Re: [Leica] EBay experience

["David W. Almy" <dalmy@mindspring.com>]

> Andrew Morang wrote:
> 
> Can any of you relate your experiences with e-bay?  I have seen what
> appear
> to be some remarkable bargains listed.  I have not yet tried bidding
> because I am suspicious.
> 

Andrew,

I've bought several items through Ebay and have yet to have a bad
experience. Paid $187.50 for 120 rolls of Kodak Royal Gold 400 (135-24,
for stuff around the house -- better granularity than Kodak Gold 100!)
which arrived as advertised. Bought a complete black Contax G2 set, and
(seperately, both times) a Biogon 21 and the Hologon. The set and the 16
were bought "off line" after the auction closed and the reserve wasn't
met in both cases. The sellers agreed to a lower price via email and the
deals were done. 

Some advice. Spend several months studying how Ebay works. It easy, but
the time invested will help you better understand what's going on.
Remember that Ebay is a "blind" (you can't really see who's really
interested) auction which is timed. Consequently, you can't really know
how it will end until it does. Case in point: re the film above, I
thought it a steal at the prices that were being bid. One guy really
wanted it. I didn't bid until 40 seconds before the end of the auction,
at the highest price I was willing to pay. That trumpted his highest
price (to date) and he didn't have time to reconsider. So I got a deal.
Evil, but effective and fair, as we all play using the same system. 

Second, don't get carried away. As has been pointed out, good equipment
sometimes is available at better prices from reputable dealers. They are
the prefered sellers. Prices do sometimes "get above the market."

Know what you want, know the market, look for undervalued items, and
have fun. (By the way, the film seller above made two mistakes; he
forgot to use the word "film" in his description, so anyone looking for
film wouldn't find his and he should have broken up the item into
several blocks. Who but a Lugger wants to buy 120 rolls of anything?
Hence, the undervaluation, to my advantage.)

Have bid on several Leica items (on-topic!) but have yet to get any of
them, having sometimes been outbid by other Lugnuts!

Cheers,

David W. Almy
Annapolis