Be Carefull what you buy a true story

[colin1984]

At first I´m from Austria so sorry for bad english and blah blah;

and second: hope it fits here

Well, monday one week ago, i surfed through ebay and other sites like this, and thought: "Why have all lens(es) be so expensive??" Don´t get this out of my mind, every one is talking that photographers job isn´t a future any longer, so there must be some photographer that have to close there salery, and also then there have to be a Internetsite,  where this bankrot photographer or his lawyer would sell out everything just to get out of debt.

So i searched pretty much and than I found some very interesting Lens CANON EF 600 4 L IS USM the fist edition, prescribed pretty well, no smoking area, some scratches on the aloy exactly 3 (with pictures); and because this Person lost some Eye light, he have to sell it and offers it for €2000; all this in German written here is the link: but i haven´t it seen there I´ve seen it on a serious Trading homepage from Austria called www.bazar.at; so here´s the link:

http://nuduciqefa.blogspot.com/2012/01/canon-ef-600mm-14-l-is-usm-wimberly.html

I just thought man some scratches ok, a bit older 4years ok, about 200 photos ok, I think I should by these; and if all goes good maybe i can sell it;

So I contacted him in German, and he respond in German but asks me if we could talk in english, where I´m think I´m not bad, so blah blah and a little bit after I send him the money;

Long Story short: Point one: Last Sunday was the last time I heard of him,
                          Point two: Nothing is this, what it seems to be, especially when you think you make a good deal, checkt it twice and double and don´t search only for the Main Object I found a view more links only because i searched his sentence with his eye light;


Point3:  I know I was very very naive, and the next time I ask here first what they think; the link above I found tonight I haven´t slept since yesterday 6am but this isn´t the only Site i found, and he also offers apartments, which doesn´t really exist,

He has a dozen Name but I know him as

pedro.alvaro111@hotmail.com


With friendly Regards and be carefull what you by and by whom;

Colin McRae

P.S.: "Can I post his adress and bank account here?"

P.P.S.: I attached some pictures that you´ve been warned

[briansquibb]

Ouch - you have my profound sympathy 

[JR]

Sorry for your story buddy.   

[RedEye]

I hear you friend.  I've had the same type of problems attempted with my ebay transactions, but in reverse, when I try to sell camera gear.  Every time I'm contacted by people outside of ebay, and frequently I'm asked to send product to a seedy country such as Nijeria - which is not going to happen on my watch. 

I think ebay may have some protections in place for you, should probably check on that.

[neuroanatomist]

Nothing is this, what it seems to be, especially when you think you make a good deal, checkt it twice and double

Very unfortunate!  The bottom line is that if it sounds to good to be true, it's most likely a scam. 

[Axilrod]

Man that is terribly unfortunate, but nowadays there are people running scams all over the world.  But I mean at that price, how could you think that was legitimate?

That lens is $10,000 new, and this guy is trying to sell it for $2699?  Lenses hold their value very very well, so at that price you have to assume that either something is very wrong with it or that it's a scam.  No person is going to just be a nice guy and sell their lens for at least $5,000 less than he could have asked for it, it just doesn't make sense.

It's the same as someone listing a 5D Mark III for $1200 or Mark II for $500.  Or a 50mm f/1.2 or 85mm f/1.2 for like $400-$500.  All of that sounds so insanely ridiculous to me that I wouldn't look at it twice.

Be careful next time!  Thanks for the warning, but I think most Americans know a scam when they see one, we have been the main targets for years.

[JRS]

Nothing is this, what it seems to be, especially when you think you make a good deal, checkt it twice and double

Very unfortunate!  The bottom line is that if it sounds to good to be true, it's most likely a scam.

That's why you have to always use something like PayPal to pay...
Wire transfer is never a good idea if you don't know who you are dealing with...

[colin1984]

Thx guys,

Yes it was just good to be true but as i sad there were some scratches and it´s the old model which is listed by us with €8000 new, and than the serious information, and my very very big ego, Which always said, I want it I want it I want that lens, so as I said very very naive thats my first time i Think i mean i had something similar with such kind of weight watchers where you have to travel for an evening to study and pay 60 for nothing, but it was kinda different than this, one,

I haven´t known that you americans were branded to this for years; , next time I´ll see something and my big ego is coming back and hadn´t learned from this doctrine  I put it infront of the display and write a topic about it here if it hadn´t learned yet; ;-)

Definitly it was good to be true but hey better you loose money than eyelight, i hope i´ll run him across soon,

I have a devilish plan 

So on looks like everyone except me know thes scammers, till now;

With friendly regards

Colin

[Neeneko]

Sadly, even when something isn't 'too good to be true' it can be sketchy.

I recently had a transaction where the lens price was well within its sane range, did get the item (though it took 6 weeks) and it ended up having undisclosed damage.  I am now much more reluctant to buy lenses from random individuals on eBay.

[Z]

That's why you have to always use something like PayPal to pay...

For buyers, PayPal is great. For sellers, chargeback scams are both commonplace and a nightmare. Seller protection exists, but make sure you stick to the rules or you'll be screwed: https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/safetyadvice/SellerProtectionOnEbay.htm

[neuroanatomist]

I recently had a transaction where the lens price was well within its sane range, did get the item (though it took 6 weeks) and it ended up having undisclosed damage.  I am now much more reluctant to buy lenses from random individuals on eBay.

That's why I prefer Craigslist - you see and test the lens, on your own camera, before parting with your money.  Plus, lower prices and no fees.

[Neeneko]

That's why I prefer Craigslist - you see and test the lens, on your own camera, before parting with your money.  Plus, lower prices and no fees.

I occasionally poke craigslist, but find the selection to be too small and usually can not find any examples of what I am searching for.

That and I have significant social anxiety so the idea of dealing with sellers in person fills me with dread ^_^

[colin1984]

I recently had a transaction where the lens price was well within its sane range, did get the item (though it took 6 weeks) and it ended up having undisclosed damage.  I am now much more reluctant to buy lenses from random individuals on eBay.

That's why I prefer Craigslist - you see and test the lens, on your own camera, before parting with your money.  Plus, lower prices and no fees.

I´ve heard from craigslist, but haven´t found anything matching to photo here in my country and I can badly fly to the US, but u are right. In Vienna there´s something similar to craigslist; its called photoboerse.at sometimes you can get really good stuff there, this is also the sallery where i would´ve sold My "ficitve" EF 600

[neuroanatomist]

That's why I prefer Craigslist - you see and test the lens, on your own camera, before parting with your money.  Plus, lower prices and no fees.

I occasionally poke craigslist, but find the selection to be too small and usually can not find any examples of what I am searching for.

That and I have significant social anxiety so the idea of dealing with sellers in person fills me with dread ^_^

Lol.  It does depend on where you are - the Boston CL is very active, I even see superteles occasionally (400/4 DO and 500/4 fairly recently).

All the sellers I've dealt with so far have been personable and the transactions straightforward.  I always meet in a safe, public location, sometimes outside my work (we have a full security staff), or at a Starbucks, etc.

[Z]

I thought I'd give an example of a scam that was directed my way on craigslist a few weeks ago. I listed a lens for £550 and received this e-mail:

--------------------------

From:
nuvo williams (nuvowilliams@gmx.com)
To:
qpnmn-2898351549@sale.craigslist.org

Hey..Do you still have it.?..

-------------------------

This is a fairly easy scam to spot right off the bat. Things that made me suspicious were:

1) The gmx.com domain name is an unusual one - not suspicious in itself but scammers will always go for some free webmail accounts that are easy to create & ditch.
2) Nuvo Williams is a unusual name. Again, not suspicious by itself but it all adds up.
3) The message 'Hey..Do you still have it.?..' - it's hard to nail down exactly what's wrong with this message, but it's very brief and oddly written.

I wasn't sure if the buyer was legit at this point, so I replied:

-----------------------------------

Yes, the item is still available.

-----------------------------------

The next reply confirms my suspicions:

Alright, actually i am located in long island city and i just want to
 buy this item for my fiance, who is currently outside the country i
 will offer you the sum of £700 included shipping fees, i wish i can
 come over to your place to take a look at it but due to  the running
 of my day to day business activities does not give me chance and i
 will be paying you through PayPal because i have a verified account
 with PayPal so kindly get back to me with your PayPal email address so
 that i will make the Payment while you make the shipment as early as
 possible cos it is very urgent.
 Awaiting your quick response.  and also to see the pictures.

Where to start...

1) My add says cash on collection only but the buyer requests that I post it to Long Island City (not even in the same country)
2) He makes an offer of way more money than I was asking. Incidentally this is more than it would cost him to buy the item new in the US, where he wants me to post it. Hilarious.
3) He has some sort of semi-plausible background story, but time is always urgent. This is a common part of the back story.

What would happen if I went ahead with the sale... I would probably receive the money through PayPal, but this would then be 'charged back' leaving him with both money and lens. I would be left to dispute seller protection with PayPal, who are not interested unless you can provide proof of signature on delivery.

My final reply was not rude, because I would rather the scammer not know that I have reported him.

Thank you for your very generous offer, I appreciate your situation but unfortunately this is a cash in person only sale - as stated in the advert.
 
I wish you the best of luck in finding a gift for your fiance.

Nice and simple.

Of course he inevitably replied to this, but I ignored it. The final message back from him, for everyone's amusement:

Yea the is truth but am not scammer and i really need this for her if you dont have a PayPal account you can log on to www.paypal.com and have an account with them once i have the infomation fro you i will make the payment to you now and you are going to get your money,Try to understand me ok

Try to understand me ok??