Ebay prices

A lot of times I see some equipment in eBay with the same price (or even more) then in B&H or others big merchants. Why should someone buy in eBay in the same price that he can get from B&H?

Do I miss here anything from my far point of view? I bought few times in eBay and was very satisfied with it but I much prefer to buy in a big merchant with its insurance and find eBay attractive only if it’s much cheaper.

EBay can be great if you do your homework on prices. Large stores (even B&H) will sell overstock or old stock in the hopes that someone will pay as much or more for the convenience, particularly if they live somewhere away from big centres. I bought a ton of Aquatica stuff, for example, that B&H purchased from Nikon, when they stopped being the Aquatica US distributor. They couldn't sell it as new, so I got some great deals on dome shades and gears, that were essentially new. You also have to be really careful about grey market items and warranties. Many US and Canadian camera representatives, such as Nikon, and Canon, won't work on non-US equipment, in order to protect the local distributors, even though it is an item they made. (I think this is deplorable: how do they know I didn't buy it overseas?) So, if it's new stuff, check that it is from the US, if you're a US resident, and covered by the warranty. Often, that is why there is a price difference. Companies like B&H carry both US and "Import" models. Avoid 3 day sales on high end gear: they are suspicious, and I sadly speak from experience. There is fraud still out there. Check not only feedback, but what the person has sold previously: have they sold camera equipment before to satisfied customers? Often fraudsters sell a bunch of cheap junk to set up positive feedback. The guy that ripped off me, and lots of other photo buffs, had been selling small ticket used stuff on EBay for two years. Look for those that have been members a long time.

If there's only a slight price advantage, go with the reputable company, instead, as shipping costs are often inflated on EBay, and they are known for standing behind their products.

Cheers,

Marli

Auctions can create a feeding frenzy - especially when a couple (or even several) 'gotta win' individuals will go beyond reason in their attempt to win. If you are the seller, this is great !

Tom

As I wrote, I don't have any problems with eBay, I bought there few times and found few items in a very good price.

I just don't understand who will buy an item from there when he can buy in the same price in one of the big merchants

E.g. the new Tokina 12-24 F4: 499.95$ at B&H and 498.80$ at eBay

I don't says that 1.25$ is nothing but...

Also I found few times that used items are sells in 20$ less then new one in B&H, (about 5% of the total price).

Basically you are buying from a store just like B&H, only this store sells through Ebay. Now you too can be a store So you're getting new items (be careful though), just like you would from B&H. Why use it then? The only reason I can think of, is shipping or payment issues. Sometimes B&H or Adorama dont want to ship somewhere, or dont like Paypal, or whatever. Maybe this Ebay store will. We;ve done this before for certain slide chemicals and cleaning alcohol products. But I would buy from B&H before any Ebay store for new items if B&H has it.

For used items, just ignore expensive sales.

Cor

I have seen the phenomenom at flea market also, a lot of folks presume if it's for sale on E-bay or at a flea market it's gotta be a bargain ! some beated up scratched up manfrotto triopd head minus the quick relaese plate sold for 25.00 more than a new one. considering the same tripod head sell for 70.00 normally!!!!, well there is one born every minute the story says.

cheers to all of us smart shopper

I think the fact that many (if not most) of the people I meet say "I won this on e-Bay" instead of "I bought this on e-Bay" should give you an idea that they think of e-Bay as a contest instead of a store. You don't "win" the stuff you buy at a store, but on e-Bay the competition seems to over come even normally level headed people and they don't stop to think about what they are doing. As others have said it doesn't make sense to pay more on e-Bay than you could buy a new one at the store. It especially doesn't make sense to get in a bidding ware with someone when buying from e-Bay stores where they put 1 or 2 of the same item up for auction at a time but have 100 in stock and will be auctioning off another every week for the next year.

When I buy stuff on e-Bay, I find the item I want and then enter my maximum price (don't forget about factoring in shipping costs) and let it go. If I "win," great, otherwise, I start looking for the same item again ...

Also, again especially from e-Bay stores, look at the stores website, sometime you can buy the same item directly from them and not get involved in an auction at all.

One reason is that sometimes you can get stuff on ebay that is not in stock anywhere else. For example your Tokina lens is not in stock for Nikon at B&H and if you need it next week ebay might be the only way to get one. Of course you have to be careful from whom you buy in those cases.

There are some people who are eBay addicts. It's easy and most merchants are good. If you use a good credit card or PayPal, the purchase is protected. Now imagine that you live somewhere outside the US. What an American would consider full list price would be a great bargain to someone else.

On the flip side, I wanted a silicone skin case for my iPod. The one I wanted isn't sold by US retailers. I found an online merchant and had the product in 3 days. It goes both ways.

I still prefer to buy from B&H, even if their price isn't the cheapest. Their website is great and they always provide good service. I ordered a diopter on a wednesday morning. The next day UPS delivered it.