Why buy from Alchemic Photograpy?
(Or why buy from someone else?)
Whether you buy from my Alchemic Photography eBay shop or any of my eBay sales, you can be certain that I will do my best to make sure that your purchasing experience is pleasant, hassle free, and carries no hidden costs.
My range of refurbished items are of unequalled working condition, and you can be sure that you are buying the best available on ebay.
Top quality items at low prices
In most cases the items I sell are in excellent working condition, equal to or even better then items available on the high street, often at half the price or less.
I have a lot of very satisfied customers who have bought cameras and other equiment from Alchemic Photography, and been pleasantly surprised.
Check my feedback to see for yourself!
If you think that perhaps some of my prices are a little high compared with others available on eBay, consider what you are getting that is not offered by other sellers....
Guarantees
All overhauled, reconditioned, and new items carry a guarantee, entitling you to a free repair, replacement, or refund should there be a problem with the item.*
Simple returns
No quibble return policy for a full refund if the item does not meet your expectations. **
In addition to the legal requirement to provide this for fixed price sales, we like to extend this to auction sales too!
(UK and EU law now makes it illegal to pretend that refunds for fixed price items of this nature are a 'special feature'. Beware sellers who do this!)
How can I afford it?
There are a number of reasons...
Low overheads.
Working from home I don't have to pay rent on expensive shop premises, or insurance on stock etc. And my turnover is low enough so I don't have to pay VAT!
In-house servicing.
I do all the servicing and ovehaul work myself using my own equipment.
This is very much cheaper than sending items out for repair or servicing, and I know it has been done properly. In fact so many items are so expensive to service that this is very rarely done by high street dealers, and a camera which with a little TLC could give many years of service is consigned to the scrap bin.
(They often allow a trade-in value for such cameras. My advice is not to fall for that one and wave a few crisp notes under their nose. You will get the same discount and keep your old camera!)
Cheap supplies.
Because of these savings, I can afford to buy items with faults, and overhaul them. Conventinal dealers cannot do this, they cannot afford the cost of repairs. Therefore I can buy items which have effectively little or no market value.
What about quality?
Because of the cost of servicing, conventinal dealers cannot afford to have the items they stock overhauled. They are forced to buy items which are essentially fully operational. These items will often be carefully checked, and are sold with a guarantee, but only rarely will they be even serviced.
In most cases the dealer relies on the camera lasting at least the guarantee period before a fault develops, and only then will consider a repair. Often however they offer a refund, or replacement instead and dispose of the camera.
With some models (Often very popular models too!) this means that a lot of cameras are disposed of with very little wrong with them. In fact In many cases all that is required is an internal clean, an oil change and some adjustements.
The cameras I sell are often exactly those cameras which have been rejected by the conventional dealer, or disposed of by them. A couple of hours work is all that is needed to restore them to full operational condition.
I'm not criticising high street dealers. If they did otherwise their prices would have to be even higher, it's just that's the way their business has to work. Mine works differently!
This results in a camera which is in better working condition than almost any you will find offered for sale from a conventinal dealer. In fact by taking advantage of improved materials, some may even be better working condition than when they were new! ***
Better for less
So when you buy an overhauled camera from Alchemic Photography, you are getting a camera which should be in all important respects a better camera for less money than bough from a conventional dealer.
You get a guarantee at least equivalent to the conventional dealers, in the unlikely event that the camera does develop a 'fault'**** then it is much more likely that it will be put right.
G.I. Stalker Bsc
Alchemic Photography
* Items sold for 'spares only', or as scrap at auction may be excluded.
** Some auctioned items may be excluded as permitted by UK law. Ebay selling rules however always apply. Check the individual listing. All items must be returned in good order with original packaging.
With regard to returns for items sold at a fixed price. This is actually required by law. Beware sellers who try and pretend this is a special service. This has been such a problem in the past that it is now illegal to do so!
***Depends on model. Some very well respected manufacturers used inferior materials for things like light seals on the basis that it was not worth the extra cost for a material which would oulast the projected market lifetime of the camera. (Usually only five to ten years!) After that they expected to sell you a new model.
****Most 'faults' on a reconditioned camera are not actually faults in the accepted sense. Sometimes an overhauled camera will 'settle in' and require adjustment after a while. Rarely a minor oversight in final checks will need addresssing. Such 'faults' are very easily corrected.
Should such a 'fault' ocurr all postage costs will be paid by Alchemic Photography if it requires returning to correct..
) 
