a glossary of eBay terms...."RARE", etc...

Sirius Glass · Jun 15, 2010

eclarke said:
"Rare" means they weren't any good in the first place so not many were made and they were crappy and didn't hold up very well. On eBay it means the seller is desperate and really needs to hype his crap up...

A variation of this:

Rare ==> I have tried to sell it on eBay and no one bids. If I add the word and may be antique it might move. Otherwise I am out of a lot of money because I was stupid and paid too much for it in the first place. Please Buy It Now.

Poisson Du Jour · Jun 15, 2010

"Excellent condition, few cosmetic marks and scratches, viewfinder distorted, exposure meter appears to work (not tested it), broken flash and battery coverer [sic] missing."

It's high time bloody amateurs got their descriptions right on eBay. It is a joke reading through many pages. I reckon 99% of the time sellers of photographic equipment are in red hot pursuit of a dollar with a good prospect of overtaking it. They just do not know what they are talking about.

Rare in eBay terms is finding solid fact amongst a welter of fiction.

Perry Way · Jun 15, 2010

all this talk about rare is making me want to interject with "medium well, still juicy, please!"

srs5694 · Jun 15, 2010

I've seen a few Ukrainian-based auctions mention that the camera has been tested for radioactivity and is safe on that score, I guess in case you were wondering if the seller had scavenged it from Chernobyl. That would be a rare camera!

richard ide · Jun 15, 2010

Unsafe at any (film) speed. Can also be used as a cordless night light.

removed-user-1 · Jun 15, 2010

Personal favorite: "genuine" as in "genuine Nikon F100" (for example). Really? As opposed to a fake Nikon F100?

Sirius Glass · Jun 15, 2010

rthomas said:
Personal favorite: "genuine" as in "genuine Nikon F100" (for example). Really? As opposed to a fake Nikon F100?

But the Ruskies were good at making fake Leicas.

No, I take that back. the Ruskies were bad at making fake Leicas.

Take that you FED!

Michael W · Jun 15, 2010

I like descriptions along the lines of "the lens has some internal dust, cleaning marks & a bit of fungus but is otherwise spotless"
In other words, spotless except for all the spots.

Chazzy · Jun 16, 2010

goldie said:
I like descriptions along the lines of "the lens has some internal dust, cleaning marks & a bit of fungus but is otherwise spotless"
In other words, spotless except for all the spots.

The ones I like finish by saying that none of this will affect the pictures.

karthik · Jun 16, 2010

"Rare" = "Valuable", regardless of any other criteria. Like this Craigslist ad selling a roll of Plus-X 125 for $9. Look, it is not just rare - this roll expired in 1999. And Kodak does not make it any more. You've got to collect all of them.

benjiboy · Jun 16, 2010

srs5694 said:
I've seen a few Ukrainian-based auctions mention that the camera has been tested for radioactivity and is safe on that score, I guess in case you were wondering if the seller had scavenged it from Chernobyl. That would be a rare camera!

Comes complete with lead lined boxer shorts

zumbido · Jun 16, 2010

Ebay listings are mostly a joke, but one picky point: a lot of things were produced in the hundreds of thousands but are now rare, at least in a decent condition, for all sorts of reasons. Production numbers don't *necessarily* mean anything.

Wade D · Jun 17, 2010

I may be burned at the stake for saying this but I just started selling camera stuff on ebay. I don't embellish what I am trying to sell with glitzy terms though. Just an honest description of the item. Maybe I should be called "rare" in the world of selling.

alexmacphee · Jun 17, 2010

Chazzy said:
I must say that "minty" and "mint-" really drive me nuts (KEH is guilty of the latter). Why can't we use words like excellent, good, fair and poor?

That's such a good point. I remember when ads in my photo magazines from a few decades ago used adjectives like Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, and Excellent. Then at some point, everything became a degree of Excellent, with pluses and minuses. I saw something on eBay recently described as Excellent- whose shutter was broken. If it's broken, it can't be excellent.

To avoid confusion, we should have everything as a degree of Mint, where Mint++ is hardly used, Mint+ has a few signs of use, Mint had scratches and a few dings, all the way down to Mint--, where the lens is held together by fungus.

lxdude · Jun 17, 2010

eclarke said:
"Rare" means they weren't any good in the first place so not many were made and they were crappy and didn't hold up very well.

So it's the opposite of "well done".

clayne · Jun 17, 2010

On the plus side I have bought a few "excellent" items that were genuinely excellent in condition. I won't compete on eBay for the rare type nonsense so I rarely buy those.

alexmacphee · Jun 17, 2010

JBrunner said:
"Rare" can mean many things. On ebay it can generally be defined as a listing that is half baked.

My favourite instance of 'rare' was a listing for a Yashica FX-3 'in the rare black version'. Not only was the mass produced FX-3 anything but rare, but black was the only colour it came in.

hspluta · Jun 17, 2010

Chazzy said:
The ones I like finish by saying that none of this will affect the pictures.

What I found amazing is that after all these years of taking great care of my lenses, it turns out that scratches don't affect the picture quality. I mean PUHLEEZE people@!

zumbido · Jun 17, 2010

hspluta said:
What I found amazing is that after all these years of taking great care of my lenses, it turns out that scratches don't affect the picture quality. I mean PUHLEEZE people@!

Small scratches on the front element generally don't have any effect for 35mm--you'd have to make extreme enlargements to notice any aberration, and by that point the grain would drown it out. That's my personal experience, at least, supported by physics.

Of course if you're shooting into the sun, you might have some issues with flare depending on the precise nature of the scratches.

Ian Grant · Jun 17, 2010

I've bought a Used 75mm f8 Super Angulon from Italy to find it brand new in the box still with all the original packaging, and it was a bargain Buy it Now price as well

Ian

erikg · Jun 17, 2010

"Rare" = anything made in the FSU.

At least KEH defines their grades. Even if something doesn't seem to measure up they will take it back if you request it. It's caveat emptor on the bay.

bblhed · Jun 17, 2010

My personal favorites are items listed as "rare" with high prices right smack between identical items with $.99 bid prices.

"Minty" is another announce for me, I wonder if these people think that if Mint is good, Minty must be better. It makes me wonder if I purchased one of these Minty items would it eventually get moldy from the mint? Did they take some junk and rub mint on it so they could sell it as Minty? What would happen if I was to search for Minty Fresh Mouthwash and left off the word Mouthwash?

Yup, Some E-bay sellers are Silly, Rare and Minty.

clayne · Jun 17, 2010

"Minty" == "Don't buy from these people"

There are a few specific people on eBay who always use these type of descriptions and their prices are always a rip-off. GoKevinCameras and the various HK guys come to mind.

Rip-off.

dmr · Jun 18, 2010

You're spelling it incorrectly. It's properly spelled "R@RE".

Same with "L@@K".

Vonder · Jun 18, 2010

My latest favorite is "New", which to some people means "I shot a few dozen rolls with it and saved the box."

a glossary of eBay terms...."RARE", etc...

removed-user-1

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