Camera, Ebay & Paranoia?

[Mopnglo]

I really need a new camera and I'm having a hell of a time getting one to do the job. I purchased one that I thought would be okay and it turned out to be a piece of crap. After seeing the tread about the Nikon Coolpix 4800 I decided that was the one I'll get (unless someone can tell me of another that is better/just as good) The main use of this camera is for taking pictures of my beads. I really don't want to spend more than $300 and I can't find the said Nikon locally. In searching ebay I found this... Nikon (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=160126720613&rd=1&rd=1) but after reading the other thread about ebay scams, now I'm paranoid. Has anyone bought from this seller and does this look like a good deal?

[Emily]

I'm no camera expert, but when I was reading up on cameras, I know there were a lot of good things said generally about the macro capabilities on Nikons. (It was a while ago, so I didn't read anything specifically about this model.)

About this seller -- do you know about toolhaus.org? It's a website that makes it easy to check out the negative feedback on an ebay seller. You just type in the seller's name and it gives you all the negatives and neutrals, so you don't have to sort through pages and pages. It will also show you any feedback that's been retracted. Very useful! (I tried to punch in the seller for the auction you linked, but the site's loading really slowly right now. You might want to give it a try later -- the problem might be my server, too.)

[Tanja]

I just found one at www.trusteddealer.com for $199. It says it's new. You might want to check that out. I tried to figure how to do a link for you but I'm not that savvy.:wave:

[Emily]

Here's what resellerratings.com has to say about trusteddealer.com -- on a scale of 1 to 10, it's 0.26 (yes, that's less than 1). Even taking into account the fact that dissatisfied customers are more likely to provide ratings than satisfied customers, I'd take that as a bad sign.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Trusted_Dealer

If you're willing to consider a used camera, here's a "like new" Nikon 4800 from an established company for $149. 60 day warranty, which is probably around what you'd get with a refurbished camera. (If that one's sold and they don't have another one you're interested in, go to the home page at www.keh.com and look under "in transit inventory," which shows you what they're getting in the near future. I've been haunting the site for a month, looking for a Fuji to replace the one I drowned.)

http://www.keh.com/OnLineStore/ProductList.aspx?Mode=Digital&item=20&ActivateTOC2=&ID=12&BC=DN&BCC=3&CC=5&CCC=1&BCL=&GBC=&GCC=

Here's keh's definition of what their "like new" category means: "Like New" Perfect. Includes original box and instructions and any manufacturer provided accessories.

[Tanja]

thanks for that link Emily, I'm going to check out Circuit City because I found a camera on their web site I really like.

[Mopnglo]

Emily thank you so much for the info. I did not know about the toolhaus site, that makes it much easier.

I decided to go with the Canon Powershot s3IS as I could not find the nikon locally and decided if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.