Panic is setting in...

[tlitody]

I put a couple of lenses up for sale on the big auction site. Panic is now setting in as the closing time approaches and bids so far are not too high. How nerve racking is this. I've only sold a couple of items before and that was a while back. Am I going to be giving these lenses away.
How many watchers do you think I need to be sure of a last minute bidding frenzy?

 

[James24]

In theory you only need 2 bidders, of course. In practice, perhaps 15 watchers might be enough to be confident of a good sale. Only a handful will actually bid; others are just interested, perhaps have a similar lens they want to sell soon, are hoping for a bargain etc etc.

I think more bidders are waiting until nearer the end of the auction before they bid these days. I place my high bid right at the end...it's the best way to win!

Check out the completed auctions - it might give you some confidence about your expected results. If your lenses are in good condition, without scratches or fungus, and you have described (including the main keywords in the title) and photographed them well, there is no reason why you shouldn't get a decent price for them.

 

[MC JC86]

In my experience, Thursday is a good day to end auctions. Many items gain 50% or more in value in the last 15 minutes, and with bid sniping programs sometimes the last 15 seconds. As long as an item is listed correctly and photographed well it will, almost without fail, reach a level comparable to other similar items in similar condition. When I sell items, whether it Vivitar or Leica, I start them at $0.99. It hasn't failed me yet. Good luck, I'm sure you'll be ok.

edit: keep in mind that not everybody adds things to their watchlist, especially with the advent of bidsniping.

 

[MC JC86]

How did it work out?

 

[tlitody]

We're not quite there yet. Tomorrow evening. But one lens is going to be very low price I think. The other I'm not sure. I may have screwed up big time by picking an overly expensive courier which is easiest for me to send. I added a note that I have found cheaper so I hope I can set shipping cost when it completes. I think I can but only having used ebay a couple of times for selling I'm not 100% sure.

 

[MC JC86]

Your low feedback may come into play somewhat... but you still have A LOT of time in eBay terms as far as the final bid... Don't get too upset about it. (I hope I don't have to end up eating crow). Let me know, good luck.

 

[crawdiddy]

I hope this doesn't come off as opportunistic-- Why don't you point us to your items, and perhaps you might spur some interest?

 

[tlitody]

They are large format lenses. Not for rangefinders at all (well maybe a Technika or two and one or two others). If you are looking for schneider large format lenses you can find them in the auction site.

 

[crawdiddy]

Those are beautiful lenses. Well photographed and described. I find it hard they wouldn't attract interest.

 

[tlitody]

Those are beautiful lenses. Well photographed and described. I find it hard they wouldn't attract interest.

Get your bids in then 😀

It's just that I bought them new so I'm taking a big hit on selling them. But then again they've been sitting unused for some time since I stopped doing large format photography and sold my LF camera. So I'm going to take the hit some time anyway. That'll teach me not to jump into something on a whim. Turned out large format really isn't for me. I like to be far more mobile when I'm out with a camera.
I'm just panicking that they won't even reach a moderately reasonable price. But thats the auction site for you. We'll see.
In future I think i'm going to buy second hand which is something I've learned makes a lot of sense from this forum.

p.s. I've kept my favourite lens though, just in case I change my mind and buy another LF camera. But I expect it'll probably get sold too. 😉