Advice on eBay for selling 5d2/100mm L macro

Soldato
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I want to sell my 5d2 and 100mm L 2.8 IS macro lens.

I'm nervous about using eBay as I endlessly hear horror stories about sellers being ripped off.

Obviously I would need to do the whole photo/serial number/tracked/signed delivery thing. But can you refuse to sell to say people under 100 transactions/transactions under a certain value etc, or do eBay make you sell to whoever wins the auction ?

I've put it on some local facebook groups but no-one is biting.
 
Soldato
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Have you tried the MM here?

E:
I see you have. Could lower the price, though. Ebay sold prices, for the lens, are around £500 - take off the £65-£70 of fees and you have room to move when selling elsewhere. And it's less of a gamble regarding being scammed.
 
Soldato
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I've been trying to sell a lens for a while now. 4th eBay auction now, first one a scammer, second one someone paid and immediately cancelled, third one was the same scammer as the first one, and this 4th attempt appears to be another (albeit quite convincing) scammer. I've not lost anything financially as I've not been daft, but it's a total waste of time now.

Just forget trying to sell anything on eBay anymore, that ship has sailed. There are serial scammers operating on the site (peter_zz26 is the one I've dealt with twice, he goes after camera gear sales), but they simply don't care.

Going to just go with MPB.
 

And

And

Associate
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Another vote for MPB. They recently gave me the best price on something (about 12% higher) of the three I spoke to (LCE and Mifsuds being the other two).
 
Soldato
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I've been trying to sell a lens for a while now. 4th eBay auction now, first one a scammer, second one someone paid and immediately cancelled, third one was the same scammer as the first one, and this 4th attempt appears to be another (albeit quite convincing) scammer. I've not lost anything financially as I've not been daft, but it's a total waste of time now.

Just forget trying to sell anything on eBay anymore, that ship has sailed. There are serial scammers operating on the site (peter_zz26 is the one I've dealt with twice, he goes after camera gear sales), but they simply don't care.

Going to just go with MPB.

Just curious - how did you identify scammers? When the eBay prices are considerably better than the MPB prices I might someday try eBay as well, and it would be helpful if you could share some experience!
 
Soldato
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Just curious - how did you identify scammers? When the eBay prices are considerably better than the MPB prices I might someday try eBay as well, and it would be helpful if you could share some experience!

Well it appears the 4th guy is actually genuine. He did ask to have the lens delivered to his work address which is a scammer red flag, as you lose your PayPal protection if you send to a different address. When I explained he seemed fine. Will wait and see now, posted today.

Some of the scams are blatantly obvious. "I've just moved to China, you save money on postage by sending cheap unrecorded to Shanghai!". Probably stolen accounts, again, eBay does nothing about this.

Basically, do not deviate from the eBay/PayPal procedure for any reason. Make sure you ship with appropriate insurance.

I've still got my Leica body and lens to sell, have sent a quote request to MPB for them....don't trust ebay with those amounts.
 
Soldato
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Well it appears the 4th guy is actually genuine. He did ask to have the lens delivered to his work address which is a scammer red flag, as you lose your PayPal protection if you send to a different address. When I explained he seemed fine. Will wait and see now, posted today.

Some of the scams are blatantly obvious. "I've just moved to China, you save money on postage by sending cheap unrecorded to Shanghai!". Probably stolen accounts, again, eBay does nothing about this.

Basically, do not deviate from the eBay/PayPal procedure for any reason. Make sure you ship with appropriate insurance.

I've still got my Leica body and lens to sell, have sent a quote request to MPB for them....don't trust ebay with those amounts.

So basically shipping to PayPal confirmed addresses in the UK can be safe?
 
Soldato
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So basically shipping to PayPal confirmed addresses in the UK can be safe?

Buyers can still be a pain the backside and get into a mess around with returns etc. It's taken me 4 auctions to get what appears to be a sale, with ebay taking the fees for previous ones and having to claim them back, re-listing etc.

I wouldn't eBay anything I couldn't afford to lose. This voigtlander lens I sold is only 400 EUR but my Leica stuff there's no way I'm leaving at the mercy of PayPal. I'd rather take the hit on a trader like MPB than risk losing it all.

Depends what sort of cut MPB take I guess. If it's too much I'll probably try craiglist/kleinanzeigen where at least you can make a cash transaction.
 

Zaf

Zaf

Soldato
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I've currently got my Fuji X-T1 on eBay so glad I stumbled on this thread!

I was under the impression, when selling the buyer has to pay first before you ship, so how do you exactly get scammed?
 
Caporegime
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I've currently got my Fuji X-T1 on eBay so glad I stumbled on this thread!

I was under the impression, when selling the buyer has to pay first before you ship, so how do you exactly get scammed?

They will tell Paypal camera never arrived (if you never sent insured and signed for), and claim money back.

They will claim it is broken, they may have one already broken in hand, get yours, swap over. Make sure you photograph your serial number.

They will ask you to send to a different address.

They will pay you via paypal and pick it up in person. You have no proof of delivery.

There is probably some i forgot.
 

Zaf

Zaf

Soldato
Joined
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6,873
Location
Derbyshire
They will tell Paypal camera never arrived (if you never sent insured and signed for), and claim money back.

They will claim it is broken, they may have one already broken in hand, get yours, swap over. Make sure you photograph your serial number.

They will ask you to send to a different address.

They will pay you via paypal and pick it up in person. You have no proof of delivery.

There is probably some i forgot.

Nice one appreciated!!
 
Soldato
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15,765
Well fingers crossed my Voigtlander ebay sale is complete.

Since then I've shifted my Leica M6 and A7 kit lens to MPB as a trade for the Sony FE 24-240 plus cash...just sent the gear to them yesterday.

Definitely could have got more on eBay but their quotes were fine. Obviously they are taking a fair margin, but I also lose all the risk and hassle of eBay. As I'm buying some used gear in trade it makes it more reasonable too. If it was just a cash transaction I would probably have stuck with a private sale.
 
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