adorama, B&H, used camera buyers etc other places - but expect low prices
Posted by Mike Moats on August 25, 2010 at 2:21 PM
Hey Zack, I've always used ebay, and have never had a problem and get a good selling price on whatever I sell. On some of the popular photo products I have seen some used equipment selling for just a little less then it sells new. Crazy people out there.
Zack, eBay usually gets good buyers of used camera gear. As stated, expect lower prices, but KEH is a good buyer of used hardware. I've bought a lot of used items from them over the years, and they are good to deal with on returns if necessary.
I will almost always put a reserve price on my item to make sure I get what I want out of it. I have often found that the bidding at the end goes right up to the reserve price because the person wanting the item put a top bid in above the reserve and it will automatically take them to the reserve where you will only get the increment above the last bid if there is no reserve.
When you set your reserve price are you including e-bay's cut (and what is their cut anyhow)? I'm asking because I haven't tried e-bay selling, but I probably should. I sold a large format camera to one of the big NY camera shops and they really wouldn't offer much. It made sense for me to take their offer (better to sell something I'm not using), but I imagine I might have come out better selling to an individual. I saw part of my equipment listed at the store for more than twice what they paid me, and that didn't include several additional item I sold them. Oh well, I guess I've learned.
Fred Miranda. You have to pay to join, but their classifieds get massive views and activity. No ebay fee, so offset that against joining up. In all other respects, I much prefer here, but the FM classifieds are amazing.
Posted by Harold Ankney on August 25, 2010 at 8:59 PM
Hey Zack...I shoot with Sony gear. Send me an email with a list of what your are selling. I could use a flash and a long lens.
Thanks
Harold
Posted by Paul DeCesare on August 26, 2010 at 12:40 AM
Zack, I've sold a bunch of gear on eBay too, and you can expect about 11-12% off your selling price once you pay eBay (8.X%) and PayPal fees (about 3%, but YMMV if you are a new member). It's a good place to sell but there is some work and cost involved: getting good shots of the product, writing good looking ads, working out how you'll do shipping, especially international. BTW, I get 20% more for my gear when I allow international sales, but it's more of a hassle of course because you have to print the customs docs, etc. Not TOO hard, the USPS site prints most stuff for you.
OK, having said all of that, there is another place to sell your gear quickly and easily IF you have the original box and papers AND it's in great condition: Amazon. I've been using them a lot lately because you can get the ad up in 60 seconds with no pictures or anything. Just make your ad comments informative. You pull great prices there often. I bought a Canon 17-40mm for $628 on rebate in Nov 2007. Last year on Amazon I sold it for $679, because the selling price was over $700 and Amazon was out of stock. Just sold a GTX285 video card last week for more than I paid. With Amazon you take the same 10 to 12% hit as the eBay/PayPal route. Some may not want to pay that much, but the one advantage with eBay or Amazon is 200 million potential customers. Sales go pretty quickly with the right price at Amazon and eBay. One advantage about eBay, you get to set the shipping price. Amazon gives you a credit for shipping and it's under what you'll really pay 110% of the time. But it all comes out in the wash. Sorry for the long explanation, just wanted to state all the gotchas!
Then the one other place I've sold stuff is right here in our backyard of NPN. Listing is free, all you have is PayPal fees of 3%, or nothing if you work out a money order payment. If I have a nice item that I'm not trying to get top dollar for, I'll always post it here. Our fellow members get the good deals before ANY eBay peeps. The other sites like Fred Miranda are good too because like NPN, 100% of your potential customers are photographers.
I've never been given a quote from a camera store that was even reasonable so I usually don't go that route, but from reading some of the other posts that may be a viable option. It sure is quick and painless and the quote costs nothing to try.
Posted by Nancy de Flon on August 26, 2010 at 8:29 PM
I've also used Amazon with good results. They already have a photo of the gear so you needn't go to the bother of taking and uploading your own shots.
Discussion
11 repliesor try classified here, photo.net type website
adorama, B&H, used camera buyers etc other places - but expect low prices
--P
I will almost always put a reserve price on my item to make sure I get what I want out of it. I have often found that the bidding at the end goes right up to the reserve price because the person wanting the item put a top bid in above the reserve and it will automatically take them to the reserve where you will only get the increment above the last bid if there is no reserve.
Pete D.
Thanks
Harold
OK, having said all of that, there is another place to sell your gear quickly and easily IF you have the original box and papers AND it's in great condition: Amazon. I've been using them a lot lately because you can get the ad up in 60 seconds with no pictures or anything. Just make your ad comments informative. You pull great prices there often. I bought a Canon 17-40mm for $628 on rebate in Nov 2007. Last year on Amazon I sold it for $679, because the selling price was over $700 and Amazon was out of stock. Just sold a GTX285 video card last week for more than I paid. With Amazon you take the same 10 to 12% hit as the eBay/PayPal route. Some may not want to pay that much, but the one advantage with eBay or Amazon is 200 million potential customers. Sales go pretty quickly with the right price at Amazon and eBay. One advantage about eBay, you get to set the shipping price. Amazon gives you a credit for shipping and it's under what you'll really pay 110% of the time. But it all comes out in the wash. Sorry for the long explanation, just wanted to state all the gotchas!
Then the one other place I've sold stuff is right here in our backyard of NPN. Listing is free, all you have is PayPal fees of 3%, or nothing if you work out a money order payment. If I have a nice item that I'm not trying to get top dollar for, I'll always post it here. Our fellow members get the good deals before ANY eBay peeps. The other sites like Fred Miranda are good too because like NPN, 100% of your potential customers are photographers.
I've never been given a quote from a camera store that was even reasonable so I usually don't go that route, but from reading some of the other posts that may be a viable option. It sure is quick and painless and the quote costs nothing to try.