Best Place to Sell Used Equipment?

[ProwlingTiger]

I've had no experience selling used equipment. I'm only semi-pro, so it's not like I have much. But all the same, I'd like to get the maximum value for my equipment which I baby like my Mac.

I've tried price quotes. Adorama has still not answered but B&H was terribly low, considering the condition of my equipment. I've tried Craigslist,....that resulted in a lot of scam emails. And no local offers on there, not much interest where I live.

I'm trying to keep eBay auctioning as a last resort, as the going price on there seems to be slightly lower than what I'm comfortable with. Irks me too, as I just watched a 40D body go for less than $700, which I happen to be in the market for.

But I have to sell one of my other cameras first. I'm thinking of selling my Sony Alpha (not high end so nothing too special) not to make a profit, just to offload it, then put more money towards the 40D for a 2nd body.

I thought I'd consult with my fellow Macrumors friends about their selling tactics and what you have best luck with. Is there another site out there I should be looking at?

And if I find a site, is it wise to ask to do the transaction through eBay? A lot of scammers seem to ask for Paypal id to "send payment," which I've been trained not to do via email.

Thanks for any advice,
-Dan

 

[luminosity]

eBay.

I've had good success selling items through it. I got over $400 for my 60mm AF-S 2.8, which is close to what it was going for at the time via Amazon. Now it would probably fetch more, given that Nikon's prices went up.

 

[FX120]

also the Fred Miranda forums.

 

[Phrasikleia]

The prices on eBay are generally quite high, especially if you're willing to ship internationally.

 

[synth3tik]

I hate to say it but ebay is the best place for 2 reasons. First is simple the large number of people who visit ebay and secondly with paypal, ebay is a rather safe place to sell and buy, not that you wont ever run into any issues, but so far I have only had one major issue with a buyer.

 

[Clix Pix]

I have never bought or sold equipment from here but have heard good things from many others who have: check out KEH.com, as this is one of their specialties.

 

[Kronie]

Ebay all the way!!!!
Places like fredmiranda and POTN are full of savvy shoppers that want the best price.

If you still have the original packaging, you can basically sell for almost the new price on Ebay. (or you could before the worldwide recession) Just a heads up, between ebay and paypal they will take about 5% or your profit and hold your earnings for 21 days now. Sell worldwide.

 

[toxic]

photography-on-the-net forums and FredMiranda. No fees for POTN, and a flat $25 per year for FM. Beyond that it's just 3-5% going to paypal if you use that for payment. If you sell with eBay, use Buy It Now. I don't like eBay because of all the fees.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

That is what I was afraid of. I've sold about bought stuff off eBay around 15 times, to trouble. But I listed a buy-it-now deal on my camera, for what I thought is a good price. Perhaps I overpriced it. Any recommendations on a good price for a very gently used a300?

Sorry, if this needs to be in marketplace. I was just asking a general question.

But do 3 day auctions go better than 7? And if I auction it, should I start at a dollar and set a reserve or start out a bit under my reserve. The common practice seems to be starting at a dollar, but I've never done that before.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[CarlsonCustoms]

I have been selling alot of my stuff using the Amazon marketplace.. They take care of all payments etc and just deposit into my bank account and I ship.

Easy as pie

 

[Cliff3]

I recently auctioned my D2X on Ebay and I got what I felt was a fair price for it. The opening price was $100, there was no reserve, and no buy it now price. I supplied a lot of high quality photos of the camera with the auction. I expected the camera to go for $1100-$1200 (~14000 shutter actuations), and it ended up going for slightly more than that. It had a lot of bidding activity from a couple dozen bidders, and more than 50 watchers.

Research completed auctions for cameras similar to your so that you have a reasonable expectation for what the camera is going to be worth to an Ebay buyer. Other than that, let the auction mechanism work for you. I see a lot of people start their items out at the price they want to get and most of the time the item goes unsold. Start it out at a low but not silly price. If you have a buy it now price, that price is going to have to be perceived as a deal by the buyer, and not necessarily represent a good price that you the seller hope to get.

 

[Phrasikleia]

I see a lot of people start their items out at the price they want to get and most of the time the item goes unsold. Start it out at a low but not silly price.

Yeah, I think the psychology here is that people think there is a possibility they might get an incredibly good deal when they see a very low current bid amount. So they decide to bid, something low at first, but then get caught up in their desire both for the object and for the perceived glory of winning (nobody wants to be a loser) so they keep upping their bid.

 

[Cliff3]

Yeah, I think the psychology here is that people think there is a possibility they might get an incredibly good deal when they see a very low current bid amount. So they decide to bid, something low at first, but then get caught up in their desire both for the object and for the perceived glory of winning (nobody wants to be a loser) so they keep upping their bid.

That, plus if there are a lot of bids for an item then the perception is that it is considered desirable by many and that the winner may need to compete a bit to win the auction. Of course, it helps if you're auctioning something desirable to begin with. Speaking of which, I always love seeing auctions for photographic equipment where the pictures look like they were taken with a cellphone cam. Hello?

 

[Kronie]

Start bids @ .99
No reserve (scares people off)
Sell international
Often towards the end it turns into a bidding frenzy (if your selling something someone wants). You get 90% of your bids in the last two minutes of an auction. Sometimes people pay more for a used item than you can buy new.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Sometimes people pay more for a used item than you can buy new.

I've seen that happen a lot, especially in auctions that are worldwide. Often full US price plus VAT plus customs still comes out cheaper than what a person outside the US can get in their own country.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

Yeah I've been scared of selling with no reserve. Naturally I'm not expecting to sell something used for the price of a new kit, but I'd like it to meet my expectations as well.

 

[Cliff3]

Yeah I've been scared of selling with no reserve. Naturally I'm not expecting to sell something used for the price of a new kit, but I'd like it to meet my expectations as well.

That's where reviewing closed auctions comes in. If you understand the value of what you're selling and do a half way competent job of presenting it, you will get what you expect and maybe a bit more without the need to specify a reserve.

(edit: of course it goes without saying that if you expect to get more for your item than people have been paying for the same or similar items, then you've got a problem)

 

[ProwlingTiger]

That's where reviewing closed auctions comes in. If you understand the value of what you're selling and do a half way competent job of presenting it, you will get what you expect and maybe a bit more without the need to specify a reserve.

(edit: of course it goes without saying that if you expect to get more for your item than people have been paying for the same or similar items, then you've got a problem)

Thanks for the advice. Could you tell me, though, if 3 day auctions are in any way worse than standard 7 day auctions? Of course it'd mean less exposure time to the marketplace, but it would get quicker placement in the "ending soonest" results, if I'm not mistaken. Most bidding seems to go on in the last couple days, it appears.

 

[Cliff3]

Thanks for the advice. Could you tell me, though, if 3 day auctions are in any way worse than standard 7 day auctions? Of course it'd mean less exposure time to the marketplace, but it would get quicker placement in the "ending soonest" results, if I'm not mistaken. Most bidding seems to go on in the last couple days, it appears.

Unless you're in a big rush to sell the item, why bother with a 3 day auction? 7 days of exposure is better than 3 days, no?

 

[Kronie]

Here is a good example. I need one of these, a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter. I can buy one for about $25 at various stores. Its full retail price is $29. It sold on Ebay for $30. Someone got caught up in a bidding war, or just didn't look around.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200316508043&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123

If anyone is listening, I still need a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter. Maybe someone has an extra one lying around?