Scratches on eyepiece (1 Viewer)

rabbix · Nov 29, 2017

Hi everyone, newbie here. I just bought an used Swarovski EL 10X42 on ebay. When I received the binoculars I did an inspection on all lens and found some scratches on the right eyepiece. To be honest, I can't notice anything abnormal when I'm looking through the binoculars, but it does bother me as I know it's there. My question is: does this kind of scratches really affect the optical quality of the binoculars? Should I just return it and get the refund (will lose approx. $150 due to the ridiculous Paypal currency change rate)?

Thanks,
Scott

Maljunulo · Nov 29, 2017

I wouldn't return them, but I might try to get a few dollars out of the seller.

Jason Bugay Reyes · Nov 30, 2017

I have seen friends with scratches binoculars too. No problem at all. Sometimes that's the reason why people sold their bino once they found some kind of scratches

elkcub · Nov 30, 2017

Scott,

The "scratch" seems to be minimal, so I doubt that you'd be able to see any degradation of the image.

Used binoculars are rarely cosmetically perfect, so just use and enjoy.

Ed

WJC · Nov 30, 2017

elkcub said:
Scott,

The "scratch" seems to be minimal, so I doubt that you'd be able to see any degradation of the image.

Used binoculars are rarely cosmetically perfect, so just use and enjoy.

Ed

Ed:

You're being nice, again. That scratch is only ~20% of minimal and creates much more flutter than flight. :cat:

Bill

rabbix · Nov 30, 2017

Thanks guys, I'm leaning to return it now...

etudiant · Nov 30, 2017

rabbix said:
Thanks guys, I'm leaning to return it now...

Well, you have to be happy with your gear, but for this minimal scratch, it hardly seems proportionate. If it really bugs you, you're probably better served to send them to Swaro for a tuneup, they do that pretty economically and I'd expect the glass to shine when it returns.

Gijs van Ginkel · Nov 30, 2017

rabbix,
If these minimal scratches annoy you, send it to Swarovski for repair and you will receive as new. Returning the binocular will you cost more....
Gijs van Ginkel

cgr1971 · Nov 30, 2017

I recently sent a pair back to Swarovski with much worse of a mark on the objective lens. They sent them back and said that it wasn't worth replacing the lens because it had no effect on the image. If you got them at a good price, keep them and enjoy them.

rabbix · Nov 30, 2017

Thanks everyone. Is $1500 a good price for this (Paypal charged me $2000 CAD, which is $100 more that average exchange rate)? This is a five years old swarovision.

jring · Nov 30, 2017

Hi,

I can't comment on the price as I haven't been into those expensive bins luckily... but the scratch seems minimal and certainly won't affect image quality.

One might indeed check closely if the scratch was advertised or if not, if the description said as new and try to knock some dollars off the price.

Joachim

rabbix · Nov 30, 2017

jring said:
Hi,

I can't comment on the price as I haven't been into those expensive bins luckily... but the scratch seems minimal and certainly won't affect image quality.

One might indeed check closely if the scratch was advertised or if not, if the description said as new and try to knock some dollars off the price.

Joachim

Thanks Joachim. The description said the glass is perfect. Obviously, this is not a perfect glass. The seller insists there was no scratch when the binoculars left his door. So he can accept return but will not do partial refund.

jring · Nov 30, 2017

Hi,

I have checked the past sales and 1500 seems quite ok for a pair of EL 10x42 SV. There was one cheaper example at 1200 buy it now from the screaming deal dept. and one at 1375 on auction. I didn't count the one which went for $871 from Russia with love, which more likely was a total loss...

Rest was either non SV or higher.

Joachim

rabbix · Nov 30, 2017

jring said:
Hi,

I have checked the past sales and 1500 seems quite ok for a pair of EL 10x42 SV. There was one cheaper example at 1200 buy it now from the screaming deal dept. and one at 1375 on auction. I didn't count the one which went for $871 from Russia with love, which more likely was a total loss...

Rest was either non SV or higher.

Joachim

Thanks Joachim, this makes feel a little better. These scratches will definitely affect the resale value in the future, correct?

gunut · Nov 30, 2017

if they said the glass was perfect....Id send them back....

Andy Adcock · Nov 30, 2017

rabbix said:
Thanks everyone. Is $1500 a good price for this (Paypal charged me $2000 CAD, which is $100 more that average exchange rate)? This is a five years old swarovision.

I don't get what the Paypal charges are for?

If I take e.g £300 from my bank account, transfer it to paypal and then pay it on to a third party, Paypal charge me £1.50 and the third party gets £300.

You're saying you got screwed out of $100 US on the ex rate, that is a lot?

A

Andy Adcock · Nov 30, 2017

gunut said:
if they said the glass was perfect....Id send them back....

It's gonna be tough if they won't accept that the damage was already present? When you buy from any seller on Ebay, you accept the sellers returns policy too which is often 'no returns' or 'buyer pays return postage'.

Any photos from the ad?

A

rabbix · Nov 30, 2017

andyadcock said:
I don't get what the Paypal charges are for?

If I take e.g £300 from my bank account, transfer it to paypal and then pay it on to a third party, Paypal charge me £1.50 and the third party gets £300.

You're saying you got screwed out of $100 US on the ex rate, that is a lot?

A

The item was listed in USD, so paypal charged my credit card by CAD with their own exchange rate (approx 1.30), and charged me 2.5% exchange fee. That's how I was charged $100 CAD more than I expected.

rabbix · Nov 30, 2017

andyadcock said:
It's gonna be tough if they won't accept that the damage was already present? When you buy from any seller on Ebay, you accept the sellers returns policy too which is often 'no returns' or 'buyer pays return postage'.

Any photos from the ad?

A

Attached is the photo from the AD. It's hard to tell the scratch I found from this photo.

Andy Adcock · Nov 30, 2017

rabbix said:
Attached is the photo from the AD. It's hard to tell the scratch I found from this photo.

Personally, I think the scratches are minimal and whilst irritating, if they don't impede the performance, I'd try and forget about them.

If you feel so strongly, leave some negative feedback on Ebay for the seller.

A

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