Why is ebay such hard work?

kickstart

kickstart

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Crikey - I hate ebay sometimes!

As posted on my other thread I'm trying to get a 40D for my daughter who is a photography student.

I'm trying to be sensible and set myself a limit and the items I want keep shooting up at the last moment... and the one item that you forget to check 10 mins before the end of the auction sells under your limit!

And before anyone tells me to just bid my limit at the beginning I've tried that in the past and it never seems to work. I'd rather lurk until 1 min before the end and then bid, this seems to work best for me.

Am I realistic expecting to get a 40D for about £450-£500 and a 17-85mm for about £200?
 
kickstart said:
Crikey - I hate ebay sometimes!

As posted on my other thread I'm trying to get a 40D for my daughter who is a photography student.

I'm trying to be sensible and set myself a limit and the items I want keep shooting up at the last moment... and the one item that you forget to check 10 mins before the end of the auction sells under your limit!

And before anyone tells me to just bid my limit at the beginning I've tried that in the past and it never seems to work. I'd rather lurk until 1 min before the end and then bid, this seems to work best for me.

Am I realistic expecting to get a 40D for about £450-£500 and a 17-85mm for about £200?
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I'd say that was a resonable expectation price wise. I have a 40D and the EF-S 17-85 IS USM. It's a few months too soon for me but if I was selling my camera I'd include this lens and would look for around that I guess based on what i've seen elsewhere.
 
Ah, the joys of ebay. Happens to me all the time.
Was going to suggest you have a look in the classifieds here as well, 40D's pop up quite often (especially now people are upgrading to the 7D).

No reason to think you're off the mark with your price expectations either.
 
The problem with ebay is sellers are taking a 12.5% hit with ebay and paypal and so you're never going to get a good deal.

ITS SUCH A HASSLE. Espcially as a seller. Paypal hold my money for 21 days now unless people leave quick feedback. Its so frustrating. Have around £800 of money sitting there i can't get at. I wish there was a serious alternative.

Ebay are greedy and have no respect for their sellers.
 
kickstart said:
Am I realistic expecting to get a 40D for about £450-£500 and a 17-85mm for about £200?
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Yes you are realistic - if you avoid ebay.
In my experience ebay usually commands a slightly higher price than the various forum classifieds because people take into account ebay fees and indeed paypal fees. This is why I will always offer my kit up on classified here first.

hashcake said:
Yes your prices are realistic.
However, forget fleabay, there are 40D's for sale here and a 17-85mm has just popped up in the classifieds.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=173175
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=173930

If you buy from either of these members, tell them Hashcake gave you a head up and they will owe me a beer or two :)
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:beer:
 
FreeloaderJoe said:
Paypal hold my money for 21 days now unless people leave quick feedback. Its so frustrating. Have around £800 of money sitting there i can't get at. I wish there was a serious alternative.

Ebay are greedy and have no respect for their sellers.
Click to expand...

I've recently been stung by paypal withholding my money for 21 days.
I'm hoping the buyer will leave me feedback when he receives the item today.
When it comes to photography kit I will only sell it on here, even if it does mean making a slight loss for a quicker sale.
 
I've recently bought 3 items on here and been very pleased with all of them:

A 17-85mm IS USM lens, a set of Kenko auto extension tubes and a Canon 450D.

The best thing to do is simply keep looking and if the price is right be prepared to jump in quickly.

I also buy on Ebay and always look for bargains (especially generic batteries) etc.

Don't forget on Ebay you can always put in a Maximum bid, and you only pay this if somebody else bids just below you, otherwise you pay less.
 
If you still want to go down the eBay route, you may want to look at Auction Sniper.

I have used it a few times and it works well.

You basically put in your highest bid on an item and it waits until the last 5 seconds before submitting your bid.

I think this is also the reason you are seeing prices jump at the last minute, people using sniping services.
 
google ( my snipes ) i use it it does all the biding you set the limit when to bid say 5 sec it avoids a biding war if there is only two of you they dont now you are there i use it all the time and its free and you dont pay more than you want to
 
I just sold my 40d for £450 to a friend - it only had 1500 actuations and was mint. I'll be selling a bit more kit when I qaulify for the 30 day rule - of which I'll have a 17-85mm for the price you wanted - so if by November 3rd you haven't found one, look me up in the classifieds.. Your prices are pretty accurate I think...
 
i too find ebay annoying most of the times

very hard to find bargins with people bidding so high

if you're a seller you get stung so much
 
Best time to buy is to check for listings that end between 9am and 4pm (weekdays) and middle of the month as these type of listings never attract as many bidders (especially the annoying type that comes in at the last second). The reason for the middle of the month is that most people are paid at the end/start of the month.
 
I tend to gauge people when selling. If I feel they're open to it I ask them to pay me through Paypal as a gift instead of going through eBay.
 
Well I think I have found the kit I need in the Classifieds here, I've got the lens and I'm just looking at a body.

I've been offered a 50D at a very low price, about £150 more than my suggested budget (Sorry I can't say from where but it IS legal :)

Logic says to take the new camera but reading the reviews there seems to be some debate about the advantages of the LCD screen vs the ISO performance. I'm also concerned that the larger file sizes could quickly swap her Macbook Pro, although I presume she could set to shoot at lower sizes.

Are these things that should bother me?

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos50d/page31.asp

Conclusion - Pros

Detailed and clean image output (but not as detailed as we would have expected from a 15 megapixels sensor)
Chroma and luminance noise well controlled at higher sensitivities
Wide range of image parameter adjustment (-4 to +4 for most)
Effective Highlight tone priority option delivers smooth highlight roll-off
Four levels of high ISO noise reduction (including Off)
Effective vignetting control feature
No noticeable hot pixels with long exposures and NR off
Nine point auto focus system accurate, even in low light
Large, clear and bright high-res screen
Well-built magnesium body, weather-sealed
Good viewfinder, optional focusing screens
Excellent ergonomics and refined user-interface
Quick control menu allows direct access to many important settings
Attractive refreshed menu design
Fully customizable MyMenu
Programmable FUNC button
Two user memories via 'C1/C2' on mode dial
10x magnification in live view allows reliable manual focusing
Instant power on, camera feels snappy and responsive at all times
Fast continuous shooting (6.3 fps)
Excellent data throughput and processing speeds (with fast CF cards)
Very fast PTP transfer speed
AF-Micro-Adjustment
Comprehensive Software package
Very quiet mirror mechanism (plus 2 silent shooting options in live view)
Any combination between RAW and JPEG image sizes possible
Dust reduction from Canon's 'Integrated Cleaning'
Good battery life
Optional WFT-E3 wireless transmitter (802.11 b/g) / vertical grip
HDMI output

Conclusion - Cons

High ISO performance worse than 40D
Reduced dynamic range in the shadow areas compared to EOS 40D
Per-pixel detail not as good as on good 10 or 12 megapixel cameras
High-end lenses required to get the most out of the camera
Poor white balance performance under artificial light
 
I hate sniping - I know that I am naive but the community idea is to bid along the way. If no one bids until the last minute there is a last minute flurry on a popular item - but bids only by those that snipe or have a auction watch tool. I really cannot be bothered.

I decide what something is worth to me and bid it. If I get it, great. If I didn't - it was overpriced.

Chris
 
another tip is to search for your desired item and order the list by "newly listed" rather than "ending soonest". that way if anyone lists with a reasonable buy it now, you'll see it sooner.
 
Another tip.
If it is a company that is selling, and you like the buy it know price.
Give them a call and ask the price without involving eBay.
Worked for me on quite a few occasions.
 
Problem is if you set your maximum to a similar price to someone else it goes up all the way instantly, then if the other bidder wants to bid more again he has a few days (usually) to do so.

Instead leave it to the last minute or two, you still beat his initial bid but he can't then increase his maximum and you win...

I've given up on bidding for things on ebay, I only "buy it now" on small items, using it as a sort of pound shop. Which makes sense as ebay have turned away from the auction house and become a market with loads of traders selling their wares.
 
Canon sell refurbs on the 'Bay themselves - I bought a photo printer for £13 or something a few months back.

Hope that helps

Richard
 
kickstart said:
Are these things that should bother me?

Conclusion - Cons

High ISO performance worse than 40D
Reduced dynamic range in the shadow areas compared to EOS 40D
Per-pixel detail not as good as on good 10 or 12 megapixel cameras
High-end lenses required to get the most out of the camera
Poor white balance performance under artificial light
Click to expand...

Most of that is nonsense to be honest, the only statement I would agree with is that you need good lenses to get the best out of the 50D.
 
Know how you feel been following a lens for days had the highest bid then at the very last unkown bidder snatched it. Going to pay the extra £40 and buy new one from store
Bob
 
Fleabay is something that I constantly have to hold myself back on - it can be supremely kind to you with an unbelievable bargain, and then the next day, kick you in the nuts for thinking that you can milk the system...

I was looking for NAF 80-200mm f/2.8s (twist zoom, not push/pull) a while ago and set my limit at £450; blow me, all the listings i followed went for around that but I either A) forgot about bidding, B) or got outbid an couldn't get access to a computer in time.

Patience is the key methinks.

Proof is watching several 17-50mm Tamrons the other day - missed loads then got a minter for £150, just a few months old and still with the warranty card intact.

Lurking works, just not all the time.

You deffo have a good chance of getting what you want at the prices you want to pay but as already pointed out, there are some top deals on TP from reliable people...
 
Use bidnapper, it's the only way to get stuff at a decent price these days i find as everyone else is sniping too
 
There are some good sellers on ebay with buy it now, as always ask a question to get an idea of the seller, also check feedback.
 
kickstart said:
Am I realistic expecting to get a 40D for about £450-£500 and a 17-85mm for about £200?
Click to expand...
Tried looking on the bay of E at the 'Completed listings'?

Search for whatever you want and click that link on under the 'Preferences' section on the left and you can see what other people are really selling things for.

I'd have thought that you could.

And there is a good read on eBay by Ken Rockwell here
 
Spy said:
If you still want to go down the eBay route, you may want to look at Auction Sniper.

I have used it a few times and it works well.
Click to expand...

:agree: I don't buy anything on an ebay auction without Auctionsniper. The big point is that you don't get carried away by the excitement of the final few seconds and end up paying more than you meant to!

Barney
 
Another vote for an auction sniper. If it's not buy-it-now I use a sniper.
I never win anythign without one tbh :(
 
Thanks for the feedback - I'm a Mac boy and when I investigated in the past there was not much available (and some sniping websites wanted you to add your credit card details which seemed very dodgy and a good way to someone to run you up a nice big bill).

I've bought both the camera and lens from the For Sale section of this site now so I'm all sorted.
 
Just had my own ebay camera experience. Decided to buy a 400D refurbished from the Canon reseller. Before bidding I went through the last 1500 feedbacks, give or take, and noted the prices of every 400D sold. The range went right from 250 through to about 330 (camera plus kit lens each time), with the average around 300 and just a couple below 280.

I eventually placed bids on 7 items.
The first one just skyrocketed, went for 325 I think and was over 300 with 24 hours to go. I was in the lead at 250 (max bid of 275) with 3 mins to go in one auction and it eventually went for over 300.

I saw a couple go for around 300, then one that I just lost out on, max bid 276 and it went for 281. I bid with a couple of mins to go, he bid after. I put a 275 bid in with 24 hours to go on yet another, but then I received a "second chance" offer on the 281, buyer flaked maybe. I had to wait for the other one I had bid on to end, and would you believe that in the last 24 hours there wasn't a single new bid.

So, I got for 275 what some other dude paid 335 for just one day earlier by being patient and not sniping.

There doesn't seem to be any consistency. I sell quite a bit of stuff on ebay, some auctions get sniped, some don't. Some you feel like you didn't make enough money, some times you make a packet. The market is still small enough, just, that some items get overlooked.
 
crumble said:
There are some good sellers on ebay
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And an awful lot of very bad ones too.....

The whole experience can be nothing more than Russian roulette imo. Though Customer service seem to be trying to step up to the mark these days.
 
i once was after a lowpro slingshot on ebay and so i was typing in the search bag but i accidently put slinshot and came up with a dude selling at a bid price of £2.00 with no ffers and 1 hour to go. i was a happy bunny. there is a website called goofbay that will find mispelt items for you.
 
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