Any one used the Canon outlet shop on Ebay?

[Rabbi of Caerbannog]

Was having a look round on ebay as am thinking of taking the plunge on a DSLR camera and came across this ebay shop.

Any one used them, do they look OK and are they actually Canon?

Thanks
Rabbi

[Radiohead]

I think fountainhead had a bit of a shocker with a 5D...what is it you're buying and how much?

[sideshowbob]

They're not beyond shipping unrepaired / unchecked cameras and printers out (which you then have to get repaired yourself). They also seems to attract dubious bidders which pay over the odds for the same item time and time again, and seem to receive feedback - there was one seller that had notched up about £25k of 5Ds from what I could see (I guess these buyers might be Canon Outlet bidding up items to outbid less favoured buyers or for other reasons).

I'd give them a wide berth if I was after Canon kit.

[boogieben2]

The one I had from them was fine (albiet not a DSLR), and when it did go wrong (beer and camera lenses do not mix) they fixed it free of charge with minimal effort and very quickly.

Did find I had to use an auction that ended in the middle of the night to get a good deal tho!

[Sprout Crumble]

The company that run this, Digital River, now run the store on Canons own website as well.

Bought a mispriced TC80 timer from them for £53 and they honoured it but the price was corrected el rapido to £100.

I have mixed feelings. The support is okay and the items are good but something definitely not right about the bidding

[fountainhead]

I've bought 3 items from them two have had to go for repair but if you manage to get them at the right price it's worth the effort but just lately people are paying well over the odds.

[thetope]

bought my 350d from them... it was pristine and no problems so far, touch wood!

[Malabbey]

I'm looking for a camera for the wife for Chrimbo and had a look at the Canon outlet on eBay. As mentioned already, there doesn't seem to be any bargains around just now. For instance, there's a 350D + lens with 21 hours to go sitting at £410. Are these people nuts? You can almost buy a brand new one for that price.

[tonytol]

always worth checking DVDforums posts :)

I've been after a basic Canon camcorder that I can take places I wouldn't want to lose more expensive models. The Canon outlet on ebay looked good - MV890's going for around £95-105, but I've been put off by the feedback (checked via http://www.toolhaus.org) that indicates they'll ship any old rubbish and expect you to get a warranty repair, and customer service seems non-existent if there's any payment or shipping problem. Also, some feedback says auction items are 'out of stock' if you win at too low a price. hmmm The bidding on the ones Iv'e checked so far does seem a little iffy. Think I'll pay £170 or so instead of £110 and get a new one.

[tredders]

I've bought 2 things from the Canon outlet - my 1D mk II, and a digital Ixus for the missus. Both were absolutely brand new (I used CanCount to verify that no shots had ever been taken with the 1D mk II), and have worked flawlessly ever since. Maybe I was lucky, but I'd definitely use them again.