Tamron 28-200 for $130?

Hi all,
Was checking through ebay for a Tamron 28~200 minolta mount lens while
found this:
http://tinyurl.com/aqxch
It says the lenses are new, while the Tamron site says they should cost
500USD+, which made me a bit confused about the price difference. Is
this ebay deal reliable?
I never have bought anything from ebay so feeling a little helpless.

Thanks in advance.

 

Tamron site lists MSRP, i.e. LIST price (not actual street price).

B&H lists the lens for $239 with a $30 mail in rebate.

I expect this is "gray market" and may be a closeout. The Tamron USA
site links to a 2001 Shutterbug review, so it might be near the end of
the product life.

 

List prices are always ficticious. But that is a very good price for a
Tamron 28-200, and if you want that lens and like the silver finish I'd go
for it.

The seller's feedback looks pretty good at 99.1% positive, and that's
important.

I've done a great deal of business on eBay and generally have been well
satisfied. Occasionally you do get a seller who misrepresents an item, but
all you can do is check the feedback, read some of the negatives (this
seller doesn't have too many) and judge for yourself. This one looks OK to
me, and if I wanted that lens I'd certainly buy it at that price.

I have an older Tamron 28-200 in the Minolta mount myself, and have found it
very satisfactory. The newer ones like this are probably even better.
They're much closer focusing, for one thing. (My early version only focuses
down to about 7 feet.)

Neil

 

Given that Minolta have just totally trashed their presence in Canada
and their Queensland (Aust) warranty agent is now refusing to take in
any more warranty claims, I'd say the future of Minolta is not looking
too good. Maybe this is why their otherwise new camera gear is being
dumped on Ebay?

 

It's Tamron gear he's asking about, not Minolta.

As far as Konica Minolta's future is concerned, I understand they are
entering into an arrangement with Sony, which will have Sony producing
digital SLRs using the Minolta mount. Since Sony is sort of the 1200-pound
gorilla when it comes to digital imaging stuff, I imagine this will be of
some marketing benefit to Konica Minolta. Hard to say for sure, since camera
making is sort of a dog-eat-dog business and a lot of good companies have
bit the dust. But Minolta has been around for 75 years, and has contributed
a lot of innovative and important developments to camera making. My guess is
they'll be around for quite a while.

Neil

 

Before i went away on my hols I read they pulled out of canada. No doubt
the bloke at the help desk giving away money to any long term minolta owner
caused the company to make a huge loss up there once word got out about him.

 

Uh . . . well . . . yes, maybe that's it.

Neil