Tessar.
Established
Is it me or are sellers on ebay trying to massively inflate prices at the moment?
I just noticed a reasonable Red Scale Elmar up for £525 and the same UK seller sold a nice M3 for £450ish recently at auction and has gone to listing another similar one for over £700 buy it now, which is just a crazy price for an M3.
I just noticed a reasonable Red Scale Elmar up for £525 and the same UK seller sold a nice M3 for £450ish recently at auction and has gone to listing another similar one for over £700 buy it now, which is just a crazy price for an M3.
It isn't recently, prices, BIN or opening bids, on ebay have been very optimistic for a while now. There are not many bargains or even reasonably priced items available any more.
Tessar.
Established
Yes, I can get better deals from a lot of the dealers in the UK now. I was looking for a collapsible 9cm Elmar and found one at a dealer in the UK for £125 and the cheapest I could see one on ebay for was £175 in pretty crappy condition...
Tessar.
Established
I guess I ought to check out the rff classifieds more, but I find that the search function isn't great and if I trawl through all the ads I start to get GAS 
bigeye
Well-known
Since Jan 2011 the equipment I've been watching has gone up 25-30% on eBay. It appears that the asian market has really opened up for old film cameras.
It's a good thing; more demand for film.
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It's a good thing; more demand for film.
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dct
perpetual amateur
I guess I ought to check out the rff classifieds more, but I find that the search function isn't great and if I trawl through all the ads I start to get GAS
same problem here! I should look for exactly one lens type to buy and I end up droling thru all the nice classified things for at least 20 minutest... Tessar.
Established
Increased demand for film is fine by me, I much prefer it to digital capture!
jbrianfoto
Established
This doesn't mean for sure that the collectors of old film cameras are actually going to put film "in" them ;-) It would be nice if they did though !
Araakii
Well-known
I've long decided not to keep much cash. I would rather hold lenses even if I don't shoot with them.
peter_n
Veteran
Part of it is the sheer cost for small sellers, eBay is taking quite a percentage of the sale price so a lot of the smaller sellers are jacking the asking price up to compensate. It hasn't been a good place to sell for a long time and the forced use of PayPal doesn't help either.
Frontman
Well-known
I sell a lot of cameras on eBay, but not so many go to Asia, lately it seems that nearly half of the gear I sell goes to Australia. The biggest factor lately when it comes to selling gear to America is the terribly low value of the dollar. In 5 years it has lost nearly half it's value, so I would need to charge nearly twice as much to maintain the same level of profit.
David Murphy
Veteran
High eBay/PayPal fees are driving higher prices since the sellers must factor these into the price of the item sold. Sellers pass these fees on to buyers, so the buyers end up effectively paying to shop on eBay. eBay "Buyer Protection" theoretically favors the buyer, but in reality buyers also pay for this since sellers pass along the costs of this in terms of higher prices. For instance handling charges are used to pay for insurance and to help mitigate other seller expenses or risks forced on them by eBay.
The total eBay/PayPal fees can typically amount to 10-15% of a final price. Additional eBay's policies of favoring buyers over sellers when problems arise in transactions means many sellers are moving away from auctions towards fixed priced listings with high prices requiring immediate payment with PayPal. The later is a consequence of eBay tolerating non-paying buyers and the fact that they cannot receive negative feedback. More and more sellers are also offering items "as is" to avoid eBay mandated return policies that also almost always favor buyers.
These are among the reasons that off-eBay prices are looking more attractive historically speaking. Shopping here or in many camera stores is now a good approach for many!
The total eBay/PayPal fees can typically amount to 10-15% of a final price. Additional eBay's policies of favoring buyers over sellers when problems arise in transactions means many sellers are moving away from auctions towards fixed priced listings with high prices requiring immediate payment with PayPal. The later is a consequence of eBay tolerating non-paying buyers and the fact that they cannot receive negative feedback. More and more sellers are also offering items "as is" to avoid eBay mandated return policies that also almost always favor buyers.
These are among the reasons that off-eBay prices are looking more attractive historically speaking. Shopping here or in many camera stores is now a good approach for many!
astro8
Well-known
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
That and the fact that in a camera store, buyers aren't competing with the whole world for that one item.
Beemermark
Veteran
Ebay now charges around 15% for a transaction. However, you can list it as a buy it now and if it's above $1000 you pay a flat $100. I think a lot of dealers (stores) are simply listing inventory to see if anyone bites. if no one bids they aren't out anything. IF someone does - BINGO.
Ebay got too greedy and has basically driven out private sales. If you check the completed ads you'll see lots of items are never sold.
Ebay got too greedy and has basically driven out private sales. If you check the completed ads you'll see lots of items are never sold.
Beemermark
Veteran
I've been thinking lately of starting my own auction site for camera gear. Modeled after you know who. When ebay banned any type of gun or gun related item for sale a number of web sites jumped up to fill the void. They are every bit as slick as eBay and charge about 2% for a sale. They have been very successful which means they must be making money. The sales dept on this forum, and other forums, is nice but it is impossible to search for anything. If you list an item it's visible for a few days and then disappears.
It's a lot of work sitting up a site. do you think enough people would be interested? Any suggestion for a domain and site name?
It's a lot of work sitting up a site. do you think enough people would be interested? Any suggestion for a domain and site name?
n5jrn
Well-known
It's not exactly a recent phenomenon. I've pretty much given up on eBay as a place to find good deals. I find it much easier to get better prices elsewhere.
Dirk
Privatier
I have noticed a tremendous increase in the price of Leica items (mostly lenses) in the last year or so. A 90mm Elmarit-R type II used to be in the $400's. Now many are listed in the $900's. On the other hand, some Japanese SLR lenses haven't really moved much. Just like in the art market, the best items will continue to go up, whereas the average stuff lingers.
And yes, Ebay has become way too greedy and unfriendly to sellers.
And yes, Ebay has become way too greedy and unfriendly to sellers.
Elmar Lang
Well-known
Many factors are increasing the price of what's considered as "vintage" photo equipment.
One, is the increased demand of film cameras due to the wide public of even young photographers looking for any type of "analogic" equipment, from the finest, to the cheapest quality.
Another, as correctly said by other colleagues, is due to the now high commission eBay wants from vendors, plus PayPal (an eBay owned system) commission.
In other words, selling through eBay can often cost even more than buying at traditional, "room-based" auction houses (like Dorotheum or Westlicht, both in Vienna, Austria, for instance) or at specialized dealers' stores.
Room-based auction houses usually offers good commission to vendors (from 10% to 14%) and buyers pay an average of 20% buyer's premium. On eBay it often happens that the seller charges his sale's commission to the buyer, plus often inflated shipping costs. That's why someone considers eBay as expensive.
I've never bought anything photographic through web-based stores: I usually like to see what I'm going to buy (especially if expensive) or, I'm more confident of an auction house expert's "condition report", added to a hopefully good catalogue description.
Personally, I'm also used to visit specialized stores and discuss about what I would be going to buy. I prefer to pay a few money more than what's considered an "average" price, but having both a guarantee or being sure that the piece was inspected or its condition thoroughly checked.
Best wishes,
E.L.
One, is the increased demand of film cameras due to the wide public of even young photographers looking for any type of "analogic" equipment, from the finest, to the cheapest quality.
Another, as correctly said by other colleagues, is due to the now high commission eBay wants from vendors, plus PayPal (an eBay owned system) commission.
In other words, selling through eBay can often cost even more than buying at traditional, "room-based" auction houses (like Dorotheum or Westlicht, both in Vienna, Austria, for instance) or at specialized dealers' stores.
Room-based auction houses usually offers good commission to vendors (from 10% to 14%) and buyers pay an average of 20% buyer's premium. On eBay it often happens that the seller charges his sale's commission to the buyer, plus often inflated shipping costs. That's why someone considers eBay as expensive.
I've never bought anything photographic through web-based stores: I usually like to see what I'm going to buy (especially if expensive) or, I'm more confident of an auction house expert's "condition report", added to a hopefully good catalogue description.
Personally, I'm also used to visit specialized stores and discuss about what I would be going to buy. I prefer to pay a few money more than what's considered an "average" price, but having both a guarantee or being sure that the piece was inspected or its condition thoroughly checked.
Best wishes,
E.L.
It costs sellers much much more to sell on Westlicht than on ebay. However, it's arguably a better place to sell unique equipment as the high end collectors are there, so in theory the prices will be higher. Generally you won't see run of the mill stuff there, or items in average user condition.
It also costs far more in overhead to run a retail store than it does to sell on ebay.
Paypal fees are commensurate with credit card discount rates that merchants pay, so that's pretty much a wash.
The main problem with ebay is that the sellers cant choose the buyers. So sellers end up with deadbeats, or buyers who game the system by taking advantage of ebay 'buyer protection' by using extortionist tactics.
It also costs far more in overhead to run a retail store than it does to sell on ebay.
Paypal fees are commensurate with credit card discount rates that merchants pay, so that's pretty much a wash.
The main problem with ebay is that the sellers cant choose the buyers. So sellers end up with deadbeats, or buyers who game the system by taking advantage of ebay 'buyer protection' by using extortionist tactics.