recovered my payment plus postage in full.
just make sure that all correspondence is via e bay messaging.
 
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