[Nowhere Matt]

Ugh! Congratz to whoever snaked that FA 35mm F/2 in like new condition for $280BIN I was the first to see it (1 AM) and was just getting it set up to buy it when the 5th viewer bought it right from under me :ugh:

Than the whole fiasco with the K 200mm F/2.5, where it was ending while I was driving. I attempted to win it on a cell phone which took 2+min. to load the bid page... except for when I was finally ready to attempt to "snipe" meaning there was 2 min. for people to incrementally attempt to beat my bid

And the list goes on and on
Am I the only one with these "ebay woes"?

Well if it means that much to you, you can have it. I was just going to destroy it to make a shift tilt lens for my Nikon but if want it... Kind of damaged now though.

[Nick Siebers]

I don't know how to say this gently, yeatzee, but missing out on a great BIN now price on eBay isn't bad luck... if you see a great price, you have to jump on it fast. It's disconcerting, but true. A month or two ago KEH had an F 50mm macro listed for $150, but my wife wanted me to get my daughter out of the bath. Ran up, dried her off, ran back - GONE. So it goes.

And getting sniped at the last minute is somewhat inevitable unless you are willing to pay more than anyone else who bids. True there are the incremental bidders that drive the price up, but usually the heavy hitters swoop in in the last few seconds anyway.

So, bad eBay luck is the guy whose FA300mm f/2.8 came with no glass in it, or whatever that story was. Even the two lenses I have tht came in way worse shape than advertised I could have returned if I had been less impatient and hadn't tried to start fixing them myself.

Then there is the FA 43mm limited that got "lost in the mail". I got my $40 back, but I know something was fishy.

[farfisa]

I don't know how to say this gently, yeatzee, but missing out on a great BIN now price on eBay isn't bad luck... if you see a great price, you have to jump on it fast. It's disconcerting, but true. A month or two ago KEH had an F 50mm macro listed for $150, but my wife wanted me to get my daughter out of the bath. Ran up, dried her off, ran back - GONE. So it goes.

See, you shouldn't have taken the time to dry her off--all your wife asked you to do was get her out of the bath

I've noticed that a lot of auctions I want to follow end during bath time, or on Sunday nights when I have family dinners. I've had to resort to sniping software myself, and once I did I realized, hey, that's probably what everybody else (who wins auctions) is doing!

[pxpaulx]

I won about a month ago. Had my eye on a few auctions for an olympus 70-300mm to use with my m4/3 cameras, they go for between $250 and $300. A buy-it-now popped up for $250, which was a reasonable deal. I pulled up the auction, and it also included a 40-150mm f3.5-4.5, which I sold for $100 bucks! Covered the cost of the 4/3-m4/3 adapter

As for sniping, I've given up sitting at the computer at the final minute, started using one of the free online sniping tools (gixen, no sign-up required). That way you put in what you're willing to pay, and if you lose wait for the next one!

[nater]

Am I the only one with these "ebay woes"?

If it's any consolation, I've had some worse luck over the last year:

- Bought a 'pristine' lens, and when it arrived, found some fungus and fine scratches behind the front element. Sent photos to seller showing condition, who took it back (though I was out return shipping), and while he took it back and refunded me, he then went on to claim he could see none of the scratches or fungus and then put the same lens back up for auction as 'pristine' again (I feel bad for whoever ended up buying that).

- Bought a teleconverter that was clearly advertised as a Pz-AF model (i.e. with power zoom contacts), received one that was a different model. Seller initially said it made no difference, then when I explained the difference, seller said that I didn't really want the Pz-AF capability (without really saying why), and I had to go to great length to explain things before they accepted it for return and refund.

- Lens was up for auction with just a stock photo, "no returns accepted", from a seller wasn't the most active ebay user based on their feedback history, but had 100% positive feedback and had been on ebay for a few years, and the lens was listed as "New (other)" and description said it had "never been used" so I decided to bid on it, and won. Seller was barely communicative afterwards, at one point saying he was "off shore" and would be able to ship "next week". Received a different model of lens than was advertised (older one that didn't have a tripod mount) several weeks after I paid for it and closer to to the limit for claiming a problem. Lens was shipped with nothing, no caps, no hood, no box, no paperwork, just a bare lens with fingerprints all over it and a mount that clearly showed signs of use and minor wear (brassing). Wrote to seller immediately who after a couple of days replied and said to ship it back, but to a different address, and to have it arrive a week later because he said he was in the process of moving. Packed it back up with a detailed letter and shipped it insured and signature confirmation. After it was received and signed for, seller went AWOL. Shortly after that two very negative feedbacks came in on the seller's history on ebay, both for selling something as new that wasn't at all. Opened a case with ebay, which ended up being very close to the deadline. Had to wait 7 days for the seller to respond (he didn't), then wait a few more days for the ebay investigation team to take action, and finally a ruling. I was refunded my original fees, but I'm out the $20 it cost me to ship the lens back. I suppose I have some consolation that the seller's account is no longer registered with ebay, but this last incident was both very time consuming and anxiety-inducing, to the point where I'm never going to take a chance on a seller/listing like that again (even with the ebay "buyer protection").

[pxpaulx]

Nater, those are some rough experiences! Worst thing I had happen wasn't even the seller's fault. bought a $25 mp3 player, after a month of not arriving and getting in pretty heated arguments (nothing insulting, but we were both at wits end), he sent me another one since USPS delivery confirmation never did say delivered (their tracking is still pretty basic, but is infinitely better than it was a few years ago).

Anyway, after the replacement arrived about a month after my initial purchase (2nd arrived the same week), the original was delivered a few days later. I drove over to the post office and marked it return to sender, and had a few choice words for them too, for all the grief they caused both me AND the seller!

[GeneV]

The last 5 minute phenomenon at Ebay has turned me off bidding there as well. Autobid does not entirely solve the psychological problem, since you may still be outbid by a small amount that you decide, in retrospect, you would have gladly added to your max bid. I've seen some auction sites where bidding is automatically extended for "x" minutes from the last bid to cut down on the sniping. I'm not sure if that solves the problem entirely, either.

Bargains for Pentax lenses on Ebay have gotten more and more rare. That was a good one.

[stevebrot]

...I've seen some auction sites where bidding is automatically extended for "x" minutes from the last bid to cut down on the sniping. I'm not sure if that solves the problem entirely, either...

It definitely helps. I used to work for an auction Web site that pioneered that approach. It is VERY beneficial to the seller in that it wrings the last drop of contention from the bidding pool. Sometimes auctions would extend for hours with the price doubling!


Steve

[ManhattanProject]

So when you say "North Americans", you mean "continental United States citizens". You know that the largest part of North America is outside of "CONUS", right?

Ah, but most of the pop is in CONUS, despite land area.

[farfisa]

Maybe you can chalk your luck up to the date?

And know that that 35/2 is probably cursed!

[bdery]

Ah, but most of the pop is in CONUS, despite land area.

I don't dispute that. But that doesn't mean North America = CONUS

[Ira]

I ridiculously overpaid on a BIN for an m42 35 2 Super Tak because I just wanted the damn thing and didn't want to go through the angst and disappointment of not getting it.

But you wouldn't believe the angst my WIFE gave me when it was delivered.

[yeatzee]

I don't know how to say this gently, yeatzee, but missing out on a great BIN now price on eBay isn't bad luck... if you see a great price, you have to jump on it fast. It's disconcerting, but true. A month or two ago KEH had an F 50mm macro listed for $150, but my wife wanted me to get my daughter out of the bath. Ran up, dried her off, ran back - GONE. So it goes.

The problem was, it was all in a matter of *seconds*. I saw it, refreshed the page to see if it was already taken, noticed I was the only one who has even seen it, and clicked buy. Before i could confirm it was gone.

[KxBlaze]

The name of the eBay game is patience, patience, luck, and patience. I found a tamron 28-105 (I know it's not a great lens but just wait to see the price). I watched it for about 5 days and no one ever bid on it. The shipping was free and the starting bid was $0.99, and that was my winning bid.

I also just found a brand new in box Tamron 18-200 Xr Di-II for $199 OBO. I offered $160 and it was accepted immediately.

My only one horror/bad luck story is I kept watching a F 28mm, no bids for 5 days. I have a reminder sent to my iPhone whenever a listing is ending soon but somehow I didn't see the reminder either. The listing ended with no bids ($100). By the time the seller relisted it as a BIN for $150, someone bought it within a few hours.

I would have loved that F 28mm over the 2 other great buys I got but hey like I said, just keep looking because you are guarenteed to find a gem once in a while.

[RioRico]

Buying on eBay is for manic-depressive sado-masochists, or cold-blooded operators, or airheads, or gear junkies, or combinations thereof. I vacillate betwixt those. Having essentially no budget now, I no longer try to snipe my way to success. I find likely items, and place what's likely my highest bit. If I win, great; if not (98% of cases), there's probably another like it coming up in a few hours. And it helps that I already have a plethora of lenses, so I only need look at items to fill a few holes in my lineup. Of course, after my next inheritance (c'mon Uncle Ray, drink the lemonade!) I'll be back in action, looking for a 24/2 that works, and an 8mm, and some 55/1.4 and 85/1.4, and something for T&S/PC, and... [LBA police strap on straightjacket, haul /me away]