How to buy camera gear on ebay!

Get cozy, this is going to be a long one ;)

Buying camera gear is expensive, scary and sometimes really confusing. What do I want and when?! What should I get first, what lens should I get, do I go with a package deal or just a body but then what lens do I get for the body????

Here are some things that might help you girls looking for new gear and those of you just getting your toes wet into gear addiction :)

I started out with a Canon Rebel XT and a kit 18-55 lens. It worked well and helped me learn the basics which is exactly what I needed. Then I grabbed a 50mm f/1.8 lens for about $80 and I wished I had not bought the kit but just the camera body and the 50. It's a great starter lens. From there I rented lenses for fun from lensrental.com. That helped me figure out where my priorities were and I decided I liked prime lenses, lenses that don't zoom, not because I love getting in people's space but because they are SHARP. I liiiiike sharp ;) So I made a list from top priority to lowest; Canon 5D, 85mm f/1.2, 35mm f/ 1.4, 50mm f/1.4, and the 100mm macro. Then I got to collecting :) Oh and I added a flash on there somewhere! I would suggest making a list but if a great deal comes up on something down the list don't just overlook it. At least you know what you want in your bag and you can shop when you've got the money and get the best deal. I didn't start shopping for the upgraded camera body until I knew my rebel inside and out... I mean I knew everything I could about that camera to make it work properly and then I decided it was time and that a newer body and better glass was where I had to go to get better images.

 First of all I am super, super cheap. I coupon, I ebay, I resale, I do everything I can to pinch my pennies so naturally when I realized that camera gear is OUTRAGEOUS I wanted to get the most out of my Fourth Light money. I started searching ebay. Finally I bought that first camera, the rebel, which was a package deal from some camera "shop" and it came with waaaay more than I needed; a tripod, a memory card, a cleaning kit, three filters the camera and two non canon lenses. I thought it was a steal... and I was right. The next day some guy called and said they couldn't ship my stuff until they confirmed what I had bought, and by confirm they meant they wanted to bully me into more stuff. It was a total upsale scam! I hurried off to my computer in a sweat because here I had just given this company my money, a lot of money and they were demanding more and wouldn't send my gear. I went to the better business bureaus website and looked up the company. Much to my horror they were NOT given good ratings and this upsale thing was mentioned a lot. So I canceled my order and went back to searching. I finally found one but man was I traumatized. Now here is what I learned from that terrible experience. It may seem over the top but it's yet to lead me astray and I haven't had a problem since.

There are quite a few questions I ask every potential seller I deal with when buying my gear. Here is the run down;

• how was the gear used (inside or out)
• what was it carried in
• how much was it used (# of actuations for a camera body - 10,000 and less is good for me. Camera bodies should last to 100,000 but I like low actuations)
• what does the person shoot (pro or hobby?)
• are they the original owner (with paperwork), if not how many owners and what was the history of each owner
• If you live by the beach I'd ask about use on the beach (sand sucks).
• then I ask about filters and how the gear was cleaned if ever ( all of my lenses have a UV filter for protection ... all the other filters I don't care for)
• there are also certain marks to look for on camera lenses that will tell you if it was cleaned properly or not if there are big circular scratches on the lens surface it's probably not a good thing... sometimes it's fine but usually it means they've cleaned their gear themselves and done a bad job. Use your best judgment.

• if buying on ebay I only by expensive things from people with over 100 feedbacks and at least a 99% rating 

• Get the serial number. It will give you a good idea of how old the camera/lens is. Here is a little rundown of how to read the serial number on a lens;
  
  
  Beside the rear lens element of many (but not all) Canon lenses is a date code (as seen above) in the form of "UR0902". This code is also present on many other Canon products including camera bodies.
  
  The first letter, "U", indicates that the lens was made in Canon's Utsunomiya, Japan factory. Prior to 1986, this letter is moved to the last position of the date code.
  
  U = Utsunomiya, Japan
  F = Fukushima, Japan
  O = Oita, Japan
  
  The second letter, "R", is a year code that indicates the year of manufacture. Canon increments this letter each year starting with A in 1986 and prior to that, A in 1960 without the leading factory code. Here is a table to make things simple:
  
  A = 1986, 1960
  B = 1987, 1961
  C = 1988, 1962
  D = 1989, 1963
  E = 1990, 1964
  F = 1991, 1965
  G = 1992, 1966
  H = 1993, 1967
  I = 1994, 1968
  J = 1995, 1969
  K = 1996, 1970
  L = 1997, 1971
  M = 1998, 1972
  N = 1999, 1973
  O = 2000, 1974
  P = 2001, 1975
  Q = 2002, 1976
  R = 2003, 1977
  S = 2004, 1978
  T = 2005, 1979
  U = 2006, 1980
  V = 2007, 1981
  W = 2008, 1982
  X = 2009, 1983
  Y = 2010, 1984
  Z = 2011, 1985
  
  The first two numbers, "09", is the month number the lens was manufactured in. Month 02 is February, month 11 = November. The leading zero of the month code is sometimes omitted.
  
  The next two numbers, "02", are meaningless in determining how old a Canon lens is. This is a Canon internal code (that is occasionally omitted).
  
  You now know the manufacture date for your lens - But - You cannot know how long the lens was in inventory, in shipping transit and on a shelf until it was originally purchased (without having the original receipt or a reputable person accurately informing you). 

So those are the questions I ask each seller when I know I'm ready to buy if they answer correctly :) If they don't, I keep shopping. Also on ebay there is the completed listings feature which is very helpful in deciding what the going rate for each piece of equipment is and what your goal price should be. For instance if you search for the canon 50mm f/1.8 AF lens you get current listings but in the left sidebar under "buying formats" you can select from the "show only" menu "completed listings" and up will pop every canon 50mm 1.8 lens that's sold recently. You can then look through the prices and figure out how low they get and how high they get to estimate what you may want to pay for such a lens.

I also always check amazon.com's prices because they are about the cheapest for brand new things.

If I am buying a piece of software, lets say Photoshop, the playing grounds change quite a bit. Buying software on ebay can be very dangerous and since I'm an honest Abe and like to function above reproach I stick to the rules when there is a lot of options that don't stick to the rules. First I never buy the most recent model of anything. Yes there are some benefits to CS5 over my CS3 but when CS6 comes out I'll probably buy the cheaper upgrade kit to CS5! I do the same thing with gear. I buy used and older then update when the new models come out. Mark II will be mine just as soon as that Mark III comes out later this year or early next :) Okay back to software. There are different versions of photoshop depending on what you plan to do with it. There is Photoshop for students and for everyone else. The student version is cheaper than the regular joe version but the copyright information on a student version prohibits commercial work. Now each person has to assess where they draw the line obviously but I stick with regular joe version over student version and I shop around. To find out if you qualify to buy a student version go here but again it's for non-commercial use. When buying software such as photoshop on ebay here are some things to think about;

1. Read the fine print again to ensure that the software is a full retail version and not a trial CD, beta evaluation, upgrade version or even an OEM version that ships only with the hardware.

2. If the software is old or not sealed inside a box, always ask the seller to send you real photographs of the installation CDs with hologram and software manuals that came along with his purchase. This is to confirm that the seller owns the authentic version of the software.

3. Read the item description very very carefully. Make sure that it is not the academic version of the software which are generally available at significantly discounted prices but only students, faculty members and educational institutions are allowed to buy them.

4. If the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If the eBay seller is willing to sell Adobe Creative Suite or Microsoft Office 2003 at rock bottom prices, they are pirated software for sure.

5. Always compare the eBay's price with the retail price of the software. You may also want to add shipping charges, insurance and other taxes / custom duties applicable in your country. Infact, there have been cases when people were found selling freeware software on eBay.

6. Never purchase software from eBay sellers with low feedback scores. Don't buy software from new ebay sellers who are yet to receive a reputation.

7. Try to get the address and phone number of the software seller before finalizing the purchase. Check the items that he has sold in the past and if possible, get some feedback from his previous customers on eBay.

8. Most software titles now require you to activate the installation over internet before you can use them. Also, vendors may have their own policies with regards to transferring ownership of software. You should always confirm these things before the purchase.

9. The EULA document in most cases allows the owner to install the software on two computers though you aren't allowed to use them simultaneously. You should confirm that the seller has uninstalled all copies of the software from his systems.

10. The safest bet is to buy only software that is available in sealed retail boxes.

When there isn't much difference in price between the eBay copy and the retail version, always procure the software from authorized stores only - you are guaranteed to receive a genuine copy of the software with documentation, after-sales-support, warrant and enough peace of mind.

Well I hope that helps you all go out and get a bargain... or be too terrified and overwhelmed to even try in which case sorry! If you guys are ever looking I love to help spend people's money and would be totally willing to help by looking over something before you purchase it. I'm anal. I have embraced that :) It can be helpful!