Question about buying off ebay

[coominya]

I received a PL objective from the US today, an olympus LWD with correction collar. Well the collar is jammed as is the spring loaded front lens. I found a decent dent in the front, It's packing was pretty ordinary so it could have happened in transit, but is it unheard of for sellers to offload damaged goods? The ad was very short

“GOOD cosmetic condition. Comes as pictured. 14 days return warranty.”

Sellers pic with dent obscured at rear




A pic I took

[75RR]

... is it unheard of for sellers to offload damaged goods?

Afraid not.
Contact seller immediately - if you do not get a suitable response (one that you are happy with) contact ebay.

If you are going to buy stuff on ebay from other countries then it is best to focus on a few sellers that are known to be reputable.
You are better off leaving the 'bargain' hunting to those who live in the same country as the seller and can depend on both economical and speedy postage delivery.

[apochronaut]

Yes. Contact the seller and you may get a response. If there is not, go to the bottom of your ebay page and click on "resolution center". It will direct you to a page with some questions. I usually bypass that by clicking on " my problem isn't listed here". You will then get a page showing you your purchase(s) over the past few months. Click on the relevant one and you will get options to describe your problem. Click on "item not as described". Ebay will let the seller know and in most cases he/she will be obliged to do something but wordings in their listings may keep them exempt from ebay's policies. Usually they will offer a partial refund. If they do nothing, ebay will wait for a while, then after the defined period for a response has elapsed, ebay will take the entire charge( incl. shipping) out of their paypal account and refund it to you but it depends on how the listing was worded.

Sellers sometimes try to get around ebay's policies by putting words in llistings, such as "buyer pays return shipping." If you are covered by ebay buyer protection, and that is just about everyone who uses paypal, I think; those words are hollow. They violate ebay policy and if an item is not as described, then the seller must supply a return shipping ticket to the buyer. If they do not, ebay will refund all of your funds and you will keep the item. They give the seller a reasonable time to do so, however, so the refund is seldom instant, unless the seller has indicated that they are unwilling to pay the return shipping.

Sellers can get around some of ebay's return policies by putting disclaimers in a listing, such as " item sold as is." It is pretty hard to beat that one, unless the damage is glaring and you can prove that they deliberately tried to deceive you. It really helps to know the item you are buying in such cases and ask questions about certain aspects that you know could be issues. If they lie in an email about the condition, then you have them. Sometimes they will say, "unable to test". Listings with certain discalimers become difficult to challenge and it is easy to lose patience. The reps on the phone are variable too. Some are good and some are not so good. On the phone, you may have to climb the ladder and get some supervisor(s) with more authority involved.

[wporter]

On the other hand, if the price was very low, and you want to consider the transaction a 'learning experience' (especially after the good advice you have received above), you may try fixing the item yourself. If the optics are in good shape (no worn-off coatings, delaminations, internal and inaccessible haze, etc.) , it is often possible to loosen-up the stiff or immovable collar, and certainly the spring-loaded front assembly. Try to find online tips for Oly objectives dissassembly or freeing up. But some optics dissassembly is not for the mechanically-uninclined or inexperienced; there are some hard and fast rules (make plenty of diagrams/images, work on soft surfaces, in a tray, use the correct type of tool, don't take apart more than you have to, etc), so caveat emptor.

(I've bought several old, cheap, as-is for-parts-or-repair microscope carcasses which came with corroded objectives frozen to the turret and front lenses opaque with dirt. But after unfreezing (acetone), cleaning (Zeiss lens cleaner), removal of external corrosion (fine wire brush), the objectives were virtually flawless. It is true that I had paid just for a wreck of a microscope, and due to the ubiquitous dirt & corrosion, the seller had priced the whole thing as such (correctly so, considering the hours of fixing-up I had to put into it), but the point is, some parts are repairable, and not every imperfect optic should be written off.)

[Hobbyst46]

Well the collar is jammed as is the spring loaded front lens.

My feeling is that you should ask for immediate refund as suggested in previous responses.
However, if still contemplating and in doubt, here is a question: I can see the damage to the metal around the front lens, but I cannot see any damage to the collar, probably because of the item is shown in a near-vertical position.
Is the damage to the collar visible at all, or does it show only because the spring-loaded part is frozen or stuck and cannot be pressed in?

[coominya]

Thanks guys, I asked for, and received a full refund + a return shipping label is being sent. The seller has good feedback and obviously wants to keep it that way.

I will ask a lot more detailed questions before I buy another expensive item and insist it be wrapped and taped into bubble wrap for shipping. If they are trying to offload damaged goods they won't send it to me after the questions I ask.

[coominya]

On the other hand, if the price was very low, and you want to consider the transaction a 'learning experience' (especially after the good advice you have received above), you may try fixing the item yourself.

I'll admit I toyed with the idea, but at $300 a lesson is a bit much hey

[75RR]

Going back to your original question has me wondering if you are familiar with the advanced search controls on ebay.
One of the most useful functions is its ability to search for sold items.
This allows one to get a better idea of what price an item actually sells for on ebay,
as opposed to what the seller is (sometimes optimistically) asking for it.

The advanced button is next to the blue search button. Sold items appear with green prices.

[coominya]

Going back to your original question has me wondering if you are familiar with the advanced search controls on ebay.
One of the most useful functions is its ability to search for sold items.

No I wasn't, thanks. The Obj I bought did have a or best offer button so I offer about $25 lower and it was accepted instantly. It was about $200 US. Some jokers want $700+ for the 40x