Murchu
Well-known
Necessary evil, I guess, but definitely try not to do it too much if I can avoid it. When I sell, I sell locally though, so its usually a matter of posting up an ad, and waiting for someone to bite. I'm not sure I would have the appetite for international online sales. Seeing some here makes me wonder if they're not seeking some unattainable holy grail, but then to each their own.
noimmunity
scratch my niche
Wow, some of you guys have a real SYSTEM worked out there!
Speaking of systems, changing them is the only reason that pushes me to deal with all that hassle.
Speaking of systems, changing them is the only reason that pushes me to deal with all that hassle.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Absolutely!
My 35mm/digi systems:
Pentax (film only) 1966-1975
Leica (film and digi) 1969-present
Nikon (film and digi) 1974-present
And even then, I still have a couple of Pentaxes and lenses. Rarely bothered to sell.
"Quality doesn't cost. It pays."
Cheers,
R.
MISH
Well-known
now that I am married again I find that if I want to buy a new piece of equipment the easiest way for me to finance it is to sell some of the items that I have picked up over the years that I am no longer using. I have been able to turn a pile of things that were were not getting used by me and would probably never be again used by me for items that I use all the time for no additional monetary investment (plus I was able to connect my old items with people that are able to give them the kind of use they deserve) Talk about your win win situation, so why is it that is so painful for me to actually put items up for sale......what can I do to get over this phobia?
Roger Hicks
Veteran
There are two totally separate factors at work here.
1 Buy cheap, sell dear. Almost nothing to do with usable kit, except sometimes to try it with a roll or two.
2 Keep buying the wrong kit, and selling it again.
Over the last 40+ years, and two marriages (1977-80 and 1982-ongoing) I've greatly favoured the former over the latter.
Cheers,
R.
bob338
Well-known
I think this sums up married life pretty well.
My wife doesn't give a thought to anything I buy until I spend Family Money!
lam
Well-known
*quickly just purchased every single camera/lens I could get my hand on before money becomes family money* :angel:
Frontman
Well-known
I enjoy it. I sell about 30 cameras each month, of course I buy the same amount. It's not especially profitable, but it has allowed me to finance my hobby.
Living in Japan has a few advantages (and a few disadvantages), I can find many unique or hard-to-find things. And there are many things to photograph here. On the other hand, food, housing, and daily living expenses can be quite high. An apple can cost as much as $10, and strawberries as much at $1 each. In Miami a large watermelon costs $5, here a small watermelon costs $20 to $50, the biggest one I have seen sold for nearly $300. Such is life in Tokyo.
Over time I have been able to put together a nice collection pf gear. I eventually get tired of some of the things I have bought, so I sell them and use the funds to try something else. I haven't quite found the perfect kit yet, but I have had a lot of fun trying.
Living in Japan has a few advantages (and a few disadvantages), I can find many unique or hard-to-find things. And there are many things to photograph here. On the other hand, food, housing, and daily living expenses can be quite high. An apple can cost as much as $10, and strawberries as much at $1 each. In Miami a large watermelon costs $5, here a small watermelon costs $20 to $50, the biggest one I have seen sold for nearly $300. Such is life in Tokyo.
Over time I have been able to put together a nice collection pf gear. I eventually get tired of some of the things I have bought, so I sell them and use the funds to try something else. I haven't quite found the perfect kit yet, but I have had a lot of fun trying.
kanzlr
Hexaneur
You are developing a routine. I sold about 300 photographic items, a lot via eBay, forums, etc.
It now takes only a short amount of time to photograph properly with a ring flash, put up the images / crop / resize and put up a short description.
really, just a matter of doing it often enough.
It now takes only a short amount of time to photograph properly with a ring flash, put up the images / crop / resize and put up a short description.
really, just a matter of doing it often enough.
kuzano
Veteran
I resist the idea....
I resist the idea....
I seriously resist the idea that fees are "killing" anyone on eBay.
Fees for both Buyers and Sellers are merely the normal costs of doing business that are well hidden in all other sales/purchase venues.
People who buy and subsequently sell any merchandise (in this case photographic gear and film, or digital accessories) have cost of acquisition, costs of handling, costs of delivery (shipping) and so forth.
Nowhere outside of eBay are those costs delineated and discussed as completely as shown on eBay. I have been selling (buying and selling) film gear on eBay for a decade. With every sale, my listings are clearer to buyers - and sellers -than in any other realm of the retail OR wholesale market place.
If you want those fees, expenses and other hidden costs of acquisition hidden in the final sale price and packaged cleanly so that you don't have to think about all the parts of the sale that I must consider, then yes... by all means... Buy from KEH, B&H, Amazon or your local "Brick and Mortar" establishment, or private parties, on which you have no history.
The reality is that if you do your homework in eBay, Learn the system, and watch for the Red Flags... eBay is the final point of establishing "real world" pricing and price averaging.
Frankly, the traffic on eBay is so dynamic and at the same time "predictable" on pricing that by this time I can do my home work on the data readily available on eBay and predict within $10-20, the final price I will get on items selling in ranges from $100 to $1000.
The added advantage is, in fact, that volume of traffic is my best selling point. If I have what you want, you must make a choice to buy, because that listing is viewable by thousands of potential buyers in the short time I have it listed. I just have to research the data on eBay relative to the condition of my item in particular, and price it fairly.
Furthermore, I do not play games with the fees, and can tell you when someone is playing those games. They do not do it for very long before the system ejects them. With the feedback system, again properly translated, you know more about your customers (as they are) than any walk-in to a "B/M" storefront.
My prices and fees are no more expensive, nor are yours, than any "conventional" business recovering cost of rent, employee staffing, operating expenses and inventory.
Private sales, of course, depart a bit from that analysis, but are somewhat in the same analytical process.
You know more about your transaction on eBay because of the clear deliniation of fees and other costs than most private and commercial sales situations.
I resist the idea....
I seriously resist the idea that fees are "killing" anyone on eBay.
Fees for both Buyers and Sellers are merely the normal costs of doing business that are well hidden in all other sales/purchase venues.
People who buy and subsequently sell any merchandise (in this case photographic gear and film, or digital accessories) have cost of acquisition, costs of handling, costs of delivery (shipping) and so forth.
Nowhere outside of eBay are those costs delineated and discussed as completely as shown on eBay. I have been selling (buying and selling) film gear on eBay for a decade. With every sale, my listings are clearer to buyers - and sellers -than in any other realm of the retail OR wholesale market place.
If you want those fees, expenses and other hidden costs of acquisition hidden in the final sale price and packaged cleanly so that you don't have to think about all the parts of the sale that I must consider, then yes... by all means... Buy from KEH, B&H, Amazon or your local "Brick and Mortar" establishment, or private parties, on which you have no history.
The reality is that if you do your homework in eBay, Learn the system, and watch for the Red Flags... eBay is the final point of establishing "real world" pricing and price averaging.
Frankly, the traffic on eBay is so dynamic and at the same time "predictable" on pricing that by this time I can do my home work on the data readily available on eBay and predict within $10-20, the final price I will get on items selling in ranges from $100 to $1000.
The added advantage is, in fact, that volume of traffic is my best selling point. If I have what you want, you must make a choice to buy, because that listing is viewable by thousands of potential buyers in the short time I have it listed. I just have to research the data on eBay relative to the condition of my item in particular, and price it fairly.
Furthermore, I do not play games with the fees, and can tell you when someone is playing those games. They do not do it for very long before the system ejects them. With the feedback system, again properly translated, you know more about your customers (as they are) than any walk-in to a "B/M" storefront.
My prices and fees are no more expensive, nor are yours, than any "conventional" business recovering cost of rent, employee staffing, operating expenses and inventory.
Private sales, of course, depart a bit from that analysis, but are somewhat in the same analytical process.
You know more about your transaction on eBay because of the clear deliniation of fees and other costs than most private and commercial sales situations.
jarski
Veteran
agree with this. can still remember my Leica-virgin feelings after receiving and unboxing my first M (M3), holding it in my hands, awing the build, playing with controls etc.
am not currently buying & selling because of other priorities, but also because that magic is gone.
peter_n
Veteran
You read like you're a volume seller, perhaps even with a storefront and the beneficiary of low fees because of your volume.
My very infrequent sales on eBay have stopped because of the high percentage taken by the site from people like me who sell only a very few items per year.
I much prefer no fees on PN or very low fees on FM!
SteveM(PA)
Poser
That is my strategy too. Put it here, considerably below market value. It's fun to see the excitement, to give someone else a great deal, and to get it done fast.
kuzano
Veteran
Nope..not a volume seller. No store front. No special discounts for volume, very straightforward listings. No special HTML coding. Straight auction and buy it now. Yet for all that, I simply understand the TINSTAAFL theory. "There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".
I'm sorry but for all the complaints of fees, there is nothing out there at comes close to the simplicity you seem to desire, that doesn't carry other attendant risks.
OK.. let's take Craigslist for example.... NO fees, but Identity Theft, Scamming, Risk of personal injury, Mugging, Robbery... and even now a few deaths. Sorry, escaping simple and low cost fees for that kind of risk is not MY cup of tea.
Furthermore every brick and mortar retailer and even wholesaler out there in business, fantasizes about costs as low as eBay offers.
I am not doing anything special. I'm just a guy buying and selling on eBay to support my hobby. I do thoroughly understand the system however, and I play by the rules... both dictated by eBay and Paypal. I submit that that is the part that the whiners hate the most That eBay and Paypal have a great thing going for buyers and seller, have for years, and are in CHARGE of the system.
It's the control that people miss, even if it's in their best interest.
My primary point is that no matter where you go to transfer goods between buyers and sellers, eBay and Paypal are the most forthright with both sides of the equation. Those costs are always there, in every transaction where goods change hands. If buyers and sellers are reluctant to face those facts, then perhaps reality is just not the way for them to do business.
Again, not doing anything special here. Not receiving any perks that a once a month lister is getting. In fact my activity may run from 2-5 transactions month to raise some money for something I want to buy, to periods of 2 or 3 months without a buy or a sale listing.
It's such an easy system if one applies the time toward learning how it works.
I can often look at every complaint I see about eBay/Paypal and point out every red flag that would have saved someone grief... either a buyer or seller.
That's about it. I will not pursue this issue farther than these two posts.
It's all free will. Use it. Don't use it. It works for me, and millions of other people. We can't all be wrong.
bob338
Well-known
I would kill for overhead at my store to be 11% like on ebay!
My monthly costs are typically 50-60% of my gross, and that's before paying myself.
Ebay has a lot of things wrong with it, but it is still the widest audience you could ever dream of, and the majority of transactions go off without a hitch.
panerai
Well-known
It's hard work when you do it every so often, but I've been selling stuff on the internet since 1997, so got the packaging materials etc. that I need.
Some things I have to get a cost for shipping, but local PO is in the plaza close to me, so it's a Starbucks run and a s/h price check when needed.
Only bought and sold a few camera items. Most of what I sell is lightweight and fits in padded mailers
DON
Some things I have to get a cost for shipping, but local PO is in the plaza close to me, so it's a Starbucks run and a s/h price check when needed.
Only bought and sold a few camera items. Most of what I sell is lightweight and fits in padded mailers
DON
sleepyhead
Well-known
I do find it time consuming to sell stuff, so I tend to do it in batches of several items only a couple of times a year. And I no longer buy as many things out of curiousity, so I have fewer things to sell.
Richard G
Veteran
It is not a factor at all Dave.
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
For selling on eBay, I just print out the USPS pre-paid mailing label. Then I just drop the box at the post office counter without having to talk to anybody. I don't think I can do that for RFF sales. I've had to fill out a hand written label and hand it to the clerk. Not much hardship there, though!
Vickko
Veteran
I don't like selling.
I prefer to put it on RFF first, but I know that if it doesn't sell quickly on RFF, it won't sell here at all. So then it is off to ebay.
Most things eventually sell on ebay, but, often not at the crazy prices that some sellers post.
For Leica stuff, I've always gotten my money back. For non-Leica, I do 50% to 2/3rds recovery. Kind of scared at how little I'll get if / when I sell some of my Nikon RF stuff.
I prefer to put it on RFF first, but I know that if it doesn't sell quickly on RFF, it won't sell here at all. So then it is off to ebay.
Most things eventually sell on ebay, but, often not at the crazy prices that some sellers post.
For Leica stuff, I've always gotten my money back. For non-Leica, I do 50% to 2/3rds recovery. Kind of scared at how little I'll get if / when I sell some of my Nikon RF stuff.