The benefits of eBay

[beamer3.6m]

I just wanted to indicate my joy of purchasing astro items on eBay.

I know that eBay can be much maligned due to rogue sellers/buyers and some truly ridiculous bids outstripping the new price however sometimes it just works as it should.

My example:

Canon 1100d

Price £115.67

Condition - immaculate

Shutter count - 1100

Included - body, lens, memory card, charger

This is a bargain as local camera shops had very iffy models with only the lens for £150.00

So what are your EBAY bargains?

[baggywrinkle]

A very nice Olympus Micro 4/3rd body in excellent condition with all the boxes, paperwork and manuals...£100.

I have a Lumix GF2 (well it is Mrs Baggy's), the Olympus uses the same lenses and the live view is much better, plus it can be used with a remote cable. Nice and lightweight for shoving onto a focuser direct.

[jabeoo1]

Congratulations on a great buy, there are some great bargains out there as you have proven. 

However:

I find as a buyer ebay works well. You have all the rights.  The complaints procedure is so bias towards you its a win win.  However as a seller you have nothing, the buyer can get an instant refund putting the sellers paypal account on hold and in debt.  The buyer may keep the item, lie about whether it was delivered or not, break it and return it etc etc. 

Personally I know there are bargains to be had, however I try not to support ebay any more as I have deep issues with how they operate and how they treat their sellers.  

[JamesF]

I imagine you'll be getting a few horror stories too

The thing I probably use ebay for more than anything is if I want to buy, say, a dozen stainless bolts.  Most places only sell stuff like that by the hundred, or even five hundred or a thousand.  More than I need to last me a lifetime, anyhow.  I'm happy to pay a little over the odds just to have a more reasonable number from someone who is willing to split larger quantities.

James

[Pete Presland]

Used to use for both now mostly buying. I agree sellers have zero protection, I won't bore everybody with the stories ☺

That said I have had my fingers burnt elsewhere as well, but I won't let it put me off ☺

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

[DRT]

I tend to do the same as James when it comes to buying from Ebay - odds and sods that are difficult to find elsewhere in the size/quantity you want.

I also sell things on Ebay and have never had an issue. I know there must be people out there with horror stories but I think if you are very clear in your description of the item and only stick to items of limited value it is unlikely you are going to be the victim of a scam. If you try to sell things worth hundreds or thousands of pounds through Ebay you might look like a target.

The biggest grump I have with Ebay is the fees, which come off your PayPal payment and then 10% is lumped off at the end of the month on all selling activity, including postage costs. That's the main reason I sell most f my kit through SGL or ABS-UK. I also know I am probably selling to astro enthusiasts via those sites whereas you never quite know who you are dealing with on Ebay.

Overall, I think it has its place and you just need to be careful about how you use it.

[MarsG76]

My recent bargain was Baader OIII CCD for $85AUD delivered.

Congratulations on a great buy, there are some great bargains out there as you have proven. 

However:

I find as a buyer ebay works well. You have all the rights.  The complaints procedure is so bias towards you its a win win.  However as a seller you have nothing, the buyer can get an instant refund putting the sellers paypal account on hold and in debt.  The buyer may keep the item, lie about whether it was delivered or not, break it and return it etc etc. 

Personally I know there are bargains to be had, however I try not to support ebay any more as I have deep issues with how they operate and how they treat their sellers.  

Used to use for both now mostly buying. I agree sellers have zero protection, I won't bore everybody with the stories ☺
That said I have had my fingers burnt elsewhere as well, but I won't let it put me off ☺

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

If the seller sends the item and marks it as needs signature on delivery and get a tracking number, the delivery is noted... all they can do is claim that item either not right or faulty, but then the seller can demand the item back before issuing a refund...
I actually know a guy who had a issue where the buyer claimed that they didn't receive the item, but due to the delivery records ebay ruled in favor of the seller... it's not a biased as you might think.

[ngwillym]

A Celestron Travelscope 70 - full kit - for £13.99.

Makes an excellent guide scope

[JamesF]

A Celestron Travelscope 70 - full kit - for £13.99.

Makes an excellent guide scope

Blimey, that's a good deal.  I've been casually looking for something like that to be a finder for my C9.25 for a while.

James

[John]

I've had some great astro bargains from e.bay including an excellent Skywatcher 250PX dobsonian for just £100 "Buy it now" and an Aries Chromacor CA / SA corrector which I was the only bidder for, also for £100 (they are about £600 in the USA and really, really rare).

[Dave_D]

£400 for my OO GX250 on a Vixen GP, £85 for a canon 1100D with 900 shutter count and more bit'n'bobs than you can shake a stick at... can't fault it myself

[StuartJPP]

I ordered a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and received a Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS macro lens instead...

[Macavity]

I have sold quite a few non-astro things on Ebay. Never a problem.

All my customers seemed genuinely appreciative of items / price.

The only time I've been pre-emptively (no genuine interest) accused

of being a "crook" was by an Astronomer. Page long diatribe: "People

like you", all because I described an item as NEW (it was "as new"!).

But I "counter claimed", when he tried to suggest a "better" price.

I find Ebay great for buying small quantities (nuts, bolts etc.) Not

having to buy "aluminium" in 5m lengths for just a few inches etc. 

[triton1]

My best deal was £32 for a sw swa 70* 5mm ep complete with box and receipt

[RichieP]

I have been buying asto stuff off of Ebay for years. Half of my stuff came from there including several scopes, including my beloved OO SPX 200.

The only problem that I ever encountered was a RACI finder which turned out to be just an RA finder, but I got a full refund on that without any problems.

[Thalestris24]

I've not managed any camera bargains like beamer has. It nearly always happens that others seem to use software (that I don't) to optimise their bidding so it's hard to compete I did get a 550d at a reasonable price via an auction that happened to end of a morning. Cameras are obviously luck of the draw in terms of condition and shutter count. I don't have any software that gives an accurate shutter count anyway. I did get my vintage super takumar 200mm f4 on Ebay at a fair price. Also got some 3/8" bolts to attach a Star Adventurer to an heq5 tripod so that was good

Louise

[cotterless45]

There's some choice stuff around, make sure that you know what you're doing. I always go and collect for cash if it's a scope or mount.

Think things hard changed a bit since,

Vixen 90m on mount ....£112

Vixen 102 sp on driven mount....£240

C6r ota....as new £200

OO 200f6 .....£100.

My ep case is full of old stuff that went for silly prices. Eps are a good thing to collect, especially the older Meades and Celestrons.

I prefer AB&S as you can buy from users and the fees are much better, zero.

Nick.

[ultramol]

I imagine you'll be getting a few horror stories too

The thing I probably use ebay for more than anything is if I want to buy, say, a dozen stainless bolts.  Most places only sell stuff like that by the hundred, or even five hundred or a thousand.  More than I need to last me a lifetime, anyhow.  I'm happy to pay a little over the odds just to have a more reasonable number from someone who is willing to split larger quantities.

James

There is an ironmongers next to me who will spend 5 or 10 minutes looking for 1 washer or 1 bolt . Grubscrews, anything in fact. It does'nt matter if the man behind you is going to spend £100 the staff will take as much time as needed to furnish you with 3 screws, a bolt and 4 washers for 19p . Yesterday I bought 2 washers, I only needed 1 but I could'nt for shame just get the one, 38mm x 10mm, total sale 6p. I can remember going in this shop as a child and I am over 60 now. We used to go in and buy quill fishing floats for 1 old penny. He made these himself I believe, we took so much time looking through them he always ended up giving them to us for nothing . When I see what is charged on e bay for bolts etc it makes my eyes water. I know if I go in Garners Ironmongers I will get them for next to nothing, even if I just want 1 or 2....But I digress, E bay is an alladins cave of astro bargains but I agree with others about going picking it up for cash, that way it is hard to get stung.

[JamesF]

My situation is somewhat different.  Whilst there are a couple of closer towns their selection of shops isn't particularly great so I'd have to go into Taunton for anything like that, which means an hour round trip in the car plus the cost of parking unless I happen to get lucky and find somewhere that doesn't charge.

Except for the times when I happen to be going anyway or I really need something now, it therefore makes a good deal of sense to me to pay a bit over the odds for odd bits of hardware rather than spend even more in fuel and parking so I can pay less for what I want.  And it takes five minutes or less at the computer, not an hour and a half or more.

If there was a suitable shop in the local "town" (really an overgrown village) then I'd probably cycle there and buy stuff instead, but as there isn't ebay just makes far more sense for me.

James

[ultramol]

Yes James, we have been lucky in this town.

[happy-kat]

Some great hardware shops are online, I use one in Hove who will supply one of, I bought a variety of one of for one shipping fee which probably took them a bit of running around to find what I wanted they do metric imperial and vintage sizes. Ebay is OK but can still end up with 10 of something.

[Space Hopper]

In January this year, i was the one and only bidder on a Tele-vue Panoptic 24mm eyepiece.

I was in A1 condition. Not a mark on it.

Got it for £130 + £8 shipping.

I was rather pleased......

[nightfisher]

I have a recent ebay bargain, but doing some cosmetic work before posting it up

[Moonshane]

I got my 1/6 pv 6"f11 oouk dob complete for £112. Had to collect from Southampton though but worth it.

Made an equatorial platform for it and added a few widgets and dual speed focuser.

[theskipper1961]

Yep eBay is great for a bargain my latest was a TAL 1 in fantastic condition for £60.00.

Though I have seen stuff sell for silly money almost as much as purchasing new, like my Tal 110 RS  I have also been stuffed I put a scope on recently and it went for silly cheap money but hey  someone got a bargain and that is what it is all about …

I did get a cheeky Chap turn up on my door recently to collect a nice fully functioning NAD AMP went for a fair price £10 --  he asked me if it had new batteries in the remote control    ( actually it did )

I  also sold a pump I found in a skip a while ago-- 0.99p it sold for £460.00 THE GUY WAS OVER THE MOON WITH IT , you just never know!!