Cameras From eBay

Has anyone bought cameras from here? i've seen some 480TVL dome cameras with night vision on the site for around 30 quid and wondered if anyone has been dissapointed. Regards, Ivan

On eBay you have to know what your buying and who you are buying from. There are tons of china-made "no brand name" cameras on there that you want to stay away from for the most part.

Just try to stick with name branded equipment and check the seller for good feedback and good customer service comments. I sell alot of equipment on eBay but unlike alot of eBay sellers, I provide service after the sale. You will need to look for things of this nature. Just do a little homework and dont be afraid to ask questions. If the seller takes forever to respond, then walk away.

On eBay you have to know what your buying and who you are buying from. There are tons of china-made "no brand name" cameras on there that you want to stay away from for the most part.

 

Just try to stick with name branded equipment and check the seller for good feedback and good customer service comments. I sell alot of equipment on eBay but unlike alot of eBay sellers, I provide service after the sale. You will need to look for things of this nature. Just do a little homework and dont be afraid to ask questions. If the seller takes forever to respond, then walk away.

This is the real trick, as a lot of these sellers will advertise "SONY CAMERAS" in big letters... in reality, these are usually cheaply-built cameras using a very common Sony CCD. The sellers in these cases are trying to sell a "big" recognized brand name.

And no offense to SEANHAWG, but...

Stay away from Chinese electronics for sure.

Stay away from Chinese electronics for sure.

i would expect most of the big brands are all made in china. what isn't these days.

Stay away from Chinese electronics for sure.

 

i would expect most of the big brands are all made in china. what isn't these days.

nah .. South Korea, Taiwan ... no names are mostly china.

don't forget a lot of those other countries are back doors to china

well I'm no international business man... but I can speak from my own personal experience that the vast majority of off brand Chinese CCTV products I've tested are total junk.

Products from other countries I've tested (again a generality) are much better quality.

Yes when I first started in this business I fell victim to the infamous "Sony CCD" trick. The camera that I got in didnt even show in real time. It looked like a time lapse recording when the camera was hooked up directly to the monitor. What the heck?

I thought that picture was hilarious. Unfortunately, that is the reputation that eBay has and has driven buyers away. But there are still some great sellers on there, just do some homework before you make the purchase like you would any other major investment and you should come out alright.

I'm sure there are a couple Chinese products that are decent...

The problem is ALL Chinese suppliers claim to have "quality product, cheap price."

After 20 or so sample cameras it's not worth my time to test anymore. They were ALL junk. I'm sorry but I'm not wasting any more money on Chinese products just to be lied to.

But hey, if you want to send me a 100 percent free sample camera I'll be more than happy to evaluate and post my honest findings on this site for the world to read.

I'm sure there are a couple Chinese products that are decent...

The problem is ALL Chinese suppliers claim to have "quality product, cheap price."

After 20 or so sample cameras it's not worth my time to test anymore. They were ALL junk. I'm sorry but I'm not wasting any more money on Chinese products just to be lied to.

 

But hey, if you want to send me a 100 percent free sample camera I'll be more than happy to evaluate and post my honest findings on this site for the world to read.

+100

I stay away

The only no-name Chinese stuff I buy from Ebay are certain IR illuminators... and that was only after testing several different kinds, and weeding out the junk.

Like other posters, I pretty much stay away.

Who wants to bet my proposition will never be answered? lol

Here's the problem with buying no name hardware off of consumer sites:

Let's say you save $1,300.00 on a $2,500.00 system. That sounds pretty good. But then something happens and that $25,000.00 whateverthehellitisthatyou'retryingtokeepaneyeon is jacked and your playback/video quality/whatever shows unusable garbage or nothing at all...

How far ahead are you?

I will tell you exactly why I dont buy no named stuff or even the smaller OEM brands ...

Simple ... I cant trust the specs. By OEM brands I mean the guys that bring in stuff from Asia and stick their name on it.

And I dont care about warranty, it doesnt exist to me as to ship it back (even just to the US let alone China!) costs more then the product does in most cases ...

And one should not expect you to supply everyone with a free sample. All I'm saying, if there is any truth to what you claim about your products... put your money where your mouth is. If your products are as good as you claim, you should have no problem submitting one for review to an active member of a very popular CCTV forum. Doesn't have to be me... send it thewireguys, Rory, or even Soundy (wonder how many CNB references would be in his review )

I'm sure any one of these guys would be happy to give an honest, unbiased review of your product. There's a lot of people that resepect what professionals have to say on this site and I can't imagine why you wouldn't want the publicity for the world to see. Unless of course your products are NOT what you say they are. In which case, you have every reason to stall.

IP cameras are not some low value products.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Oh wow, thanks, I love to start the day off with a good laugh.

Simply slapping an IP interface on a junk camera does not magically imbue that camera with "value". IP is just another way to get the picture from the camera to the recorder. If the camera has a crap picture, it's "low value", regardless of the transport medium.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

on a different forum there's an end user that thinks I'm an idiot because I didn't suggest what she found on Ebay. Apparently the Chinese "Megapixel" market has really taken off. Just Google the stuff... hilarious claims. The one she found actually advertised "$200, 1.3mp at 30fps, 100' IR, POE, etc". 100ft IR... on POE? Really?! No, really?! lol

It amazes me people just keep buying this crap

on a different forum there's an end user that thinks I'm an idiot because I didn't suggest what she found on Ebay. Apparently the Chinese "Megapixel" market has really taken off. Just Google the stuff... hilarious claims. The one she found actually advertised "$200, 1.3mp at 30fps, 100' IR, POE, etc". 100ft IR... on POE? Really?! No, really?! lol

 

It amazes me people just keep buying this crap

Now THAT must require a serious PoE switch !

IP cameras are not some low value products.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Oh wow, thanks, I love to start the day off with a good laugh.

 

Simply slapping an IP interface on a junk camera does not magically imbue that camera with "value". IP is just another way to get the picture from the camera to the recorder. If the camera has a crap picture, it's "low value", regardless of the transport medium.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA

 

 

HHAHAHAH, yes, it is funny to say it is low value. Don't you think IP Cameras are high technology products?

Whether an IP interface is "high tech" is debatable - it's pretty old-school stuff to me. Nevertheless, adding a single high-tech feature to a piece of junk does not automatically make that junk "valuable".

Like I said, a crap camera is a crap camera whether it uses analog or IP. In this case, adding IP tt only increases cost without increasing quality... frankly, it serves only to REDUCE the value of the camera.

i've started seeing many customers with foscam ip cameras and lol what they are calling knockoffs to foscam (chinese companies knocking off other chinese companies...who would have thought).

they are cheap mjpg ip cameras. the original firmware was basically unusable and have since revised it to have some basic cross browser support. fps is slow but picture quality is on par with other cheapo cams these days. and of course they are cheap.

that and i see dahua pushing into US markets via OEM for dvr.

i am also constantly getting emails from chinese OEM companies for 4 channel dvr around $100 on 100 piece orders. of course they are garbage but regardless they are pushing it.