>>3287155It usually has gone well. I've never gotten flat-out scammed, but I have had some annoyances due to the seller not disclosing everything. There are a lot of people who take great care of their gear who will humbly under-rate its condition, and there are a lot of people who know their gear has flaws who will deliberately conceal those issues. You can weed out who is who by asking questions, but unfortunately, learning all of the questions that need to be asked is bit of a trial and error process.
>Some pointers:-If there's an angle of the lens you can't see, assume there is damage there.
-Dirty rubber zoom rings can usually be cleaned up to new condition, but if the seller lists a lens for sale with dirty rubber, then it might drive away other buyers, letting you get a good deal.
-Auctions where the photos only show the lens with caps on are usually made by people who don't care about the condition of the glass. That doesn't necessarily mean scratches, but it usually means they are too stupid to clean their lens and take a clear picture of it.
-Auctions made by a new user without a single photo of the lens are usually best avoided, but don't always mean it's scammer. Sometimes, it's just a photographer switching systems for the one time in his life who is not into ebaying (yes, they exist).
-"Too good to be true" = it is.
-Sellers never bother to disclose zoom creep, so remember to ask about it.
-Sellers don't always disclose shutter counts on bodies, but if you send them some easy to follow directions, they can usually figure it out for you.
-A lot of sellers don't seem to understand that even though a rub mark on the front element from their incompetent attempt at cleaning is not technically a scratch, it still needs to be disclosed.
-Disregard all descriptions/ratings and just look at the photos. Sellers lie and make up condition ratings constantly. If [EX+++++] is only "very good," then [EX] is often "ugly."
-Return policies are important.
