Gary asks me
"Since you have repeated this, I was wondering if you have bought or sold
on eBay, given that you have no posted Feedbacks? Is this statement
based on experience or opinion?"
Gary, I have bid on some items before but the prices seemed to be too high for
the risk
involved. I know you must be a merchant on the eBay thing and therefore are
going to try and
depict this as safe way to transact business. But it is not. I'm sure you are
honest ethical
and I would not hesitate to buy a used lens or camera from you. I seem to know
you from
this list. However I do not know the overwhelming majority of the merchants on
eBay. Sure
some are respectable camera dealers but there is opportunity for much abuse
here. What's
interesting is that since Mike started this thread some of the list members
have uncovered
some fraudulent ratings for the sellers. What I have found out (and I'm sure
others have
also) is eBay's lame attitude towards enforcing their policies. So all the
comments you made
about money back back guarantee from Power Sellers means nothing since eBay
has no
willingness to enforce these policies. Bottom line is that any buyer who sends
a seller
money is at a high level of risk with no real recourse. The fact that we
uncovered some of
this fraudulent activity supports my reasoning even more. Just because I have
not been
ripped off by unscrupulous seller does not mean that my reasoning is any less
realistic. I
as many others who follow e-commerce have heard of many problems and abuses
with auctions
over the Net. It seems that the auction format is not necessary to sell high
production
camera gear. Most of the used OM system gear is readily available at market
prices or even
less at times. Certainly there is no reason to think that it is so rare that
the auction
format is necessary to establish market price for these items.
Right now, there is just so many new things happening on-line that many people
are easy
targets for hype and scam artists. All I can say is that most buyers of used
OM equipment
should not panic. If you needed a particular piece of equipment for a paying
job than by all
means purchase it brand new if you can or used high quality if the new items are
unavailable. But buy from a known reputable dealer. To me that's just good
common sense.
Being caught up in the hype of Internet auctions is not the best way of
acquiring OM
equipment.
Phillip Franklin
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|