Buy, Buying, Bought

Ah Ebay. It's like the thrift store your mother always warned you about.

But there are always those horror stories around about people getting scammed, the product being faulty, or that it will come to you in broken pieces.

This is why many people are hesitant to buy certain things from there.

Electronics being a big one.

Millions of people do it, but a lot of the people I've talked to, mentioning to them that it's where I'm probably going to purchase my camera, recoil in fear at the thought.

But I have bought things on there many times before, and have known others to do so.

There are just a few things you need to keep in mind before purchasing something like this:

• Remember that rating is everything on Ebay. 
• Beside the seller's screen name is a number, that's how many people have bought from them. The number after that is a percentage of how much positive feedback they've gotten. You can click on the former and see their stats on how many positive, negative, and neutral ratings they've gotten and it lists all the comments that the buyers have left. Go through these at least 4 or 5 pages back to see possible issues that may crop up. The higher the percentage beside their name, the better chance you have at getting good service.
• Read everything carefully.
• Read the entire product description including the shipping and payment areas. You want to make sure you get exactly what you are expecting.
• Communicate with the seller. 
• Especially if you are doing the "Buy It Now" option instead of attempting an auction. Either way, there is an inbox on each account for a reason. If you get poor or no communication with the seller beforehand then it is going to be nearly impossible to do so if something goes wrong in the transaction.
• Always get the insurance!
• Even if the seller does everything right on their end, and even if they don't, things can go wrong anywhere between when it leaves their hands to when it gets to your doorstep. If anything goes wrong or if their is something wrong with the product then you can get your money back. Which brings me to my next point..
  
•  Keep all of the information you get.
• I even save a copy of the original add just to make sure. So that way, if the seller does wind up doing something wrong, or just trying to out-and-out scam you, you have proof of what they were promising. That way even if they try to ignore the issue you can take things up with Ebay and they will help get everything sorted out.

Now, all of these things are just to make sure you keep yourself safe in bigger transactions. Granted, more often than not, a lot of this is put to waste after you get your product and everything is just as it should be. But for worst case scenarios it's good to keep these things handy.

I'm ping-ponging between two cameras I may buy, from Ebay of course. Not just because it's easier and there are more options, but because many sellers there offer kits.
The kits I'm looking at have things like the camera body, 3 lenses, a handful of filters, a bag, memory card(s), mini tripod, regular tripod, card reader, lens cleaning kit, and a flash.
The prices being that of, if you buy the camera at a store or such, just the body and one lens.

I check on Craig's List as well and sometimes there are good deals, but it still makes me iffy.
You should be ready and willing to pay and pickup the item on the same day for one, else it could be gone to the next person who emails the seller.
There is also no guarantees, and usually you have to meet them one on one.
Being 5'2" woman and meeting someone you don't know to give them a reasonably large sum of money makes me nervous. Obviously I would never go alone, but all the same, I'm just not a fan of the site yet.

Okay, I just wanted to make a post dedicated to this because I feel that it's important. I know it has little to do with Photography or anything artistic really, but I promise to make up for it in my next post!


Quotable Quotes:
"- I think the whole world's gone mad.
- Uh-Uh. It's always been like this.
You probably just don't get out enough."
~Sexton and Death, in Death:The High Cost Of Living 
by Neil Gaiman