scott kirkpatrick
Well-known member
I recently won an EBay auction for a clean looking APO Summicron M 50 for an attractive price (below $5000). The listing showed the lens, its original box, the silk-lined jewel case that the lens comes in, its lens case, and caps. But the seller either didn't really have the lens, or just wanted my money without having to deliver a lens. I'm getting my money back, but will describe the warning signs for the benefit of the next person to see it. The first sign of a problem was that after the auction closed, the seller's agent ("the man in the middle") explained that his "partner in Sydney, Australia" couldn't ship the lens until the money cleared and reached him. But EBay has rules to escrow the funds to prevent this exposure. So My payment was refunded, and I was presented with an PayPal invoice to pay instead ("for quicker payment"), which had the effect of moving the transaction out of EBay's scrutiny. In the mean time, the seller had generated several "purchase has been shipped" forms, each of which said that there was no shipping company and no tracking data. That didn't fool PayPal, I guess, because the second transaction was blocked and my funds refunded again. At this point, the seller gave up, claiming that his "partner" was no longer responding to his emails. If anyone sees this package being offered again on EBay, please let me know and I will report it. The pictures could also have been stolen from some earlier sale. Does anyone recognize this?
scott
scott