Would you buy a camera or mobile on ebay?

[ElectricSheep]

As you can probably tell, I'm not very experienced on ebay.

Would you buy something that could breakdown? Do you have any comeback if it didn't work or is it tough luck?

Thanks for any advice

I wouldn't. I don't think it is worth the risk.

From power Sellers, yes.

I've bought cameras and ipods successfully.

Posted too soon. Buy using paypal, Your consumer rights are protected. Info is on the http://ebay.co.uk/safetycentre/rights.html ebay safety centre.

I've bought 4 £500+ cameras, two phones and four cars on eBay. No problems.

Don't click on the link above it's infected. I've reported it.

Thanks for the advice. Has anyone ever tried to return something that doesn't work. Did you get your money back?

yes you have 45 days to get your money back from paypal, but any longer than that you are relying on the warranty from the seller/manufacturer.

We have bought and sold mobiles and camera eqipment on ebay. Only once had a problem with a vidro camera that clearly didnt work before it was sent.The batteries werent charged etc so they couldnt have tested it like he claimed. Had no problems getting money back and he said dont bother sending it back.

My dad got scammed trying to buy/sell a camera from Ebay. This was a few years ago mind!

A mobile - no. And this is why.

DH bought a mobile a few years ago, he bought it thankfully from a local seller and we drove to his house and collected the phone. Seller had texted details and mentioned in the texts the make, model and price of the handset as well as his address.

Six months to the day later DH comes to use his phone and has no service. He calls T Mobile who tell him this is because the handset was reported stolen the day before. We tell T Mobile that we purchased the phone 6 months ago and can prove it. T Mobile say they can see we have been using it for the last 6 months from the IMEI but there is little they can do as we are not the registered owners.

Fortunately I keep texts and after a little digging we retrieved sellers address and went to visit. I'm assuming from the look of horror on his face when he answered the door he hadn't expected that we'd still have his details. He gave various excuses finally settling on 'his wife must have requested the wrong phone blocked' which amusingly she contradicted later.
I showed him my copy of his incriminating texts and suggested he call T Mobile while we were there, have the phone unblocked and transferred to DH. He did just that.

After that I heard of a lot of people who'd purchased 'unwanted upgrades' etc only to have them blocked 6 months later when the seller reported them lost or stolen. Usually by this time transaction details have disappeared and they hope you cant trace back to them.

For that reason alone I would never buy a handset on eBay again.

Not my link! Mine's ok if badly executed.

I wouldn't buy any technology from someone I didn't know or a company that I couldn't contact at a later date. OH bought a reconditioned Samsung Galaxy S2 from Tesco. It came with a 12 month warranty and he has been exceptionally pleased with it. So it is worth looking at Tesco and Amazon and similar companies to see if there are any deals.

We bought a two different cameras of the same model ITMS. Both performed well for about 8 months then died.
Unfortunately it seems the model is at fault. The most unfortunate thing is it's the only one that fits the underwater housing that DH bought to scuba with.
I said we should put the housing on ebay. As he pointed out, no one would buy it due to the camera issue...

I've bought 3 mobiles off Ebay without regrets or problems. They were all used castoffs, though. Cheap replacements for me or kids. Quickly switched to Giffgaff or put my compatible sim in, no issues.

I am trying to figure out what scam PlaineJaney's seller was pulling, was he pulling a scam?

We have bought several DSs or DSis from Ebay, one developed a fault but sent it back on about day 30 to sort it. No problems with others.

Re PlaineJaney - seller claimed mobile was stolen and got a new handset on their mobile phone insurance I guess?

Ahhh.... good one.

I bought an old model phone as a replacement for the one I was using (I liked the built-in eBay app on it) for £11. No trouble at all. But for many reasons, including Plainjaney's experience, I wouldn't with a modern model from a private seller, no.

A couple of months ago I bought a cheap tablet from a private seller. A week passed, no notice on eBay that it had been dispatched. No reply to my increasingly antsy texts. Oh God, I thought. Eventually got my £52 back though PayPal but it took nearly a month. Why he wanted to sell something he plainly did not have I've no idea. And with an apology and cancellation he could have saved being marked down by eBay as well.