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Is this too good to be true?


Rick Garcia

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I found a posting on a local craigslist for this camera and the guy wants $500 for it. I emailed him and he replied with...

 

Hello,

 

I received numerous emails regarding this camera and I don't have the time to answer all one by one so I thought that replying with one email for all of you will save me some time.

First of all, you should know that my location now is United Kingdom. I had to come here with work.

It uses NTSC system which is specific for US, here the cameras work using PAL system.

The camera was used only a few times, it's just like new, in perfect condition.

Please do not ask me to call you because if it were to call you all I should stay all day long at the phone.

I'll pay for the shipping and I want to use a secure way to handle the transaction.

Still interested?

 

My question, is this a good deal? I replied back and said why are you selling this camera so cheap? He can sell it for almost double that.

 

My concern is that I all I have is the $500 right now for the camera and it would be my first "prosumer" camera.

 

Do this look suspect or should I give it a shot? If so what other questions could I ask to make sure this is a legit sale?

 

Please reply!!!

 

Thanks,

 

Rick

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I found a posting on a local craigslist for this camera and the guy wants $500 for it.

My question, is this a good deal? I replied back and said why are you selling this camera so cheap? He can sell it for almost double that.

My concern is that I all I have is the $500 right now for the camera and it would be my first "prosumer" camera.

Do this look suspect or should I give it a shot? If so what other questions could I ask to make sure this is a legit sale?

Rick - For starters, you didn't tell us which camera it is. But I wouldn't do it unless I had someone - a friend - on the ground to look it over for me, or if the seller would be willing to use some escrow service, so you could look it over on arrival, then release the funds to him.

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Escrow is probably the best. Paypal MIGHT cover you, might not. I've sent money overseas before and never gotten a product, sadly, so it can happen; though this has so far been the exception not the rule.

Also ask for a picture of the camera on today's newspaper, so you know he has it for real (i forget who suggested this, might've been Tim O'Connor, but it's a brilliant way of verifying they actually HAVE the product!)

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Rick - For starters, you didn't tell us which camera it is. But I wouldn't do it unless I had someone - a friend - on the ground to look it over for me, or if the seller would be willing to use some escrow service, so you could look it over on arrival, then release the funds to him.

 

It is a Canon XL1S...

 

I was thinking the same thing in regards to not being able to see it myself, as well as find some sort of "warranty" although most of these are sold "as is" I was thinking of paypal. How does paypal protect?

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I know for EBay it offers "buyer protection," but I am not certain whether this goes to ALL transactions through paypal or not; basically though it says if you send money and don't get your item, they can investigate/cancel the transaction. . .

actually on looking it states this:

 

 

Q What is PayPal Buyer Protection?

 

Question :

Answer :

A PayPal Buyer Protection provides purchase protection for buyers on eBay and helps buyers recover funds from eBay sellers who do not deliver the promised goods, or who deliver goods that are significantly not as described in the listing. PayPal Buyer Protection covers payments for tangible, physical goods that can be shipped. All other payments ? such as payments for intangibles, services, licenses, and other access to digital content ? are not covered.

 

Please review our PayPal Buyer Protection Policy to learn the specific terms and conditions.

 

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you could always try to get him to put it up for a buy-it-now auction on ebay, you get the address and go buy it through that? a bit back-asswards though

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It is a Canon XL1S...

 

I was thinking the same thing in regards to not being able to see it myself, as well as find some sort of "warranty" although most of these are sold "as is" I was thinking of paypal. How does paypal protect?

Go read at their website about the services they offer.

https://www.paypal.com/

 

Also, for $500, are you sure he's selling the lens also, or just the body? He may want to keep the lens to use on a PAL replacement.

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if you're shopping on craigslist, I hope you understand the way it was intended to work. It is basically free classifieds for your area. I don't know about you, but i would never buy something from someone thousands of miles away who posts their ad in my local listing.

 

this is most definitely a scam.

 

if you still aren't convinced of this, just tell the guy you are in. (he's going to tell everyone who is "in" the same thing... it's not like he actually intends to make good on the transaction, so he's going to sell his "camera" multiple times at once) once he learns you want the camera he will send you some instructions along with a lot of personal drama like "I'm only in the UK on business but..." or "I am here in the UK to put my beloved father to rest." Then he will get into the particulars "I have a client who owes me some money who is in your area, I will have him send you a Cashier's check for the amount he owes me. I will need you to cash the cashiers check (it's only $2500) and send me the $2500 dollars along with your payment. so i can ship the item (i have a shipping company who takes care of all my transactions.)

 

the idea is to have you cash a bogus check against your account and wire the bad money to another country. When the bank finds out the cashiers check is bogus, they come to you... not your new friend in the UK.

 

please just use Craigslist for local listings that you can check out before you buy, and meet the seller in person. It was never intended to be used in conjunction with Paypal. if you want that, go use Ebay.

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if you're shopping on craigslist, I hope you understand the way it was intended to work. It is basically free classifieds for your area. I don't know about you, but i would never buy something from someone thousands of miles away who posts their ad in my local listing.

 

this is most definitely a scam.

 

if you still aren't convinced of this, just tell the guy you are in. (he's going to tell everyone who is "in" the same thing... it's not like he actually intends to make good on the transaction, so he's going to sell his "camera" multiple times at once) once he learns you want the camera he will send you some instructions along with a lot of personal drama like "I'm only in the UK on business but..." or "I am here in the UK to put my beloved father to rest." Then he will get into the particulars "I have a client who owes me some money who is in your area, I will have him send you a Cashier's check for the amount he owes me. I will need you to cash the cashiers check (it's only $2500) and send me the $2500 dollars along with your payment. so i can ship the item (i have a shipping company who takes care of all my transactions.)

 

the idea is to have you cash a bogus check against your account and wire the bad money to another country. When the bank finds out the cashiers check is bogus, they come to you... not your new friend in the UK.

 

please just use Craigslist for local listings that you can check out before you buy, and meet the seller in person. It was never intended to be used in conjunction with Paypal. if you want that, go use Ebay.

 

thanks for the info. The red flag went up as soon as he said he was in the UK. I heard of people buying from other locations, I just wanted to see if anyone had that experience themself and the pros and cons of it.

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Did the guy post in your location of Craigslist?

And what is you geographical location?

Or did you do a Google search, and got a hit on his ad?

 

Yeah, he posted it in San Antonio. I usually check Austin and San Antonio's craiglist and when I did not see it posted in Austin I questioned it a little bit. I will keep looking. I read that the XL1S was a good camera to learn on with the manual control. Do you know of any other cameras that would be good to look into as far as learning in the same price range? I know that DV is not the future but its a start. I was interested in the HV20 but I read it lacks manual control.

 

Now this may seem like a funny question, but aside from the obvious term "manual control" what is it really mean and is it important to have that feature on the camera I purchase.

 

Is it too obvious that i'm new to this???

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To be fair it wouldn't be much of a stretch to post something like that to locations where there's a lot of filmmaking going on, but it certainly reeks of scam.

 

I'm based in the UK - you could suggest to this guy that I'm going to pick it up for you! :lol:

 

P

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To be fair it wouldn't be much of a stretch to post something like that to locations where there's a lot of filmmaking going on, but it certainly reeks of scam.

 

I'm based in the UK - you could suggest to this guy that I'm going to pick it up for you! :lol:

 

P

 

that would be a great idea. I could only imagine what he would say next.

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  • 7 months later...

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