Canon XL1s...I think I got a great deal and I need your Help!!

Okay...I bid on the camera from ebay and I'm not the winning bidder.....

But the guy e-mails me and tell me he needs the money urgent and was wondering if i would like to buy the camera for 1600.00

Its a brand new canon xl1s...the price sounds to good to be true.

I'm wondering what you guys think....you think its to good to be true?

I asked the guy if we can go through ebay...just so I felt safe. but i'm here...really thinking about it.

I need some opinions.

 

I think it probably IS too good to be true. I would have a hard time trusting someone I did not know without some kind of reasonable express written money-back gaurantee if you are not completely satisfied. Otherwise, I fear that you will be taking a great chance with this kind of deal.

There is a very good chance that the item is possibly stolen, or missing all kinds of necessary parts/equipment that you will need to spend tons of money on anyways. ALSO, I have a hard time believing that someone is willing to sell a legitimate product that is that new for that low a price.

Honestly, Drew ... I know you are excited and all .. but DO THE RIGHT THING and save the money to purchase your camera from a reliable source (i.e. B&H Photo, a trusted camera shop in your area .. or even from CANON directly).
Any deal that does not provide an in-tact/valid factory warranty is suspect IMHO.



JediTAC
Self-Righteous Avenger of Preventing Drew from getting SCREWED.

 

I don't quite understand. If you aren't the winning bidder then the camera isn't yours to buy, it's for the person with the winning bid to buy surely?

If the guy selling the camera on eBay isn't going to let the winnig bidder buy it I would have to ask why not? Check out his rating, if he doesn't have one, then I would just be wary.

 

DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA IF YOU HAVE NOT WON IT ON EBAY! If you pay this guy outside of the ebay auction, you will have no proof of the transaction as your name will not appear on any record.

Just from this offer I would stay away, sounds shady to me.


Saint

 

Thanks for the opinion ALL...I forgot to mention this...

1. He listed evrything that comes with the camera...So that way i will know everything is there.

2. He has GREAT feedback on ebay 1557 positive and he is a power seller. and has a comapny name and store "aden"

3. I will make sure we go through ebay...so I am protected through whatever protection ebay offers.

factoring these "guidlines" or whatever you wanna call them...does it change anyone opinions?

here is a link to the auction...just incase you want to check it out....Everything the auction says applies to my deal with him.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1379400253


EDIT:::: Changed some spelling errors

 

I have read a few articles warning about this very thing. I would love a gl1 but I would love it to work. If people warn against it and you do it..... It is sort of like Willy Wonka. I think everyone is calling "wait! Don't! Stop!" and your heading right to the chocolate river Agustas.

Be careful!

 

In the end, it's really your money. Personally, I would be wary. Just because you deal with him over ebay doesn't make it safe. You never know what might slip through the cracks.

$1600... that's less than half price...

By the way, if you can hold off and save more money, rumor is PANASONIC is coming out with a new camera that's supposed to have more cinematic capabilities. 24fps or 30fps on DV. It ain't cheap, but if you're looking for a quality camera, this may be the next big thing. AG-DVX100: $3,795

http://www.panasonic.com/PBDS/subcat/Products/cams_ccorders/f_ag-dvx100.html

 

nah...that panasonic is nice but to much money....i really just need opinions on this deal...thanks anyway.

 

I found this to be interesting "YOU WILL ONLY BE CONTACTED BY US THROUGH, AND ONLY THROUGH EBAY@ADENCAMERA.COM. IF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY ANY OTHER EMAIL ADDRESSES, PLEASE REPORT IT TO EBAY IMMEDIATELY "

So, was it this e-mail address that contacted you?

 

It could be good, or it could be bad.

Proceed with caution.

 

Mp.....I also saw that....thats the e-mail that contacted me...but and i also sent that same e-mail another e-mail just confirming...and yes....same guy.

 

It said under payment info or whatever:

no returns, no refund, only 10 days for returns on defective items or something, so i'd say don't get it on this auction.

 

i do ebay a lot, and feedback is a precious thing, i myself would have no problem buying this, i would suggest though that you agree to bid it up till you are high bidder, then have him end the auction and sell it to you early at whatever price you agree too. And if you are really worried, find out if he will do one of the following:

use an escrow service, (offer to pay for this, well worth the safety) check ebay's help, i think they list some of the biggest and best.

or ask if he will accept COD, if he is shipping UPS/FedEx, they will accept the cash on delivery and give it to him, again, offer to pay any fees for doing this.

it's quite possible he is just low on cash, needs to pay some bills, and is taking a loss, the chances of someone with feedback that high and good screwing you is slim, it takes a long time, and lots of transactions to get a feedback that high, and he's been registered since 1999.

but as others have said, it's your money, if you're not comfortable don't do it, talk with him on the phone, feel him out, if anything is weird don't buy it, and whatever you do, don't do something without any records, it's hard enough to collect money even with records.

 

I think the stuff MP quoted sounds incredibly fishy. It sounds as if he was trying to appear to be an official Ebay statement, the way he worded it. It may say ebay, but the domain name of the email account is obviously not ebay's. However, he might just have an email account set up on his domain name that he uses specifically for ebay, but that seems unlikely. I would not give him the benefit of the doubt. I've read a lot on this and seen several episodes of TechTV's cyber crime about this, and I'm skeptical. I rarely buy electronics over the net, at least from auction sites, because of the high probability that they are messed up.

 

I dunno ......
I would rather hear from someone I TRUST (perhaps a trusted member of the TFN community), than simply rely on Feedback points and comments. It's pretty easy to manufacture those and boost your "rating".

How on earth could a guy sell off a $3000.00 camera for $1,600.00 ???


I suppose if he was REALLY in dire need of money, it's possible.
I guess I would just be a bit more cautious with my money.


I guess the bottom line is ... LET THE BUYER BEWARE

 

silverfox, you are mistaken, the email address is very common like that, after doing a little research on adencamera, they seem to be a legit, business, they list multiple locations in canada that they have shops, and a whois search on the domain name shows up with conact info, and that it has been registered since 1997.

it is incredibly unlikely that this is a scam, it is too elaborate. There are many scam camera sales on ebay, but they are plainly obvious, they are almost always done by people with new accounts, copy and pasted listings, and they usually demand wire transfers only, and many times they live in malaysia, russia, etc.

it might be comforting to contact the business and make sure this is not some pissed off employee doing this to get back at the buiness or something.

 

I will look into the quote that mp stated...if anything is fisahy there i will definityly back off on the deal.

fourfools....i see it your way...he does have great feedback and that IS saying alot...though i do agree with everyone else that i must be careful. See....I'm not interested in the deal simply because i'm saving money...but because its the only way i can get it, eh.

Well...further communication with this guy will reveal alot, and make feal more confortable or less confortable with the deal.

I DO KNOW that i will not go through with the deal WITHOUT records, ebay protection, and all that.

 

Tac, i've been on longer than most people, since the beginning of 1998. and trust me, getting feedback that high is very hard to do, it can not be cheated or faked, that is what makes ebay safe for the most part, many people do not recognize the significance of feedback.

 

Wait, so you're telling me that a person cannot orchestrate some quasi-deals with his buddies,
and then have them provide positive feedback for him - and vice versa?

Less complicated scams have been done.




But hey, maybe this will be a positive experience for JediDrew.
I would just hate to see him spend that kind of money on a shady deal.

Good Luck with it, Drew.

 

yes that is possible, but not for 1500+ feedbacks!!!

there's simply no need for someone to go to that much trouble, there are dozens of auctions all the time that are easily identifiable as scams, from people with 0 feedback, and idiots still bid on it, send there money then whine when they get ripped off!

there is no need for them to go to all the trouble, most people scamming on ebay have dozens of accounts at a time, each with a fake auction, when they scam them, they just stop using the account and create a new one. Nobody is going to spend years building up a feedback to rip someone off for a lowsy 1600 bucks, unless it is something like a pissed of employee or something similar.


one other thing to check: contact canon, and find out if they are an authorized seller, they have lots of camera's on, and most likely are.

 

Tac....I see what your saying....That probably could happen...

However...the only thing fishy about this deal is that he wants to sell it for 1600.

If he wanted to sell it to me for 3000, then it wouldn't be so complicated.

So....the story behind that...well, i dunno, maybe he just needs money soon. I think if I have good protection with ebay..i insure my money, and do EVERYTHING I CAN TO MAKE SURE I AM SAFE. tehn why not....

however...i still would like this conversation to continue, i kinda want diiferent points of view. maybe someone has worked with him before....maygbe i should look back at his previous auctions and ask some of the winners how good he is.

 

I do think customer feedback is the key, when i made my first comment there was no evidence that this guy was anything other than a shady character, but now from what you've said I think it's worth a go.

Can you buy it on a credit card? Barclaycard used to have a 30 day money back gaurantee on any purchase, which I thing they still do.

He who dares Rodney

 

for example:

I would most definetly not buy from these auctions.

I have a nice new Ben Franklin that says that these are fakes:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1379910702


note the account was created 2 days before the auction started: no photos, no extra info, but he does accept COD, so it is possible it is just a new ebay user:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1379512288


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1379957568

 

Fourfools...I agree with all those auctions, they are scams...that last guy is pretty convincing if it wasn't for is -1 feedback...and i can't beleive that auction has 4 bids.

anyway...I really want this camera...i think my Greed is telling me "GO FOR IT MAN, ITS BEUTIFUL".... but my concious says "I'm gonna feal real bad if i loss 1600"

 

Fourfools and I are like two devils sat on your shoulder. Buy, buy, buy!

If you make sure it is a cash on delivery purchase, or a credit card purchase that is insured, you don't really have anything to lose. The worst that will happen is it turns out to be a scam and the thing never arrives, which on a COD purchase is no real disaster. If it's a DOA product, then claim on your credit card if all else fails.

Just don't get in a situation where you are shelling out before you see anything. If the guy is legit (which he seems to be) he'll understand your concerns, and will probably understand why you want a COD purchase.

Actually I wouldn't sweat it now - You've probably just been gazzumped by about 58 lurkers on the TFN fanfilm boards anyway