i need some help with eBay legitness.

i have zero experience with eBay, but it keeps popping up as an outlet for purchases again and again no matter what product i'm looking for. well, now it's a digital camera. but, since i've never dealt with eBay b4, how am i supposed to know if these deals are legit' or not? some of these prices seem like such steals i have a hard time believing they're truly genuine and fail-safe.

Fuji Finepix S7000 + kit for $509.99
Minolta Dimage Z5 for $158.50 so far with no reserve
Canon G6 + extra's for $499.99
Sony V3 + extra's for $484.99
Canon S70 + extra's for $419.99
Panasonic FZ20 + 1GB memory for $510

anyway, you get the point. there's a bunch from that last seller there, so i don't need to list them all.

are these legit' sales? can i seriously buy those camera's @ those prices, with extra's in some cases? is there a surefire way to tell so i don't have to come ask you guys everytime i consider buying something on eBay?

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/huh2.gif

Something I watch for is the feedback, and if the seller doesn't deliver, you can complain and have their account suspended, and refund you...

A buyer is pretty well protected on E-Bay IMHO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I have over 60 trades on Ebay and have not been
burned. What I do is go to the feedback screen and
pull up his past transactions. If he has sold camera x
or something similar several times and the customers
are satisfied, that will make you feel much better.
Don't make a large purchase from anyone with just a
few transactions unless your really are sure that
it is legit. Read the ad completely. I feel uneasy
when a listing is very wordy with lots of restrictions.
Make sure the shipping cost is clear. Feedback should
be at least 98% positive with no negatives that indicate a
failure to communicate with dissatisfied customers.

Edit: I clicked on all the links and took a look.
Yea these are probably legit. I notice that most of
these sellers have high volume and seem to specialize.
Read the listings very carefully and be sure to get
tracking and insurance. end edit

-Rebus

Coincidentally, I was just looking for a digital camera and the best deal I could find was on ebay (2/3 list and free 32mb stick). I rarely do business on ebay, for the same reasons you mention. When I do, I rely on the feedback from others. This seller had 100% on over 50 sales. I figured this was a good risk.

I've bought quite a few items on eBay and only once had a problem (not the seller's fault). The package was lost in the mail but since it was insured the seller filed an insurance claim and sent out a replacement order. As a general rule, look for recent negative feedbacks. If there are a lot of them avoid the seller. Most sellers who stay in business on eBay are pretty reliable. I find that I can get nearly anything I want, and at lower prices, on eBay as compared to normal channels. This makes it my first choice when I need something.

I bought my own digital camera off eBay. I check a couple of things:

- feedback: I only buy from people with feedbacks higher than 95% and I do go back and look for the negative comments. Sometimes, they are ridiculous complaints, sometimes they are valid, but either way you are the judge.

- I also search the "completed auctions" (under advanced search) for the item I want. This gives me an idea of the selling price of what I want and helps me decide how much money I am willing to spend.

- Check shipping charges. It's not a deal if you buy it for $5 and have to pay $15 for shipping.

- Finally, I check other on-line vendors and local B&M stores. Sometimes they have better prices, either on sale or not, and I save on shipping while supporting more local commerce.

- ask questions to the seller. If they don't reply, look elsewhere, no matter the low price.

Always read the neg/neutral feedback on a high volume seller, sub 98% is very bad as a percentage of 1000+ feedback.

Paste ebay user name in here

http://www.toolhaus.org

Adam

You might be aware that a "gray market" exists on some of the electronic equipment. The Ebay offerings might be one of these- which means that the full US warranty may not apply. Or that you might have to ship your item to Thailand to get the warranty work.
Stu

I've had 200+ international transactions on Ebay, mainly musical instruments, over $40.000 worth over 3 years, lost around $800 or so /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif, I call it 2% 'breakage'.

The best advice I have to add to the above is to contact the seller early, even before you bid.
Communicative sellers are less likely to be rip-off artists...

thanks for all the tips guys! i feel much better prepared now if i go with one of these deals on eBay!

for a second i was actually worried they migh've had 10,000+ ppl leave fake positive feedback, haha. doh!

The feedback system is fairly well designed. The feedback rating is the number of positive feedbacks received from UNIQUE people. So if for example, I was to conduct a dozen transactions with a seller, and give him a dozen good feedbacks, it would still only count as 1 under the rating. You'll see the dozen if you go to the detailed breakdown, but the numeric rating takes into account a positive feedback per username.

This makes it a little harder for them to play with the system, they'd need separate accounts for everything.

My most recent camera was not done through eBay, but it was because I could get it cheaper through an online vendor.
Dealtime has a pretty good listing. http://www.dealtime.com/xCH-cameras_and_photography
I found places there that can beat the price for the Canon S70. Didn't look at any others.

Some more advice, most of the time the "extra" are worthless or overpriced and ways of inflating the price. Going back to to the S70, the case is a generic and won't fit the camera that great, the tripod is cheap and flimsy, the cleaners are a giveaway type item. Memory card bundled with them are off brands or not the high speed version you would want with the higher megapixel cameras you are looking at. Search for cameras without them for the best deal.