Not sure about 2 of the eyepieces on sale in this advert

[John]

I hope it is OK to post this but I just wanted to point out, to any prospective buyers, that 2 of the eyepieces in the advert below are possibly not as described:

U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell (astrobuysell.com)

The 15mm and 25mm Vixen LV eyepieces are fine.

The 2mm and 5mm eyepieces, I believe, are the same as the old Skywatcher LE range and not Orion Optics Lanthanums as described.

These Skywatcher LE's seem to sell new for £25-£30 and quite a bit less than that used.

I could be mistaken but I think "caveat emptor" applies here. 

[IB20]

I purchased something from ABS and the seller mentioned this particular kit seller, I’ve tended to stay away from their ads because of it. 

[Franklin]

The LV clones from Orion came in a 5.2mm and a 2.3mm, Kyoei of Japan supplied a similar range which also had different focal lengths than the original Vixen LV's.

The original Vixen LV's were 5mm and 2.5mm just the same as the later NLV and the present SLV.

[John]

I think the 2mm and 5mm on sale are from this range:

Sky-Watcher | Sky-Watcher Global Website (skywatcher.com)

I tried a couple from that range a few years ago and they were not very good 🙄

Edited August 9, 2023 by John

[JeremyS]

Thanks for the warning @John 👍🏻

[Franklin]

19 minutes ago, John said:

I think the 2mm and 5mm on sale are from this range:

Sky-Watcher | Sky-Watcher Global Website (skywatcher.com)

100%

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, IB20 said:

I purchased something from ABS and the seller mentioned this particular kit seller, I’ve tended to stay away from their ads because of it. 

Very wise 👍🏻

[JeremyS]

It’s pretty annoying how ABS allows the term “kit tester” to be used by traders 

Edited August 9, 2023 by JeremyS

[IB20]

49 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

It’s pretty annoying how ABS allows the term “kit tester” to be used by traders 

I’m not even sure what they are, are they high turnover sellers, retailers or actual bonafide testers?

[Stu]

1 minute ago, IB20 said:

I’m not even sure what they are, are they high turnover sellers, retailers or actual bonafide testers?

A bit of everything I think. In theory they are people who like to try out and sell a lot of kit, and ABS limits you to only a certain number a day I think. In practice there is a fair amount of trading I think, including this seller. I do tend to steer clear too.

[Paz]

Kit testers are individuals who buy and sell for a profit and they pay a fee to the website to be allowed to do this.

I think buying from ABS is the same as buying anything online, I've come across mostly good people on there but some not so good now and again.

[Frenchastro]

Hello everybody, speaking of that, there was a time here on SGL where it was a market lounge. Has he disappeared? I can't find it anymore. At the time I much preferred it to ABS. Please excuse my ignorance and if this is off topic. Rikh 

[Zermelo]

3 hours ago, Frenchastro said:

Hello everybody, speaking of that, there was a time here on SGL where it was a market lounge. Has he disappeared? I can't find it anymore. At the time I much preferred it to ABS. Please excuse my ignorance and if this is off topic. Rikh 

 

From the Code of Conduct:

The Buy & Sell section
Access to SGL's buy and sell section is a privilege that has to be earned, You can do this by accumulating 50 posts to view / buy from the classifieds and 250 posts to place an advert in the classifieds.
This has been initiated so that people can't just join the forum so they can off load or buy up astronomy equipment.

[Frenchastro]

Thank you very much zermelo 👍 It's a good policy I think

CS

rikh 

[JeremyS]

On 09/08/2023 at 21:15, JeremyS said:

It’s pretty annoying how ABS allows the term “kit tester” to be used by traders 

Looking at ABS these days, there’s certainly a lot of kit testing going on. I’m surprised they have time to do anything else 🤔

Edited February 27 by JeremyS

[Moonlit Night]

I also think the churn has slowed  on ABS. Some gear which seems reasonable or least what one might expect to pay for a second hand item seem to hang around unsold for ages. I have sold scopes and eyepieces in under an hour in the past. If I had to wait until the next day it was a rare and worrying thing