AnakChan Posted June 1, 2011 Share #1 Â Posted June 1, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi all, Â I've been a Leica M6/M7 user for the past 10 years or so and was very keen on buying the M9 when it first came out 2 years ago. I still haven't bitten the bullet yet although I've been actively keeping an eye for the "M9 bargain" on eBay. Â Finally, there's an opportunity to buy a 2nd hand one for approx USD$5350. Actually I did bid for it but lost out for the bid. However seems the winner has pulled out so I've been given a 2nd chance. Â NEW Leica M9 18MPX FF Digital Rangefinder Camera Black on eBay (end time 25-May-11 09:29:03 BST) Â As you can see from the link the seller has only 2 rating but description looks pretty reasonable :- Â "Brand new Leica M9 Digital Camera Body in black. Comes with case,international warranty card,receipt. Camera was bought by my husband before 2 months ago online. Before week ago he was injured in car accident and now i need cash urgent! Grab a bargain - no reserve price,low starting price. If you have any questions i will try to answer them as soon as i can. Good luck!" Â So this thread is gonna be a "should I buy" based on the following factors :- Â * buy from someone who has only 2 feedback in eBay * buy an M9 online in general in light of misc issues with the M9 (chances are small but significant enough that warranty will need to be used) Â I'm naturally aware eventually it's up to me on whatever risks I'm prepared to take, but "if you have this awesome offer, based on the information above, would you take advantage of it?". Â Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 1, 2011 Posted June 1, 2011 Hi AnakChan, Take a look here Another "should I buy" question. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
bill Posted June 1, 2011 Share #2 Â Posted June 1, 2011 Sean, I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot barge pole. Two feedbacks, one selling, one buying, a suspect story about an accident... Â No. Keep your money in your pocket. If something sounds too good to be true... Â Regards, Â Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
prk60091 Posted June 1, 2011 Share #3 Â Posted June 1, 2011 I agree with bill. This sounds like a well known eBay scam. If you buy it you will never see your money agaun and you will never get the camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted June 1, 2011 Share #4 Â Posted June 1, 2011 The M9 is a fine camera, but I would be wary of finding a bargain on eBay. My feeling is that eBay is great for sellers, but offers very few bargains for buyers. It is just the nature of the bidding process in such a market. Â This seller actually only has one feedback as a seller, and one feedback as a buyer. And one of those is from today. It may be completely legitimate, but that is way too little feedback (for me). Also, be extremely careful with any "second chance" offers. Â Edited to add: I agree with bill. Suspicious accident story. Too many alarm bells here! Also, strange that the photos show a leather case, but there's no mention of it in the text. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Valdemar Posted June 1, 2011 Share #5 Â Posted June 1, 2011 Fraud. Everything about it is wrong. Â Listing has too much cut and paste nonsense. Bulgaria. Accident nonsense story. Photos too slick. Â I suppose they want you to make the deal off eBay and use some money transfer other than PayPal? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gib_robinson Posted June 1, 2011 Share #6  Posted June 1, 2011 Sean, I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot barge pole. Two feedbacks, one selling, one buying, a suspect story about an accident...  No. Keep your money in your pocket. If something sounds too good to be true...  Regards,  Bill  +1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 1, 2011 Share #7 Â Posted June 1, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Buy - if he provides the airline ticket to Nigeria to collect the camera....Btw, "bidding has ended... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnakChan Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share #8 Â Posted June 1, 2011 Buy - if he provides the airline ticket to Nigeria to collect the camera....Btw, "bidding has ended... Oh yes, sorry I posted the link to the bid last week, not to the "Second Chance" link I got today. Â Seems the consensus here is a "No". That's fair enough - at times I need others to provide a more objective opinion since naturally I've probably gotten all hyped up about this opportunity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted June 1, 2011 Share #9 Â Posted June 1, 2011 This COULD be genuine, simply because they are taking paypal (the usual ploy is to get you to send the money by bank transfer) but the rest of it also rings alarm bells - the low price, 2nd chance (why didn't the winning bidder complete on such a bargain?), and the story about selling it. Â Perhaps ask for the serial number first then call Leica to ask if the camera is stolen or already registered. Â If that's OK then I'd use some of the savings to fly to Bulgaria and collect it in person, sending the seller the money by paypal when you're there and the camera is in your hands! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnakChan Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share #10 Â Posted June 1, 2011 That's very good advice earleygallery. I've done just that - asked the seller if they have the serial number. Â Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 1, 2011 Share #11 Â Posted June 1, 2011 Well, if you are looking for a bargain, there is a very nice looking used one from the UK with a 433 deals 100% rating... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnakChan Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share #12 Â Posted June 1, 2011 The one with the M9 and Leica Camera/Made in Germany white paint removed? I've got that on my watch list too . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyb Posted June 1, 2011 Share #13 Â Posted June 1, 2011 I would never ever buy an M9 from ebay from a private reseller. A bargain such as this one is too good to be true (as already mentioned)... Paypal is no guarantee. There are many horror stories about this... Â Andreas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbengtson Posted June 1, 2011 Share #14 Â Posted June 1, 2011 there are many scams related to second chance offers. some are counterfeit. ebay has warned about these and has information posted somewhere in their security forums about how to tell a genuine one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Valdemar Posted June 1, 2011 Share #15 Â Posted June 1, 2011 How did he ask you to pay when he sent the "Second Chance Offer"? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted June 1, 2011 Share #16 Â Posted June 1, 2011 there are many scams related to second chance offers. some are counterfeit. ebay has warned about these and has information posted somewhere in their security forums about how to tell a genuine one. Â +1 for that. And for the above question about method of payment. You have to be 100% certain that the 2nd chance offer comes via a genuine email directly from ebay, and that the links in the email lead to a genuine ebay web page. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted June 1, 2011 Share #17  Posted June 1, 2011 Sounds fishy - even without experience with usual scams.  Would you seriously share a story as this with potential buyers in a sale of such item? There are no too good to be true deals to be had for high ticket items as a M9.  The lowest second hand M9, I have been watching so far was offered in the same price range. It has been a beaten 2 year old camera though.  Be careful, trying to save every penny on a second hand M9 is asking quite a risk. I would rather buy a real half year used camera from an amateur, who is selling off M gear, as to switch back to SLRs with 500 − 1000 EUR off ticket price and warranty transfer than risking all money gone for a potential 1000 EUR better bargain.  If a really cheap (take this in perspective please) digital M is, what you are after, just pick up a warrantied second hand M8, keep using film and mix in the M8 for immediacy - prices are rather firm and way more affordable than M9 prices.   EDIT: Just had a closer look at the auctions images.  The camera in the pictures is actually a quite heavily brassed sample - look at the pictures, what you see are no reflections! My M8.2 took a bit under a year, to look like that, but it is a daily user and reported to have a much softer paint job than the M9 BP!  Also, there is no mentions in the text about the expensive goodies, that are imaged together with the camera whatsoever. If i would be the wife of said insured man, would have taken the pictures for the auction even with the packaging for the extras neatly aligned for the shot, I better would mention about them in the auction text (these are no 2.50 USD goodies).  Definitely scam! Hands off or trouble!  I am seriously surprised, how such things are still possible these days. I mean eBay is locking accounts of legitimate users based on IP addresses (me, German citizen, living in China with old German eBay account), making it a mess to deal with them, but such activities slip through?  A good reason for me, to stay off that site and deal with proper resellers and confirmed classified users on LUF and RFF (much nicer deals anyway). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnakChan Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share #18 Â Posted June 1, 2011 How did he ask you to pay when he sent the "Second Chance Offer"? Paypal. Seller cannot give me serial for security reasons but can give me more photos of the camera. I've asked the seller to print a copy of my eBay mail/message and take a picture of the camera with the letter next to it so that at least I can confirm that the seller has the product in his/her hands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiwing Posted June 1, 2011 Share #19  Posted June 1, 2011 I know my suggestion sounds stupid. But would it be better to buy from some reliable camera shops? This link has given me some good advice: Leica FAQ — Where to buy online Have a look. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnakChan Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share #20 Â Posted June 2, 2011 Hi kaiwing, Â Cheers for the response. Actually not a stupid suggestion at all. I've been checking prices from real stores too (since I'll be travelling to these places in the next 2-3 weeks) :- Â Japan (no pre-GST option) - New: USD$8100 - 2nd hand (1 month warranty/refund): USD$6600 Â Hong Kong - New: USD$7070 Â Australia (hopefully I can get pre-GST as a traveller) - New: USD$7013 Â So the difference from the eBay price is USD$1500. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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