Buying SDHC cards from eBay... how can I know which merchants are reliable? How to guard against fak

I would like to buy a Sandisk 16 GB SDHC card. I'm from Canada and
those capacities are very scarce in the stores here. Costs are high --
like $200 and over.

B&H sells the 16GB Ultra II card for $150, but the shipping costs are
exhorbitant, like $26 by UPS, and those UPS crooks will add maybe $50
for "customs brokerage".

So maybe eBay is the answer. On eBay, the 16 GB Ultra II cards go for
around $150 and less. Shipping is still high for something that
weights about as much as a fly, but it is less less, and USPS is
available... they don't levy brokerage fees.

But I've heard that fake cards are all over the place on eBay. How can
I tell which the fakes are?

Who are the merchants I can trust on eBay?

Dunc

 

To each his own. I don't know all the details of ebay. My son uses them
for everything. Sometimes he makes out sometimes he doesn't. Apparently
the people using it rate each other. Personally, my opinion of ebay is
shaded by the bad things I've seen mentioned here and elsewhere.
Obviously this is not the norm but why bother if you don't have to. The
op is basically concerned over shipping costs.
Amazon show this item via a reseller at a lower price than B&H. Amazon
are normally very good.
Dave Cohen

 

They aren't any good at all. Amazon.com won't ship SDHC cards to
Canada, and amazon.ca doesn't list them.

Dunc

 

Do you know which merchants on eBay offer authentic cards? If not,
your reply is off-topic.

Dunc

 

Of all the things you can buy on eBay, memory cards are probably the one
item where you're more than likely to get a fake. Pay B&H, get the real
thing, and avoid eBay. It used to be a decent service, but it's really sunk
low lately.

 

I already know how eBay works, thank you. My question was how to know
which merchants ship authentic memory cards, not how eBay works. .

Your response implies that a fake card can be recognized immediately
once received, prompting negative feedback, but that is not something
that is known to me.

Dunc

 

right now Sandisk is offering a very good rebate .BUT you have to
buy the item from one of the retailers listed on the rebate form. I
use Beach cam/BuyDig .com.Seeing i live in NYS i don't have to pay the
tax from a retailer in NJ

 

Many cards from Ebay are Sandisk forgeries. Try asking the seller to
guarantee that the card is legitimate and suppl.ied directly from
Sandisk USA or Canada.

 

FWIW, I have bought counterfeit Sandisk CF cards on eBay. They work fine -
sometimes a little slow or not quite up to rated storage capacity, but I
have never lost an image. Never.

Can't tell you that you will have an equivalent experience, but you should
look at the feedback and see what the vendors are selling. If you have
more than one or two negatives over the SDHC cards, beware. If they do not
read and write gramatically good englisch, beware. If they have high
shipping charges (not refundable) beware. If they sell SDHC cards and
other camera components at ridiculously low prices, beware. Those would be
the things that would seem to distinguish a less-than-perfect operation.

Maybe you could become the Canadian Sandisk distributor?!

Good luck! ~Ray

 

Yes.
Its just like sex.
You shouldn't have sex until you are perfect at it.

Makes sense.

 

Why don't you just go down to BestBuy Canada, and buy two 8GB SD cards for
$39 each?
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10099696&catid=20093&logon=&langid=EN

 

Thanks for the info! Seems to be a Class 4... so might be a bit slow
but interesting anyway.

But it seems they are out of stock. I'll keep an eye out, though..

Dunc

 

--

========================================================================
Legitimate Frank Arthur posts only from BellSouth Internet Group.
Look!Turn on your header. It says- Organization:BellSouth Internet
Group
Otherwise it is a forgery and you are being defrauded!
========================================================================

Not true. You cannot recognize a legit card. SanDisk will ask you to
photograph views of the card. Their experts there can tell. In my case
I sent photos of an Ebay purchased card, from a seller with what
seemed reliable reputation. It turned out to be fake.

 

Thanks.

So that means buy only from known reputable sources like local stores
or the big mail order places like B&H.

Dunc

 

I always use Ebay, but carefully check specs, feedback, newsgroups and
other technical foums. So far all the memory products I've bought have
turned out to be very good, nearly always better than I expected, and
in some cases superior in speed to the products of the Big Reputable
Names.

And in the case of second hand products I've nearly always got
excellent bargains.

It's a trade-off. If you have more intelligence and time than money
there's nothing to beat Ebay. If you're busy and want trouble-free
guarantees of quality then just open your waller wider and stick with
Reputable Names.

 

Nice example!

TJ

 

Why not buy 8 2 Gb cards with the same money? Not putting all your eggs in
one basket, after all? 1 GB sells for 20 euros, even a 1 GB genuine Hewlett
Packard memory stick for my mother's laptop cost 20 euros, from my favourite
merchant www.cccira.gr Go for a walk to the shops, compare prices and
brands, and get what you really like, that would be the best IMHO, why trust
someone whose face you'll never see?

 

Try Picstop,reliable & cheap. http://www.picstop.co.uk/

Bruce

 

Not sure if that makes Amazon a bad guy but how would I know, I left
Canada 50 years ago after a 9 month sojourn. In retrospect leaving may
not have been a smart move, but it's too late now and I don't keep track
of who ships where. I would still avoid ebay if you're only talking
about a few bucks.
Dave Cohen