Sellers are much worse than buyers
Summary: maysherip expressed frustration with fraudulent practices by sellers, particularly in the Japanese camera market, citing a personal experience of buying a mislabeled lens in poor condition. christworks countered by advising on how to use the platform's return policies and criticized maysherip for generalizing about Japanese sellers and for leaving feedback that was possibly against platform policies. mudshark61369 expanded on the discussion, noting differences in seller practices and suggested looking into customs fee refunds. Both responders emphasized the importance of understanding the platform's buyer protections.
Buyers are the ones that get most of the hate in these forums and yet, as a collector of cameras and lenses, the amount of outright fraud I see is overwhelmingly from sellers.
I’m not sure how many of readers here are familiar with the Japanese camera market but these guys have given an entirely new definition of the term “Near Mint” or “N.Mint.” It’s obvious that they’re dumping their leftover garbage onto the less sophisticated American market.
That said, earlier this year I bought a very rare Pentax lens (Pentax 15mm 3.5 M42 Mount) from an American seller that rated it as Near Mint and it was literally garbage. Haze, scratches, fungus, etc… It really infuriated me and he gave me a lot of grief about returning it. Not only that but I came from Canada so I paid over $200 in import duties and tariffs that I’m stuck for. I left him negative feedback. Not only is that seller once again selling this exact lens the negative feedback has somehow been dropped!
mudshark61369
·1 week ago@maysherip ,
I only see that two of those lenses have sold on the U.S. site since January. One from a seller in the U.S. showed a lot of cosmetic damage, and the seller's condition states "OK some cosmetic damage-- see photos" and a little below that "Notes on condition are based on my our best opinion". That seller has a low feedback number and a no return policy.
The other one came from Japan, and the sellers condition stated Good condition some signs of use. They are an experienced vintage photo equipment seller and have a return policy.
You say the seller gave you grief about returning it, yet you buy and sell on ebay and should know by now how the Money Back Guarantee works. If you did file an item not as described dispute and got a refund, that is why your negative feedback was removed.
"I came from Canada so I paid over $200 in import duties and tariffs that I’m stuck for".
As for the Customs fees, did you declare it when crossing the border? Then you might be able to use your return documentation to get a refund from the CBSA.
"I’m not sure how many of readers here are familiar with the Japanese camera market but these guys have given an entirely new definition of the term “Near Mint” or “N.Mint.” It’s obvious that they’re dumping their leftover garbage onto the less sophisticated American market".
I'm very familiar with the Japanese photo equipment market especially the Vintage equipment one and though I haven't made any recent purchases of Photo equipment I have bought several lenses and camera bodies from Japanese sellers without any problems. I do occasionally search through it for some of the more esoteric vintage accessories I do not have. Out of curiosity and nostalgia, I sold photographic equipment for many years, I do look at the current listings and find that there is a lot of closet cleaning going on from American sellers who have little knowledge of what they are selling, while the Japanese ones who are mostly dealers, do a very good job over all of describing their items.
christworks
·1 week ago@maysherip You sound very angry and bitter. You make many unfounded assertions; such as, buyers get "most of the hate" on these forums. I'm not even sure what you mean by that. As a seller, I volunteer my time to help sellers and buyers alike, as do countless other sellers. I'm not sure what you consider "hate" towards a buyer. If hate is telling a buyer they need to know and understand eBay's 30-Day Money Back Guarantee, then I guess you and I have different definitions of hate.
Speaking of the MBG, I fail to understand why a seller would give you grief. You have no responsibility as a buyer to message the seller or otherwise interact with them. You open the INAD return withthin the time allowed. You get a refund or a shipping label, and if neither you ask eBay to step in. You get your money back no matter what as long as you are within the timeframe, and you never have to say a word to the seller in a private message. If a seller gave you grief, it is because you let them.
I'll tell you what I tell sellers who get emotional and in their feelings: Transactions are a business. Don't make it personal. When you do that, you become a miserable person and almost always make a wrong decision and get messed over again.
Your comment about apparant Japanese sellers is disgusting. You have grouped an entire group of people by their nationality, and bascially said they are all scammers.
As far as your feedback is concerned, as a buyer you must keep your feedback on-point and related to the transaction. You cannot disparage the seller personally, nor can you do that to their business. Feedback such as that violates policy and can be removed if the seller appeals it. Given the anger and bitterness you've shown in your post, I'm sure that is what happened. That's not anybody's fault other than your own.
I am sorry you've had some bad experiences. You do not say whether you read through the sellers' feedback to determine whether they were honest. You should do that if you aren't. It won't 100% prevent a bad transaction, because sellers are human and do make genuine mistakes. Sometimes we are selling items we don't know a lot about. Something can be wrong with an item, especailly a camera or other electronics, and we may not even know to check it. That's why the 30-Day MBG is so important as it protects you, the buyer. You should also buy from sellers who offer free any reason returns if you do not want to be given "grief" about a return.