Browsing my local craigslist.. really wondering why I bother

[robbins.photo]

So I'm browsing my local craigslist, hoping beyond hope that I might actually find a halfway decent deal that might be of interest. As usual though, really wondering why I bother - the prices people ask for equipment in my local area is just completely outrageous. Just a few examples:

Canon 7D with EF-S 18-135 mm IS Lens - the guy wants $1500 for it, I could get a brand new one with warranty from B&H for $1299.

Nikon D80 with 18-105 lens, guy wants $750 for it. Claims he paid $775 for it last year and added a battery grip. Yup, I giggled. At best the camera is worth maybe $200, if that. The lens maybe another $200-$225.

Canon 40d - body only, no lens. $400. Lol Actual worth? Eh a little more than half of that, tops.

Nikon D40 - $325. They sell on Ebay all day long for usually about $150.

And of course my personal favorite the Canon T5I with the 18-55 lens, $800. I can walk into best buy locally and buy it brand new retail for $749.99 and get a full warranty.

Yup.. I'm really starting to wonder why I even bother trying to find "deals" on camera equipment here on craigslist.. lol

 

[480sparky42 42]

My CL finds:

77mm B+W thin CPL: $35.
Pair of 300ws monolights with umbrellas & stands: $100.
Nikkor 24-120 f/4 G, mint condition: $800.

 

[Trever1t]

I've found great deals ...in between the crazy ones. Keep looking.

 

[tirediron]

Yep... I average about one good buy every month or two... my best was my 85 1.4D for $650!

 

[robbins.photo]

I've found great deals ...in between the crazy ones. Keep looking.

Those are the "great deals".. the crazy ones are what they want for the point and shoots.. rotfl

 

[robbins.photo]

My CL finds:

77mm B+W thin CPL: $35.
Pair of 300ws monolights with umbrellas & stands: $100.
Nikkor 24-120 f/4 G, mint condition: $800.

Sadly though by the time I got done paying for gas to get over there and back.. well, I'd almost be paying retail. But yup, looks like you've got some much better deals available than I do here.

 

[JohnnyWrench]

You just have to be persistent. Most of it is overpriced but if you stick with it, you can find some good stuff. And from my experience you must "strike when the iron's hot." If you see a deal jump on it or it will be gone. Like I mentioned in another thread, I just picked up a 23 inch Apple cinema display, which sat in a corner unused for years for $150 because some rich guy was tired of looking at it. This thing was deep in the 4 figures when it was new and it's every bit as good today as it was then. Keep at it.

 

[robbins.photo]

You just have to be persistent. Most of it is overpriced but if you stick with it, you can find some good stuff. And from my experience you must "strike when the iron's hot." If you see a deal jump on it or it will be gone. Like I mentioned in another thread, I just picked up a 23 inch Apple cinema display, which sat in a corner unused for years for $150 because some rich guy was tired of looking at it. This thing was deep in the 4 figures when it was new and it's every bit as good today as it was then. Keep at it.

I've gotten some good deals on computer hardware and a few other things, but for camera equipiment? It's rare to find anything here on craigslist that isn't priced at or above retail. No point in contacting them and pointing that out either, they just get pissy so it really is a total waste of time.

On the rare occasion I do see something that isn't wildly over priced when compared to other sources like Ebay, it's never anything of any real interest. Mostly old SLR's that aren't vintage - like the older Canon rebel film cameras, etc. They are usually priced pretty close to what you can get them off ebay for, but most anything in the DSLR range is just ridiculously overpriced.

Not really certain why that is - but for whatever reason the folks in my local area don't seem to have the first clue what used camera equipment should actually sell for, they all seem to base their prices of what they paid for it when they bought it new.

So yup, I still check craigslist occasionally for other things, but for camera equipment it's getting to be pretty much a waste of time. I haven't seen a single "deal" in the last 5-6 months.

 

[Derrel]

CL jumped the shark for photo deals about three years ago in my area. Now it is filled with id'jots trying to sucker unaware buyers with prices rivaling new retail on cheap,used, junky stuff.

 

[robbins.photo]

CL jumped the shark for photo deals about three years ago in my area. Now it is filled with id'jots trying to sucker unaware buyers with prices rivaling new retail on cheap,used, junky stuff.

Yup. Pretty much same here. The T5i was the one that cracked me up the most. Dude, Best Buy sells it new for less than you want for it. Best Buy, for chrissakes. Lol

I guess if I saw one or two of these ads for stuff that was massively overpriced for used equipment and then some stuff that was at least reasonably priced that would be one thing, but these are all of the ads for DSLR's on my local craigslist posted within the last month. There are none out there that are worth anywhere near what they are asking for it, the closest I could find was a used 7d for $900 body only, but hell for that kind of money I'd just pay the extra $99 and get brand new with warranty. But on the upside at least it was priced below retail.. lol. That's pretty much the only one that I could find that was, which just floors me.

I mean craigslist here isn't that great of a source for me to begin with, for whatever reason Nikon equipment is very few and far between here on craigslist. You see quite a bit of canon gear but not much for Nikon, and it's exceedingly rare to find anything for sony or pentax.

 

[PaulWog]

At one point I tried selling my D5200 for $100 under market value. I think I was asking for $480 when it was on sale for $580 (camera-only in store) or something like that. I can't exactly remember the exact numbers, but I was precise with my pricing.

75% of the emails came at me along the lines of: "Why would I buy your D5200 when bundles offer an 18-55mm lens for half price with the camera." Just absolutely rude responses. I gave concise yet easy-to-read 5-6 sentence replies about why the 18-55mm might not be a desirable bundle, but never a second reply back. Just those first rude remarks. When I went to sell my 16-85mm VR, I got one email asking why he should buy it for the $500 asking price when the 18-55 was so much cheaper. He seemed genuine (he said "would you recommend it to me? Or is it something I don't need.", so I explained the benefits and detriments, and I told him why it might not be great for him... and why it could be excellent for him. Instead of a "thank you", I just never received a reply back. Mind you, I wasn't giving confusing answers, I kept it simple.

I've gone on Craigslist trying to find good deals. D700's are selling for a couple hundred dollars under the price of a new D610, D610's are selling for brand-new pricing because they "come new in box, warranty not registered yet" (every single one is new on craigslist eh), lenses cost more than what they'd cost if I got them on sale (24-70mm f2.8 Nikkor lens for $1800? Oh, sure, sounds like an awesome deal used...).

I did get lucky and managed to sell my 16-85mm VR at a decent price, and I did manage to sell my 35mm 1.8G DX lens which wasn't calibrated properly. Those buyers were nice (both never tested the lenses, though the deals were fair & there wasn't any beating around the bush). Buyers are usually either completely stupid on Craigslist (they want cheap cheap cheap, 18-300 is better than 24-70 right, more reach!), or they want to get such an amazing deal that no one would either buy or sell from them. People who are inbetween are so hard to find, like chasing the end of a rainbow...

The primary reason I don't bother with used gear (or gear that is advertised as "new") is because I don't trust people. There's no such thing as a 50% off deal. The best you can do is maybe 25% off, and at that point I'd rather just buy brand new. I'm sure there might be some exceptional cases, but the next two pieces of gear I want to get are:
1) The 35mm 1.8G DX lens (again). I can't afford to get anything better, despite that Sigma 35mm 1.4 looking mighty tempting.
2) A brand new full frame camera (D620, D710, whatever comes next). But, as mentioned above, I don't have the funds, so it could be the D630, or the D640 until I get something new.

I would never buy a used DSLR in my local listings. Check the price of the 35mm 1.8G on the local listings? For whatever reason, they sell at $190-$200, despite going on sale for $210+ tax in stores.

 

[shefjr]

I have never bought anything from CL. However, a Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 just popped up the other day for $1200. That seemed like a good deal to me.

I agree though that in general people ask way too much for their stuff. I read one where a guy said in his ad, "firm prices, I know what my stuff is worth." The equipment was at least a year old and he was charging as though it was brand new. I think he included the taxes he paid at the time too. Lol

 

[astroNikon]

Add on top of that, that one would be buying stolen goods.
I know in Pontiac area there's alot of (ie, carpentry equipment - saws, etc) equipment that is sold to Pawn stores and I've heard of alot of equipment disappearing from work trucks, or garages. I assume the same would happen with camera equipment.

There's been times I've sold stuff for much less than I've wanted to just to get rid of it, and then seeing it for sale for a higher price. So some people just want to resell stuff. Then there's some that think their junk is worth the same as when they've bought it.

Basically everything is scattered all around.

 

[acparsons61 1]

It's alright here, the problem is that I have to travel to Seoul to check out the equipment.

 

[480sparky42 42]

........Sadly though by the time I got done paying for gas to get over there and back.. well, I'd almost be paying retail............ .

But look at the bright side..... if you're coming over here to make a deal, you could bask the the glow of my presence during lunch. :mrgreen: