eBay for Photo Gear

[F8&Bthere]

I have bought a ton of stuff off eBay for photography. Mostly accessories- small stuff. Some of it is terrible quality, but cheap and allowed me to experiment before investing larger amounts of money in something I'm not sure how much I'll use. Some of it is surprisingly good. I think there's still people out there, maybe even right in this forum, that have not discovered the good side of eBay. For example I bought a Sigma lens that came with a poorly designed lens cap. I also had a Nikon lens that came with the leather sock type of lens "cap" and I wanted something a little more solid in front of that lens. So I needed and 82mm cap and a 77mm cap, both preferably center pinch type. In the local shops they cost $25+ea. On eBay they were both under $4 including delivery, took a little over a week to get to me, and when I compare them to my official Nikon brand caps, even upon close inspection, I can't tell the difference. Filters are another category where the difference in prices can be huge.
Of course eBay isn't all roses- you have to be careful, learn some of the common danger signs, and read listings closely. I did get ripped off one time on a DSLR body, but luckily was reimbursed in full by Paypal. On the other hand, one of my highs was a like new factory refurb Pentax K10D body for US$399. I still can't get over how much camera that is for that price.
Anyone else have any eBay advice, habits, stories, tales of woe to share?

[Greg_Nuspel]

I have had excellent experiences with eBay, just make sure you read the description very thoroughly. I have made a few oops buys that were from my not reading the description. I wondered why it was so inexpensive. Don't buy anything that says it needs parts or repairs that are 'easy to get', most times that is why it is for sale. Some make adds that are very misleading by the photo posted but the description clearly states what is included or not. It is buyer be ware.

[F8&Bthere]

I hear ya....my biggest oops was doing a buy it now on a nikon 300mm/4 lens that I thought was a great deal on the current version (I thought if there was an older version of it, it would surely be manual focus- WRONG!) and of course after further checking I realized it was the predecessor, that the deal wasn't so hot at all, and that it was kinda outdated because of it's slow AF (not being AF-S). Well, turned out I managed to get a bit of a break on price and I actually like the lens - the slow AF doesn't seem to get in my way so far, for the kinds of things I've been shooting.

[kurtdriver]

I've had remarkably good success with ebay. I have bought three cameras through ebay, lenses, filters, and a couple other things. Every piece has been in very good condition and works quite nicely. Red flags for me are few or low quality photos, it is photography gear after all! Another is a Seller who doesn't specialize in photo gear, sometimes they write that they don't know how to tell if it works. That makes it a pig in a poke, and the price should reflect that. Same thing if they write that they didn't have batteries so they didn't determine if it works or not. I am not fond of wagering, so I give these guys a pass. And, frankly, I like to shop closer to home. There are very good ebay sellers in China, Nigeria, etc. but I give sellers in a lot of countries a wide berth. Buying film on ebay was a mistake, it was fresh and as described, but not really a bargain, I overpaid. I will be back there, often.

[F8&Bthere]

Gorillapod DSLR Zoom, rated up to 6.5 lbs
Store price in Canada= CA$59.95
eBay price delivered to my door= CA$13
As I've mentioned in numerous other threads- I'm all for supporting the local brick 'n' mortar, even if I pay more, but when they don't offer anything in return for the exponentially higher price (poor service, poor attitude, poor stocking/selection, no returns, very limited hours of operation, etc)...plus it's 60km each way (time and cost of fuel).....what's my motivation again?