Camera Deals

Chase Ultimate Rewards members: Canon D-Rebel T3i auctions on Nov 8

If you are a member of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, and your account has accumulated enough points, on Tuesday November 8, at the Chase Ultimate Rewards website, there will be 12 auctions for Canon Digital Rebel T3i kits. You bid using the available balance of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points. You do not bid with cash or credit. The person with the highest bid when each auction closes will get the camera. I do not know what bid ranges to expect. The cameras will be fulfilled by Best Buy.

To make sure it is clear: This is not a buy with money promotion. This promotion is available only to existing Chase Ultimate Rewards members that have accumulated enough points to have a reasonable chance of winning these auctions.

Speaking of Chase Ultimate Rewards, only on Monday November 28, 2011 (Cyber Monday), you can get a 25% discount on merchandise redemptions using your existing Rewards points. More on this at our previous post.

Big estate auction of old old cameras on November 19

If you are a fan of old analog cameras, there is a big estate auction taking place on November 19, 2011 at Fuller's Fine Art Auctions, it is the Kaprelian Camera Collection. Lots of Leica gear (eg Leica III*) towards the bottom of the page (via @Voxphoto).

eBay sellers: sell an item, get $10 gift certificate (by invitation)

If you are a registered eBay member, check your emails or your eBay Inbox! eBay is having a promotion where if you list and successfully sell an item between August-10 and September-10, 2011, you will receive a $10 eBay gift certificate. Only invited registered eBay users who receive the promotional offer from eBay are eligible for this offer! Only Auction-style formats eligible. Check the eBay message for all the details, terms and conditions of this offer.

eBay auctions from photographers: Ryan Brenizer (70-200/2.8, 35/1.8, LX3K, etc)

If you feel more comfortable buying used camera gear on eBay from other photographers, Ryan Brenizer has listed five items on eBay as eBay auctions, with no reserve:

+ Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR - the original, not the mark II
+ Nikon 35mm f1.8G
+ Nikon 135mm f2D DC
+ Panasoinc LX3K (black)
+ Lensbaby Control Freak For Nikon
+ check the above individual listings for details on each product's condition
+ auctions close on August-9-2011 in the afternoon (actual closing times vary slightly)
+ more details on his blog

(CLOSED) Used Olympus E-1 auction ends at 1:30pm EST ($213 as of 12:10pm)

The auction listing has ended with the camera sold for $232~! Original post after the jump...

eBay sellers (US, Canada): No insertion fees on auction style listings (Sept-28, 2010 to Jan-7, 2011)

If you are an eBay seller, eBay is having a new free insertion listing promotion going live tomorrow, that is good from September 28, 2010 until January 7, 2011. During this period, insertion fees are waived for auction-style listings (regardless of auction starting price) on eBay US and Canada along with eBay Motors. There are limitations - up to 100 listings per person, and "no reserve" on the auction. They also have some other requirements and prerequisites, so be sure to read through the terms and conditions of this promotion.

Listing fees are only one of the various "feeBays", so be sure to factor that in your prices, but at least in this case, you only pay fees if your item sells or if you select any listing extras.

Unrelated, there are some upcoming changes in the US tax law that may affect people who sell a lot of items on eBay - changes that require record-keeping and form-filing with the IRS if you reach a certain threshold of transactions/revenue. Be sure to research them and get proper accounting/legal/tax advice as there seems to be plenty of confusion about these on the internets. We do not provide accounting/tax/legal advice!

New fees for sellers on eBay go live on March 30

A new fee structure for eBay sellers will go live on March 30 says the auction-o-sphere. You can see some details and discussion at Auction Bytes, Silicon Alley Insider and more.

There are also some buyer-side changes effective immediately, the eBay Buyer protection is expanding.

Alert: Fake LensRentals listings on eBay

The official LensRentals.com blog has issued an alert - someone is creating fake listings on eBay by copying everything from the LensRentals.com website and pretending to be them. If you see any such listings on eBay, do not bid or buy since they do not come from LensRentals.com. For bonus karma points, report them to eBay or bring them to the attention of LensRentals.com.

eBay uses the carrot to encourage sellers to improve customer-service

eBay has revealed a new round of changes for sellers today, says Web Pro News. The latest changes are designed to reward sellers who get a high-rating from buyers in the Customer Service category.

The theory is that by offering the sellers financial and promotional incentives, more sellers will be "encouraged" to improve the way they treat their buyers.

Discussion follows in the WebProNews article...

First signs of change at eBay? Five free listings per month (for sellers)

After a series of unfortunate, or not well-thought-out decisions, it seems like they hired someone with an advanced brain at eBay, because now they have launched a new promotion to bring sellers back into the fold. If you are a registered eBay member, you may have received this email in your inbox:

"Starting June 16: Every 30 days, your first 5 Auction-style listings will have NO Insertion Fees when you list with eBay's Sell Your Item form or Simple listing form--regardless of your start price.

The first 5 listings with no Insertion Fees will have a Final Value Fee of 8.75% of the sales price or $20, whichever is lower. Additional items sold during the same 30-day period will have the same Insertion Fees and Final Value Fees as they do today.

If you are currently using an eBay tool or third-party listing solution, you can either list your first 5 Auction-style listings with the new pricing structure through eBay's Sell Your Item form or Simple listing form or continue with your current practices at the current pricing-whichever option works best for you."

Selling your gear on eBay? Let us know!

We just launched an experimental feature, spotlighting reader listings on eBay. This is a just-launched experiment, and it will evolve over time!

Winning eBay strategies by Ken Rockwell

Ken Rockwell has posted a long post on winning eBay strategies.

We also have to add that you can use the "Best Offer" feature (if enabled by the seller) on items with Buy-It-Now. On some items, you can have a mini-negotiation, as they allow up to 3 best-offers per listing. So you essentially turn the tables - from you facing an item you want and a price that's too high, to the seller facing an offer to buy the item right away and a price that's lower than ideal. "Best Offer" is actually good for both buyers and sellers as it can help sell stuff that would have otherwise gone unsold.

One note though, if you are a seller, don't be offended or upset if someone makes a silly-low "best offer". Just ignore it - some people think they can win the eBay-lottery :-)

Calumet Clearance Center on eBay

If you like chasing bargains and know how to get good deals on eBay, then we have a temptation for you: The Calumet Clearance Center on eBay offering 230 listings at the moment featuring gear big and small, from books to Hasselblad and Sinar digital backs! Some are traditional auction-style listings, others also have the Buy-It-Now option enabled, and things like that. The store's feedback is 8488 (99.7%) and they have PowerSeller status.