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Thread: Good Deal?

  1. #1

    Good Deal?

    I've been offered a second chance deal on ebay for a lens I was trying to snipe on the cheap.
    I don't think I can go wrong for the price, but I thought I'd ask for opinions.

    It's a Calumet Caltar-S II, 8-1/4", 210mm, mounted in a Toyo lens board (which I don't need).
    I'm figuring the Toyo board would sell for a little at least and the lens will be net to me for not much more than $100.
    It is listed as excellent condition.

    Any thoughts?

  2. #2
    Jon Shiu's Avatar
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    Re: Good Deal?

    Are there good pictures posted? Is the seller knowledgeable and reliable? What is the return policy?

    Jon
    my black and white photos of the Mendocino Coast: jonshiu.zenfolio.com

  3. #3
    Robert Oliver Robert Oliver's Avatar
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    Re: Good Deal?

    a lot of second chance deals from ebay are scams.... beware.

    make sure the second chance deal is made from within EBAY, visible in your EBAY messages.
    Robert Oliver

  4. #4

    Re: Good Deal?

    Only about 80 feedback for the seller, but all good.
    Returns accepted if not as described.
    I'm waiting for pictures (a stock picture was used).

  5. #5

    Re: Good Deal?

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Oliver View Post
    a lot of second chance deals from ebay are scams.... beware.

    make sure the second chance deal is made from within EBAY, visible in your EBAY messages.
    Thanks,
    I hadn't thought of that, but yes, the message is from within ebay.

  6. #6
    multiplex
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    Re: Good Deal?

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Oliver View Post
    a lot of second chance deals from ebay are scams.... beware.

    make sure the second chance deal is made from within EBAY, visible in your EBAY messages.

    exactly

    i wouldn't touch it with a 10foot pole ..
    buying from a dealer is always better than eboo,
    unless it is a known quanitity, like dagor77.

  7. #7

    Join Date
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    Re: Good Deal?

    easy to solve: just write the seller and ask, whether he gave you this offer...

    I've had these offers several times, and only one was legit..

  8. #8
    Wayne venchka's Avatar
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    Re: Good Deal?

    Verify the second chance deal with the seller. Second chance offers: One more reason I swore off ebay.

    Yesterday there was a perfectly good 203mm Kodak Ektar for $200 right here. Takes a lot of the worry out of dealing with unknown products on ebay.

    Every indication that the Ektar is still available.
    Last edited by venchka; 17-Jan-2009 at 20:00.
    Wayne
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  9. #9

    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Hmmmm... definitely contact seller

    The things on this listing that bother me:

    Last feedback 2 1/2 years ago.
    Only 2 listings as a seller. All the rest as a buyer.
    Can't gauge types of auctions, since feedback is fairly old.
    Two negative feedbacks out of 80 trans.... translates to 96/97% positive

    OTOH

    The lens is made by Rodenstock and if the lens condition/coatings are good, it's worth the price. However, shorter lenses than 210 seem to be worth more. The shutter is an unknown, since the seller seems not to know much about it.

    Remember that fraud on ebay is often perpetrated by finding accounts that are inactive and hacking them. That's where noticing that the time since the last feedback comes into play. This account seems to have been a relatively active BUYER account and then went inactive about 2.5 years ago. ?????????

    I always check original date of membership, recency and consistent patterns of feedback activity, and ratio of buy vs sell activity.

    If I wanted this lens, I'd probably contact the seller and pose all those questions. Nothing wrong with that. The worst you can do is piss off a questionable deal or scare off a scammer. You can't get any bad feedback out of it if the auction is not closed and the transaction completed.

  10. #10

    Join Date
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    Re: Good Deal?

    minor point...the Caltar S-Ii is well known to be a Schneider Symmar-S. Not Rodenstock


    I would not take the second chance offer - on this or any. Very likely a scam.

    Besideds, you can do better.
    Last edited by BradS; 17-Jan-2009 at 19:49. Reason: typo

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