Equipment from Craigslist

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Here's a question I have never seen asked:

Say you are buying, lets say a camera, from Craigslist. You think that you are getting a good deal, but you are not sure. The question is:

When you check the camera out, what should you be looking for? How do you know the camera is in good condition?

I figure if you find someone with a Canon XL, they probably took care of it, would I be right in thinking that?

A friend of mine wants to buy a prosumer camera, but as always, the money is an issue. I personally have seen what appear to be good deals on a Canon or two. I would be really pissed if I bought a camera that wouldn't function.

Any thoughts?

-- spinner :cool:
 
Spinner...I think that one of the important things to do is question the owner...if you hear any lies, don't buy. Things like, so why are you selling it? What did you use it for? How long have you owned it? Has it been secured in a case during travel? Has it ever been dropped? How many hours has it been used (depending on the camera, they should be able to give you an exact number...if not a good estimate)? Has it ever been broken or repaired? Do you have the box with it? The receipt from when you bought it? All the regular accessories?

If they don't fully answer the questions, don't buy it. If they pressure you into buying the camera, at least push them back enough to breath. If it's Craig's list, see the camera, bring either a deck or another camera with you. Shoot some video, and play back the tape on your deck or camera. Read the camera's operation manual before you go so you know the basics of how to operate it, and how to check the numbers such as drum time etc.

Someone who keeps the box and all the accessories GENERALLY is going to take care of the camera too. Someone who doesn't have anything but the camera and the battery attached to it SOMETIMES is a thief. Is the camera clean? Sure it may have been dirty before you came to see it, but at least there's a showing of some care if it's clean now.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you do everything you can to check up on the camera, and the seller (google the name, and the phone number, and the address, and any information that you can about the person selling it) and try it out, you'll PROBABLY be okay. If you do none of that, you might be okay too. I've heard that Craig's list has a lot of ripoffs for high end items. Never front the money on something that is insecure. Don't let them mail it too you later. Don't let them put it in "escrow" while they wait for the check to clear.

A long post short, don't take anything for granted, and investigate like you're doing a documentary, and you'll be okay.

Good luck!!

Chris
 
spinner said:
I figure if you find someone with a Canon XL, they probably took care of it, would I be right in thinking that?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, it may have been used as a crash camera, or used for shooting some "extreme" sport videos and dropped, or who knows what... knightly has a story about someone who bought one and the lens had been disassembled, and reassembled and glued back together with the elements reversed -- or something along those lines, been a while since he told me about it.

So, no, nice expensive camera does not automatically equate to its owner taking good care of it.
 
Just tell them you want to test it with your own tape. Spend 20 minutes using some features and play it back. That's less than an hour. craigslist should be safer than ebay since you get to inpect.

I went to buy a bike once, before craigslist, but locally, and the dude answered the door shirtless and in some mankini underwear or bathingsuit and tried to sell me a bike with no seat and just a pole. He said the seat was extra. Funny thing is, I bought the damn bike and seat to get out of there and made my getaway.
 
Mankini. Hehe. I love "The Soup". Joel is hilarious. :lol:

I've heard of several Craig's List scams, so I would definitely inspect before buying.
 
Oh yeah, then I locked it up on the street and someone stole the wheel, and I just left it there. :lol:
 
I am seeing Canon XLs for crazy low prices and even though there was one that I felt would not be a scam, everything was there, the camera looked good, but the price was so low it set off some red flags. I would definitely go check it out if I were planning on purchasing it.

A friend of mine wants to buy a prosumer camera but doesn't know much about them. I told him that I would help him learn to use it, but I know he's short on funds. I was thinking maybe Craigslist could be a possible alternative for him. I haven't said anything to him about CL yet. I didn't want to send him to a place where he would get a crap camera.

Thanks for the help...

-- spinner :cool:
 
I would imagine that there might some forums specifically dealing in camera geekdom (if that makes sense). Assuming these places exist, and I'm willing to wager they do, he might want to try and hunt one down that way.
 
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I just picked up a pair of skis, boots, and poles from Craigslist tonight.. everything is in really good condition.

There's definitely no reason that you couldn't find a legitimately great deal on pretty much anything, but just because something is expensive doesn't mean the owner treated it as such. ;)

Anybody selling a camera on CL should be willing to let a potential buyer do a quick demo before making the purchase, if not that's a good reason not to buy from them.
 
You know what, funny thing is, I usually just read around this forum but I had to post on this thread.

I just bought a dvx100b ($1600, 99 hours) from craigslist and its great, low hours too. But I made sure that if

I was getting a bad camera, I wrote up a little sales contract and stated everything he told me about the camera

such as its condition, the amount, initial/date/sign and all that good stuff so that in case he screwed me over I'd have proof when I bring him into a small claims court. Good right? Anyway just be sure to have a check list

of what to check for in the camera and have that sales contract so you can be safe. I hope this helps.
 
While I haven't ever purchased anything off Craigs, I know a LOT of people who put up ads and the majority of them do so to make a quick sale -- especially in big cities.

I also have a friend who actually purchases prosumer cameras... He uses:

CrazedList.org to perform mass searches...

When he finds a camera on his list, he sends the seller an email and always asks if they will take a lower price than listed and 75% of the time, they say, "Yes."

The interesting thing here is that they usually list the asking price at a really low price already... He just goes down the list of cameras in all the cities he's willing to drive to and sends off an email.

When they email him back, he replies back with his own list of questions and if everything comes back okay from that reply, he calls and makes an appointment to see the camera.

Point being is that most people seem to be willing to DEAL.

filmy
 
Agreed, often times I think a lot of stuff that gets listed online is put up for sale to make a quick sale, and get SOME money for un/under-utilized gear. Deals abound, but if you don't do the legwork to weed out the few scams that may be there, buyer beware. :)
 
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