Best Place to Sell Used Gear

Soda Ant · Dec 11, 2008

I've got some 35mm SLR equipment I want to sell to finance some new digital equipment. I've gotten similar verbal quotes (based on descriptions, but not inspections of the actual gear) from KEH and Adorama.

Which one is more likely to give me closer to the verbal quote? I'm concerned about getting a high sight-unseen estimate to entice me to send the equipment and then having it knocked down. I'd prefer to deal with whomever is least likely to do this.

notelliot · Dec 11, 2008

I've had amazing luck with Craig's List.

benhasajeep · Dec 11, 2008

If you sell to a camera store. Remember they need to be able to sell at a price they can make a proffit on. So they may only give you 50% of what the items will actually sell for. This was true when I used KEH to get a quote on about 5 items. Their offerering price about about 50-60% of what they sold the items for themselves. I am not saying this isn't fair, as they do need to make money to stay in business. It's just a price you have to pay for the convience.

I think Ebay is probably the best way to go if you want the most money back. If you are looking for ease and quick sale. Then either one of the stores will probably give you nearly the same. There is a blue book for used camera equipment.

I attempted Craigs list once. Got so many scammers that I gave up after 2 days.

usayit · Dec 11, 2008

For the high end, I've had good luck selling through my local camera shop. They'll usually cut me a deal on the new item I want and only ask 20% percent off the top of the item I sold through them. This is going through their consignment, so you'll have to be patient.

This is a whole lot better than the 50% that is taken off the top by KEH, Adorama, and BH. But in those cases, they will give you cash in hand.

I've also had good luck selling on ebay and craigslist. I sold my 70-200 f/2.8L IS via the for sale forum here on the TPF too...

pianoman8 · Oct 22, 2009

KEH, Adorama, Camea Buyer, etc. must have a "blue book" that they use when they quote prices on used equipment. How can I get a look at it? I have a ton of medium format cameras and lenses for sale. Adorama called me back and said that they pay "70% of the value, the highest of anybody." But although they have my list of equipment they refuse to give me a ballpark figure, so "70%" means nothing to me.
Any suggestions?

KmH · Oct 22, 2009

pianoman8 said:
KEH, Adorama, Camea Buyer, etc. must have a "blue book" that they use when they quote prices on used equipment. How can I get a look at it? I have a ton of medium format cameras and lenses for sale. Adorama called me back and said that they pay "70% of the value, the highest of anybody." But although they have my list of equipment they refuse to give me a ballpark figure, so "70%" means nothing to me.
Any suggestions?

Try looking here?

ErectedGryphon · Oct 22, 2009

Any one that doesn't give even a ball park figure if they know what you have is more than likely out to screw you. I've bought through Adorama, and they had good prices, but I'd do the selling on ebay or craigslist if I were you. If you craigslist, you may even be able to trade your gear for some of what your thinking of buying.

I traded a Wide + a Macro + a Flash and got my 70-200 f/2.8, with in a few hours of posting.

chip · Oct 22, 2009

Ebay is a seller's market - the best place to sell your gear by far!

Antithesis · Oct 23, 2009

I almost always sell my gear via craigslist. You have to be patient and make sure you meet people in person. Everything else is a scam. I usually buy my gear via KEH.com or craigslist, and then resell it for what I paid for it, or sometimes at a profit like with my last cam. Just be prepared to barter.

PatrickHMS · Oct 23, 2009

You can sell on eBay, but you might not get the price you expect, depending upon who is looking at your listing at that particular time. It will probably expose whatever you are selling to the most potential buyers though.

Film stuff seems to sell well overseas, but when you ship overseas, I find that often there might not be a good way of tracking (if at all), or confirmation of delivery (if at all), and who knows how well insurance will handle a loss. Also beware of people who ask you to ship overseas and then chargeback once you do ship so you are out the item and the money. Without reliable proof (tracking or confirmation), it will be your word against theirs. eBay and Paypal customer service will take buyers word for it every time.

I had one case where a buyer wanted to cheat me, and PayPal / eBay didn't really seem seem to care, nor did they even want to hear what I had to say as a seller. The buyer was their customer, not me as would be expected since I was the one paying them the fees.

I have 400 + (at 100%) feedback on eBay, but I use Craigslist more and more because of eBay / PayPal (same people) and their lousy rules for sellers, and usually crappy customer service.

You can use eBay "completed listings" for a guideline of what people will actually pay for something, but sometimes eBay and PayPal fees can eat you alive. You set a high opening price and get fewer bidders, but eBay prices for your setting a reserve (so you can start at a lower price to attract attention but still get a fair price) are ridiculous. Without the reserve, you won't always get your price for camera equipment. I don't trust No Reserve auctions at all unless I am willing to sell for cheap, and who wants to give their stuff away???

There might be local consignment stores, even pawn shops who wiill sell for 20% of the selling price, then maybe they just just list on eBay - and you can do that yourself.

I have also had amazing luck on Craigslist. Yeah, there are the scammers, but you soon learn to spot their emails as soon as you read them.

Then you get the people who ask if you still have whatever you are selling, then you never hear from them again. Like they never wanted to buy, just wanted to know if you had it...lol.

Scammers will usually refer to what you are selling as an "item", and not mention it specifically by its name.

If you see an email that opens with " -- " on one line by itself. then an inquiry on the next line - for me that turns out to be a scammer 100% of the time.

Most scammers I get use "gmail" addresses.

Recently you get the emails saying "why are you selling" or "I was broke too, had to sell my kids Nintendo (that was such a sad day), but I found this setup where my brothers sisters brothers sister now makes $6M a week, and now I do too" they don't seem to consider that maybe you actually WANT to sell an item, or that you WANT to downsize, or that you are doing it just for fun.

Scammerpeople will send you an email with a link, then they get paid when people click on them.

I have had some bad experiences with PaPal, and do Craigslist as an alternative.

When I sell on eBay, or even Craigslist (if I am willing to ship), I ask for a USPS Money Order (ONLY - NO OTHERS) as payment (until eBay quit allowing Money Orders). I can get it in the mail, then go directly to PO and cash it right there on the spot. The USPS can tell quickly if their own Money Orders are good or counterfeit. You have your cash right away (before you lose what you are selling by shipping it), little chance of financial fraud, and no fees to pay out of the selling and shipping amount. That might make it worth a short wait. Does for me.

I see listings on CL where someone bought film stuff (online, or at a local high end camera store) for a film class or something, then try to sell for same ridiculous prices they paid for their film camera gear by listing back on CL at prices they usually will not ever get.

Film camera lenses will hold their value (even vintage AF lenses) but film camera bodies, and MF lenses won't sell for anywhere near what you wish they would.

In Atlanta, the pawn shops and used camera stores shelves are L-O-A-D-E-D with Nikon film camera bodies (let's say N90S (I have a nice one with a nice back door I got for $25.00) and back) for maybe $50.00 or less each. I would have to be a fool to pay more than that, nor would I ever expect to be able to sell one for any more than that.

Also - when shipping, you will be surprised what kind of camera equipment you can creatively fit into those USPS "Flat Rate Priority Mail" boxes (use foam peanuts or bubblewrap, and ship for around $10.00 or less.

Hope this helps someone out there...

AverageJoe · Oct 23, 2009

It's werid, I've had mixed results but I rely heavily on both CraigsList (for items I would only sell for a specific price) and then Ebay for items I want to sell at a minimum price. I sold a lens on Craig's List for $360, when I had it on ebay and it wouldn't sell for $300....

manicmike · Oct 23, 2009

I've seen a lot of camera equipment on amazon.com. You might try there.

PatrickHMS · Oct 23, 2009

manicmike said:
I've seen a lot of camera equipment on amazon.com. You might try there.

Might be a good place to buy if you can find what you want at a good price, but when selling on Amazon, if I am not mistaken, don't they get 20% right off the top?

icassell · Oct 23, 2009

I was going to sell some and found that I couldn't get much. The local camera store sells on consignment and takes 25%. I decided to donate it to a school and take a tax deduction instead.

RutsCameras · Oct 23, 2009

Hi,

First I am not trying to spam this site by suggesting my own site but it is in response to a specific question about where to sell equipment.

I created a marketplace to sell and buy camera and video equipment because of my frustration with eBay.

It is completely FREE and has almost all the same features as eBay including customizable store fronts, bulk uploader and 10 different payment gateways to choose from.

The site is RutsCameras and I hope it is beneficial to all of you. If you check it out you will see I invested a good chunk of money into this site and I am not charging a single fee.

Thanks
Jeff