Most people selling on
eBay have no clue what they're selling, and how it works. A lot of video gear is broken, even when "tested".
I've never, ever, hear of a Video8, Hi8, Digital8, or even DV camera capable of both PAL and NTSC recording and playback. Never.
To make sure I'm not incorrect, I looked on Google.
edDV at VH (and he's no dummy) said this: "there has never been a dual standard Digital8 or MiniDV camcorder."
So the person on
eBay is full of it.
Many PAL devices "play" NTSC, but not as true NTSC. It outputs a quasi signal, sort of like NTSC-50 (or PAL-60). Again, it's not true NTSC, and you'll actually be worse off than if you'd left it native PAL or NTSC. Said features were intended solely for viewing, not capture. Supposedly a few cameras have said ability (though unclear as to whether true NTSC or quasi), but we're talking broadcast-grade cameras here, not consumer camcorders.