Ordering from Ebay?

I'm wanting to buy a Fenix TK35 from Ebay and I'm after the latest Version (900Lmn) Ebay seems to be the cheapest place I can get it from other places won't ship to Aus or have insane international shipping rates.

The only problem is I never buy anything off ebay and I have heard stories of people ordering consoles and receiving pictures of it instead of the item.

So knowing that I'm pretty worried about ordering from Ebay and getting a real TK35 let alone the latest version, so I'm just here to ask if you guys order Torches from Ebay often and think I should be fine?

-I contacted the seller and asked if it was definitely the latest model TK35 [FONT=Arial, Verdana, sans-serif]Model number: [/FONT]TK35L2BK and he replied "Yes it is 100% certainly the latest model as I listed"
Sellers from Hong Kong and I used to live there and could find a knock off of almost anything so that makes me a little more paranoid but I figure that is where most the legit stuff comes from also.

If I do get sent a fake/old model is there a way for me to tell (the latter) and if I can prove it will Ebay/Paypal help me get my money back ect.. If so I'm not worried about taking the risk if there even is one.

Haha, sorry if this is silly. Thanks for any help.

Been using eBay for years,down side is I have used more and more ......obv spend more as so easy.

You have paypal protection,for the buyer it's good imo from personal experience .Good experience far out weighs the odd bad for me...

Look at feed back,just make common sense judgments .

By clicking on id of shop you can see if it's been there a while or like some flashlight sellers who sell fakes have had a new shop every 3months........but still allowed another!!!!

I have been stung,shipped from UK lenser flashlight ,looked into it and china(shop can be traced off their page).Paypal full refund ,pretty good fake too,probably 100s fooled over the months till reported,shut down ,change name and fake business as usual!!

Only happens the once ,extra care from then on.

If it's too good to be true(very cheap ) then it is!

iirc 45 days protection by PayPal .

I have purchased around 20 flashlights from Ebay and everything has been fine, you should not have a problem.

The only problem is I never buy anything off ebay

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WOW you don't buy anything from Ebay, I have bought hundreds of things from Ebay and I have never had a problem with any purchase Ebay has always been fine for me.

You here some bad stories about Ebay but I think that is all just rubbish because as I said I have used Ebay for years without one single problem, I would highly recommend Ebay to anyone.

With over 500 transactions on ebay I wouldn't say trouble free but the great majority of purchase have been fine.

Norm

I buy on ebaY regularly..

Just make sure the seller has Excellent feedback, also check the return process if they offer one.
Like ven mentioned...you have paypal protection as well.

I've bought from EdisonBright many times and the service and product is quality/very good.

Thanks guys, from the response I've got I'm feeling very confident in ordering now. Anything goes wrong I will use the PayPal protection!
Just curious if anyone knows a easy way to check if it's the right LED when I get it. I don't have anything to compare it to so won't know
if I've been given an older version of the TK35 haha, The seller seems very kind and has good feedback so I think all should be well.

Woops! Sorry about wrong section I wasn't sure if I should post in a specific torch section as I was asking about a service, Try my best
not to do it again. Thanks for moving it Norm.

Thanks everyone!

I've ordered lots of lights from eBay, too - seems to be the cheapest option. Only one did I get the wrong light - the older E11 instead of the new design - but I did get a light at least.

I prefer to spend a little extra and support CPF dealers over someone I don't know.

ebay and amazon are a part of my life However have you checked with CPF vendors and their discount codes???

caddylover said:

ebay and amazon are a part of my life However have you checked with CPF vendors and their discount codes???

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Yea..very important..
sometimes you'll get a better deal with the coupon code!

Ebay isn't a monolithic entity. Each store is an individual vendor/person and should be judged on that basis.

I try to support local businesses here in California before buying anywhere else. (Ex Illumination Supply and EDC+.) Buying on eBay is just as safe as any other etailer. Between eBay, PayPal and your credit/debit card, there should be no excuses for being ripped off.

Goredoth said:

If I do get sent a fake/old model is there a way for me to tell

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The Fenix website has a serial number lookup that let's you see what emitter is in your flashlight.

Good to hear guys, thanks. I know it's individual sellers but I now feel more confident in regard of being able to get my money back if I'm scammed but thanks for the warning 18650.

As for supporting local business a lot of them aren't supporting themselves having a bit of a laugh with pricing to be honest (think twice RRP when overseas is happy to go under RRP)
When I do find a good store I do support them but they can be quite a rare site here not sure what drives their pricing but a lot of the time it seems like they're banking on people to
be ignorant of a products price. I used to think it had a fair bit to do with tax but seeing as some local stores have sorted their pricing I doubt that is it as they would have to pay the
same.

As for CPF dealers I imagine I will be buying a bit from them over the next few months but it all comes down to what their overseas shipping prices are like. Some US stores are happy
to ship here for $10-20 but others seem to think $50+ is the only option which is a bit too much for me haha.

Yamabushi said:

The Fenix website has a serial number lookup that let's you see what emitter is in your flashlight.

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Great! Thanks a lot, exactly what I was hoping for!

Have a good one everyone.

I've purchased three Fenix lights off eBay with excellent results. Stay with a authorized FENIX USA dealer. One is the inventor of the light bulb, the other is a optics house and the third was located in Texas.
All have been great to do business with.
Can't speak for international shipping, but I'm sure that a friendly email will conform your request with a price.

Some eBay sellers, have actual websites for sales as well, check there reputation, negative comments, what they typically sell and how many sales made.

I've had over 200 good transactions.

my only bad transaction was from a seller I didn't look closely enough at. They had 99% when I made the purchase turns out that was for a bunch of costume props and fake eyelashes. Instead of a 60watt hid flashlight, I got fake nails

ebay eventually agreed to get me a reimbursement after three months but I never saw it because the seller had been banned and vanished (cancelled his visa and cashed out of paypal)

I've bought stuff through eBay numerous times with very few problems. Had a no-show once or twice, not from eBay stores but private sellers. Yes there is lots of fake junk on eBay, but if you pay using PayPal there's a very very good chance of getting your money back. Like others said: use common sense, and check feedback.

Goredoth said:

As for supporting local business a lot of them aren't supporting themselves having a bit of a laugh with pricing to be honest (think twice RRP when overseas is happy to go under RRP)
When I do find a good store I do support them but they can be quite a rare site here not sure what drives their pricing but a lot of the time it seems like they're banking on people to
be ignorant of a products price. I used to think it had a fair bit to do with tax but seeing as some local stores have sorted their pricing I doubt that is it as they would have to pay the same.

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Most manufacturers ship to a few large distributors. From that point on, a small eBay store may use "drop shipping" (read: they don't keep their own stock, just gather orders, re-route those, and a large distributor ships the goods directly). Shipping costs are often the cheap (or even "free") Chinese ones, and VAT / import duties are usually NOT included. Those are the buyer's responsibility - but in many cases either those don't need to be payed, or (for whatever reason) aren't payed.

Local shops have to import from the same sources, VAT / import duties WILL be payed, and the stores keep their own stock. Possibly a showroom / shop too. Which all costs money. So there's no way a local shop can compete on price with 'grey market' private individuals buying directly from China.

Of course a smart shop wouldn't. Short shipping times, good service, having the option to visit in person if necessary, what's it worth to you? That's really the only question that matters.