Mike,
I can truly appreciate your sentiments bout ebay.
I one of those LUCKY ebayers who did land a "good deal" there once (it was
my first ebay purchase a lonnnnng time ago). I think the only reason it
turned out OK was because the seller HAPPENED to be honest (no guarantees
from anywhere), FAILED to put up pics of the equipment (he was
inexperienced or didn't have access to digital imaging at all) and I
GAMBLED (it could have been trash) on the deal. I netted a OM-2n,
Databack3, nice OM blue and tan strap (talk about straps lately), OM gear
bag, OM 50mm 3.5 macro, T32 flash, OM 25mm extension tube and a pile of
extraneous goodies including filters and a cheap zoom telephoto for under
$280. (Boy..it sure is fun bragging about a good deal, but then I won't
tell you about the expensive clarinet I bought that had a cracked tenon
joint and the seller refused to do anything). My daughter got a great
camera out of it and I got the lens and flash. I sold the other junk and
have no regrets. I doubt I'd do that again though (especially after the
clarinet fiasco). When I need something specific to use, I'll order it from
KEH, and I have had reliable "finds" of some macro items from Helix in
Chicago. At least then I know exactly what I'm getting (and when), and that
it is risk free. It does seem that much of the gear on ebay now is sold by
folks that don't have a clue if it works or not and don't particularly
care, or they are dealers selling stuff that is "refurbished" and landing
prices that are higher than what I can find things for through a LOCAL dealer.
What I think ebay is good for (and I love it for this) is to find items
that one can't typically locate without lots of difficulty and/or travel.
When was the last time you stumbled upon a 9-inch long centipede embedded
in amber lucite at the local K-Mart? (I was the sole but happy bidder on
this totally desirable item ;-) I've picked up some excellent quality
outdoor clothing. It is unlikely that I will stumble upon gore-tex ski
pants at the local Goodwill shop, so ebay is just an expanded on-line
thrift shop to me. Fortunately there are some excellent dealers who are
honest in their descriptions, and take returns if it doesn't fit. I
appreciate that they do the scrounging for me, saving me both time and
money. But then maybe they really want to earn a living doing this, and the
feedback determines that potential. So, with ebay...it depends on what you
need whether it's a good place to get it or not.
About Cambridge and other ratty dealers: I can only extend a huge thank you
to this list to confirm my suspicions about them and cause me to cut a
reliable deal elsewhere. They are sleazy, and it only takes a couple of
calls to figure this out. I'll bet they sell used cars in the alley behind
the store.
Chris Johns in corn country
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