Problems with selling to friends

[The_Traveler]

I have been selling off my Nikon gear and am down to one D700, 85 1.4 and 24-70 (plus assorted batteries, etc which will go with body).

Several of my friends, who don't know each other have inquired about various combinations of the trio and I've put them off, not wanting to finally sell these last pieces yet.

Inevitably the situation will come up that each of them will want something that another wants. \I want to avoid a public auction because that will add fees for me and let others into the bidding but it seems like the only solution.
If I do favor one friend over another, I have no idea of how to manage this without hurt feelings.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

Whoever contact you first and can give you the cast relatively fast wins.

 

[The_Traveler]

No, that is not a way I deal with my friends.

 

[o hey tyler]

Whoever contact you first and can give you the cast relatively fast wins.

Who would accept a cast as a form of payment? I'd want AT LEAST a splint too. Perhaps even an IV Drip.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

Iphone fat finger syndrome.

 

[Tailgunner]

No, that is not a way I deal with my friends.

Generally speaking, this is a business deal, first come, first served, or as stated above, first contact or dibs. If that doesn't work, maybe Ebay is your best bet.

 

[o hey tyler]

Iphone fat finger syndrome.

iFFS?

 

[Overread16 4]

You could always not sell the camera Many people keep and operate different systems alongside each other and I'm sure that as good as the m4/3rds is that you've recently bought into, the DSLR will still have its place when you want the greater amount of selective focus etc...

The other options are:

1) Whoever asks first gets it -

2) Whoever pays the most gets it -

3) Put it up on ebay and suffer the fees and just make it a full open auction (which is pretty much option 2 only with fees and with the option that other people outside of your friends circle gets it).

In the end I'd say just go with your gut; friends should not ever be friends just for material reasons and you shouldn't stress yourself that you might lose a friendship because you sold your camera to someone else. Sell it at a fair market rate (check completed listings on ebay and also B&H/Adorama second hand prices) and let that be the end of it. If another friend wants it too you can just point them to the other market options and they can pick it up for a similar rate.

 

[samm]

Have a auction between friends .Sell to the highest bidder.With no hard feelings.Let them know what you are doing before hand and it will be straight forward.

 

[pixmedic]

I had a similar situation when I started selling my guns. I had at about 9 I was selling, and I had a few friends that wanted several of the same guns.
These were all friends I went out shooting with frequently, known for many years, and had little reason to consider one over the other.
SOME of the issues were solved by way of finances. (only one of them had the money on hand for the Colt revolver i was selling)
Other than that, I had also considered that there may be some infighting and/or hard feelings over who gets what.
In truth, it turned out to be the opposite. I made the announcement that I was selling most of my guns while we were all out shooting, and that it would be done on a first cash/first served basis, and that i wasn't going to "hold" anything if someone else had the cash in hand for it. surprisingly enough, everyone agreed that was fair, and even the people that didn't get what they had wanted were at least happy that my guns went to shooting buddies rather than strangers at a gun show.

you may have similar results from your like minded camera enthusiasts. Don't assume the worse about your friends...they might just surprise you.

 

[nmoody]

You could just email them all saying basically what you said here. That they all have requested pieces and they over lap each other in their requests. Explain that you want to help them all out but it's obviously not possible.

Some will back down because they don't "need" it and the others left will hopefully make your decision easier.

Make sure to express that they should go to a good home that will use them a lot. Example is someone using the D700 as a primary vs backup camera.

 

[sleist]

Easiest solution - keep all three. Those are 3 nice pieces of kit to have around despite the size. They have capabilities your current system may lack.
In the interim, your friends may decide to get something else on their own and will make your problem go away without you needing to be the bad guy.

 

[The_Traveler]

Thanks for all of the input.
I think that rather than trying to decide just how to do something the best way, I will let everything sit for a while and then hope it sorts itself out - as it probably will.

Last month I was in a similar fit of anxiety about perhaps being in three overlapping shows (believe me, low level local things). I couldn't see how I was going to do it.
All that worrying for naught. One in Sept, one in Jan-Feb and the last one went co-op and wanted me to join and that was too much of a pay-to-play deal for even my inflated ego to support.

 

[Light Guru]

Whoever contact you first and can give you the cash relatively fast wins.

No, that is not a way I deal with my friends.

Why not? Is not like that is an unfair way to do it.

Ether offer it to both at the same time and say whoever can pay me first can have it. Or don't sell to your friends at all.