| The e-Bay telescope |
|
Introduction If you spend any time browsing astronomy related message boards/forums you will quickly become aware of the appalling reputation that 'e-Bay telescopes' have among the astronomical community. You will see repeated warnings and recurring comments along the lines, NEVER buy a telescope from e-Bay... Having seen the pleas from disappointed buyers on these message boards we make no apologies for the tone of this article. The obvious question that arises is whether this reputation is deserved or not. We would have to start this article by saying that sadly thanks to the actions of certain vendors and private individuals over the years - Yes it is very much deserved! However, there are on occasions some real gems to be had from private sellers and a small number of genuine vendors who do care about their reputation, know exactly what it is they are selling and above all care about customer satisfaction. Unfortunately to find these you have to sift though an ever increasing number of those who are little better than scammers, and at best are selling cheap rubbish, made worse by recent changes in the way e-Bay listings work. Changes which it appears have already been largely reversed in the US for that very reason. Even if you know little or nothing about telescopes you can still sort most of the wheat from the chaff and this article is intended to help you do so. However if you are determined to go it alone then don't read any further. As the saying goes, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink". What to look for and what to avoid Feedback
- Always make a point of
checking a seller's feedback score before placing a bid. However, whilst
this is a useful tool it should be treated with extreme caution!
Unscrupulous sellers often use the threat of retaliatory 'negative feedback'
to cheat the system. Ideally you are looking for sellers with 100+ feedback
score that is 100% positive. We know everyone has to start somewhere but if you are buying a telescope avoid sellers with 0 or very low feedback. And never buy a telescope that appears on a 1 day listing from one of these sellers - AVOID The vast majority of e-Bay scams involve sellers with 0 feedback, who have only been registered a few days and sell on 1 day listings. Misleading advertisements - Make no mistake you will not find a PROFESSIONAL telescope on e-Bay! At least not at a price any beginner would be willing to pay... Here are a couple of examples we found from just a quick glace through the listings; Professional 76x700 mm Telescope and Professional reflector telescope Even the uninitiated should be aware that professional telescopes are generally huge and sit on top of mountains. Trust us on this - you wouldn't even be able to afford the postage! So when you see the word PROFESSIONAL in an advertisement the item you received would be anything but. Indeed it is highly unlikely to be a good amateur telescope and will probably be little better than a toy - AVOID Inevitably that old chestnut magnification rears its ugly head, myself and most of the astronomical community have been banging this drum for decades and STILL people fall for it. Below is an excerpt of an e-Bay listing for a 114mm scope, from a reputable seller:
Have you
ever seen a 76mm reflector telescope advertised with almost 300x? Or a
beautiful 60mm refractor magnifying over 500x? Yes? Reality is that you can do just about any magnification with any telescope. The only problem is that this just doesn't make any sense. There is a rule of thumb among amateur astronomers which states that you can go up to 50x per inch of free aperture - further magnification just makes the image seem dimmer and flimsy without revealing any more detail! Expect any 60mm refractor to perform well up to about 120x, and any 76mm reflector up to around 115x. A 114mm Newtonian like this one will do 180x or a little more. Forget anything promising higher powers! This is absolutely independent of the brand name because it's physics that's in the way.
It is honest and sticks to the facts - WORTH CONSIDERING
Compare this with the excerpt below; another e-Bay seller's listing for a 76mm scope.
In combination with the enormous, up to 450-times, magnification you receive
a sensational high resolution, which marks the border line to professional
observing. The fact is that a 76mm telescope will be totally unusable at 450x magnification! Two possibilities here - either the second seller doesn't know, understand or care what they are selling or they are deliberately trying to mislead potential customers. Note also the use the word 'professional' again - AVOID Another word to look out for is GENUINE often followed by some obscure name that you only ever come across on e-Bay. Meade, Celestron, Orion or any other reputable manufacturers do not advertise their telescopes as 'Genuine'. The only reason we can see for its use in these listings is to entice the uninitiated into thinking they are getting something 'special' which having looked at them we can guarantee you won't be! - AVOID The only reason for the use of misleading, exaggerated or false claims is to misrepresent what is being sold to those who are new to the hobby. Experienced observers will already recognise the signs and would avoid these sellers. We hope after reading this article many newcomers will also do the same. Everyone has to start somewhere and not everyone can afford premium quality expensive equipment... BUT, they should at least be told honestly what they are getting and in particular what that equipment is and isn't capable of. If a seller can't even be honest about what they are selling, can they be trusted to deal with problems professionally when something goes wrong? I know nothing about telescopes, but - listings that include phrases like I know nothing about telescopes or I know nothing about this instrument as I'm selling it for great uncle Ted should be treated with extreme caution, particularly if the deal seems too good to be true - in which case it probably is! If the seller knows nothing about telescopes or the item they are selling then how can they possibly attest to either its quality or condition? Stop and think about this; they want YOU to part with your hard earned cash, so the very least they can do is spend a few minutes on Google and FIND OUT about the item they are selling, and include some decent quality images so you can at least see if the item has been treated kindly. If they can't be bothered to put in a bit of effort - DON'T BID On the other side of the coin they could know EXACTLY what it is they are selling and that it is a complete lemon! If you have the slightest doubt then - AVOID |
|
If you have questions/comments regarding this article please e-mail them to admin @ seeviewo.org |