Hey Steemers,
Today I was feeling like shvt. But in this shvt of a feeling there are some lessons to learn.
You see, I was in the market for a camera. I saw it as a good investment because:
- I sell goods online so it would be good to take crisp pics for my socials and product images.
- I make music so I could start making music videos.
- I plan to make some short films and do a little vlogging on @dtube
- I will dable in photography
- I wanted something dedicated to video and photography
- Last but not least, I wanted to take memorable pics with my family
Where it all went wrong
I've been looking for a camera for at least 2 months. I had no idea what I wanted and what was on the market. But after some research I realised I needed something small, powerful, with a flip screen for vlogging and something I could upgrade the lens on. I narrowed it down to the Canon EOS Kiss M ( known as the Kiss M50 in other countries).
I planned to buy it from Amazon or directly from an electronic store but then the cheap fever took over. I searched Mercari and found one for ¥65,700 ( USD $576.31). They usually cost around ¥100,000-¥120,000 with a lens kit.
The seller was definitely on a money milking spree as he had the double lens kit box but was only offering it with 1 lens. The smaller 15mm lens. I didn't mind as the price was good and I figured I'd buy a better lens later on. ( The seller was selling the bigger lens separately after they sold the camera to me.)
The next thing that should have raised a red flag was that the seller said the bar code was taken off the box. I asked a friend who is a seller what that was about and he said the seller probably bought the camera and got a cash back, posted it on Mercari and kept the barcode on the box as a guarantee. ( Incase a customer wanted a refund because of a defect and lost the box and warranty papers. ( Still not clear about that)
But I was still in cheap fever, so I bought it. They said it was new never used. I thought it would be better than buying an older used camera.
The seller switched the battery!!!!?
Then I realised the seller put a different battery in the box, not a genuine Canon battery. What a wanker. After checking the description, it actually said "with compatible battery". It was all in Japanese so I didn't understand it fully when I first pushed that buy button. It was cunningly worded for a person in "cheap fever"
I tried to stay positive. I thought, if it works, that would make it all worthwhile. I could buy a proper battery and use this crap as a back up.
The camera was looking and feeling good. But I felt fear taking over. "What if it doesn't work?".
I put the lens on, put in the "fake battery", and the "free shvt" SD card. ( yeah they tried to add value to their milking) clicked it on and it wouldn't work. FUUUUUUUUUjjjjjjj !!!! Ok.... then I thought maybe the battery isn't fully charged.
I charged it all night and SAME shvt. I contacted the seller and they said, "maybe you aren't putting in the battery right". SMH......... After some dialogue the seller gave me two options. (1.) They'll send a new genuine battery because that might be the problem. (2). Send the camera back , they'll check it and if it isn't working, they'll send a new one. So I went to the nearest camera shop, tested it with a genuine battery and same ole brick of high-tech shvt."
The lessons to learn from this story:
- Don't be cheap, spend on your investments freely.
- Don't rush into buying something because you really want it now.
- Do not let negativity take over.
- If it's too good to be true, it probably is.
What do you think of the situation?
Thanks for reading.
This is my favorite one
I am sorry about your bad experience. I never heard of that site before, and I sure wouldn't trust it for such a big purchase. With Amazon, I already know how things work and it's very rare to have problems.
When you say "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" I fully agree... and I can't help but thinking about the coincidence in the name of this camera and that ICO everyone has gone crazy about: EOS.
My feelings about that ICO are exactly that: If it's too good to be true, it probably is.
Also, since when does a Software Project need a budget of Billions of Dollars to get things done? What are they doing, building a liveable base on Mars and a Rocket to get there? That value the investors have thrown at that project is beyond absurd. It's obscene!!!
Anyway, my brother usually goes to Tokyo and buys all of his cameras on physical shops. Since you live in Japan, why don't you do the same?
Thanks for your comment , Mercari is like a flea-market site , it’s pretty big here. I figured it would be ok because usually people on the site don’t want a negative feedback or their reputation and sales would be finished. It’s actually a trust worthy platform but bad apples can be found everywhere !
EOS lol, I almost got caught up in that project but then I remembered Buffets rule: "Be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when everyone is being greedy". ( something like that )
lol
If they were even building that blockchain city in Nevada I’d understand lol.
Yeah I should have did the same but I really had faith in Mercari, I’m staying positive though:)
Posted using Partiko iOS
Oh no, dear friend... This is a really sad one, I feel for you... I actually thought you've made up your mind the Sony camera, it's a pretty cool one, right? Well, budget!!
The seller doesn't accept returns, he only accepts exchange? Oh man.... Well, sometimes we can't help but be a little bit cheap. Lol! Great lessons there though.
My own "extra" lesson will be, pay a little bit more attention to those little signs, don't ignore them....😀
I hope it does work out, really. Because I can't wait to see more photos of the twins and even videos of themmm😀
The sony was waaaay too expensive and didn't have a key feature i realized ( a selfie screen) I'd actually love to have both of them but yeah budgeting.
The seller does accept returns but the money would take around 30 days to get back to me so I thought let me try with another one. ( fingers crossed)
I should put that extra in the list and tag you :)
It will, I feel my negative energy and lack mentality brought this upon me, so I shall use my mind again to get out of it:)
Thanks
It will be cool to have the two, really. Well, maybe Sony should work on adding a selfie camera to it. I guess they are not aware how cool selfie is, lol! Don't they have other models that happen to have the selfie feature?
30days is a tad too long, i do hope the other way works!
That will be cool...😉
Glad you are using your mind to get through it, such crazy things do happen but I believe its nothing that can't be fixed!
PS: Yes I want to have them making their own show, not sure what they will be doing LOL
Hahahha! Well, it will all fall into place and the idea will shine. Actually, with kids, ideas might never work through, they will just do what they wanna do in front of the camera...😀 but it will still be cute, that I am sure of...