Digital BW, The Print

I've bought a couple of cameras on ebay.

While buying can be a leap of faith, I only bid on cameras after talking wi=
th the seller 
by phone.

I asked the sellers how they purchased the camera and how they had used it.=
 If they 
were not photo enthusiasts or an established and reputable dealer, I didn't=
 bid.

By determining that the seller was very familiar with the camera, I believe=
d they 
actually had one for sale. Once, I checked the reverse telephone directory =
at Verizon 
to determine that the phone number was listed by the seller and  I also wro=
te down 
his mailing address. This helped satisfy me that I knew who he was and wher=
e to find 
him if necessary.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "maggieradlick" 
<pradlick@p...> wrote:
> Hi All, I too have purchased many things for my photography habit 
> from ebay quite successfully.  However, early in the game I was a 
> victim of a fraud for about $1000 involving my attempt to purchase a 
> camera from what appeared to be a very well respected long time 
> seller.  That seller had his ebay account hacked into by an 
> international ring of thieves.  They used his reputation and id for 
> support and I was asked to wire them the money via a wire service.  
> Thinking them to be legitimate I complied.  They took the money and I 
> never got the camera.  Later I found an item on ebay telling us all 
> not to purchase this kind of camera this way because of the fraud 
> potential.  It did not prevent me from continuing to buy on ebay…it 
> just made me very cautious about each transaction. 
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks to all for your posts in general.   Your generosity with your 
> knowledge is most appreciated by one who is just now learning how to 
> work with black and white digitally to produce fine images.
> 
>  
> 
> Phil Radlick
>