Recommendations for equipment selling?

[Huss]

In other words, there are costs to every form of selling. You just have to decide what you are comfortable with having to absorb.


PF

craigslist is free.
🙂

I've sold everything from a Leica M-E to a Xpan to a Nikon FE2 there. For zero cost to me. At regular buyer market value.

 

[CameraQuest]

craiglist is free.
🙂

I've sold everything from a Leica M-E to a Xpan to a Nikon FE2 there. For zero cost to me. At regular buyer market value.

the problem with craigslist if that you never know
if the "buyer" is bringing money or a loaded gun

that's a chance I would never take

 

[Huss]

the problem with craigslist if that you never know
if the "buyer" is bringing money or a loaded gun

that's a chance I would never take

I meet them in a bank if it is a big tkt item.
You could also pick a police station.

Otherwise a local cafe.

 

[CameraQuest]

I meet them in a bank if it is a big tkt item.
You could also pick a police station.

Otherwise a local cafe.

do a search for craigslist robbery
its all too common

 

[Carterofmars]

Something to consider before posting ads here in the classifieds, or on Photrio or Fred Miranda, is the way you choose to price it, as opposed to the place that generates the most sales, eBay, is this: eBay is frequently the quickest way to sell something, and will net you much more than selling to a dealer (which is even quicker). However, eBay skims 10% off the top of everything you sell, and the mandatory Paypal payment option skims off another 3%. 13% is a pretty big hit to your wallet, but it’s easy and fast if you are realistic about your asking price.

How does one determine a “realistic” asking price? Knowing what large numbers of items identical to yours have actually sold for in the world wide market of willing buyers and willing sellers will tell you what your item is really “worth”. And, no, just because it belonged to your dear, departed mom doesn’t make it worth more, even if it gives you some added emotional feeling of value. Nobody cares, nor should they.

This is where eBay comes in handy, because it is the world’s biggest data base of actual sales prices. Take the item you want to sell, go to eBay and do a search for that item and you will usually find scads of similar ones listed for sale. Disregard the “buy it now” prices shown as being generally irrelevant. Go to the top right of the search results page and hit the “advanced” button which takes you to a second page of search results, one which allows some winnowing. Find the box which allows you to narrow the search results to show only “sold listings”. The results shown there, taken as an average (and there will be scant standard deviation if you take condition into account) are what your item is “worth” to a sane buyer. These prices will be considerably, and perhaps disappointingly, less than the pie in the sky/I believe in unicorns “buy it now” prices which tend to populate the main search page. Such is life.

You now have a solid, realistic number which reflects what your item is ever likely to sell for. The next question is: Where do I sell it? You sell it on eBay, and eBay takes 13% just for making it easy and quick for you. Fair enough, them’s the rules.

Or, you sell it here and pay a flat $7 to post the ad, plus you have the option of asking to receive the net amount for which you are asking. (No eBay 10%, no Paypal 3%). If you are selling a $10 item it makes no sense to list it here, because the ad cost you $7 and eBay is only going to charge you $1.30 to sell it.

The next question, if you are going to sell it here or on Photrio or Fred Miranda, is “How much do I list it for, if I am selling it here as opposed to eBay?” That’s an interesting question, and different people answer it differently, depending on their personalities, as near as I can tell. You already know, from the sold listings on eBay, exactly what it is really worth. You can take that number, deduct 13%, list it here and give someone here in “the community” an opportunity to get a “nice deal” , while at the same time costing you absolutely nothing relative to what you would have actually pocketed had you sold it on eBay. Or, you can go for the gold, to hell with the “community”, and list it for the full (realistic, real world selling price); buyer doesn’t really get a “deal” but does get your item for what it is really worth on the open market, and you get to pocket what you would have received at the eBay selling price plus 13%.
Different strokes, for different folks. I see things listed here for the same exact price they are listed at on eBay, where there is ten times the selection, plus aggressive Paypal buyer protection, and sense someone who is only trying to gouge me by maximizing their net, but I understand it’s all how you look at it. I would never consider buying from them, though.

When I list something here, I take the amount I know I could sell it for on eBay (what buyers buy it for on Ebay, i.e. it’s actual value to others), deduct the 13% I know I would lose if I sold it on eBay, and list it for the lower amount here, because I understand that’s all I would get for it anyway, and maybe somebody else gets happy in the bargain. Then I usually list it later on eBay for the higher price if it doesn’t sell here in a few days, and, it rarely lasts 72 hours over there.

So, to the OP, that's how you determine what to sell things for, with an added dose of personality inventory thrown in for nothing🙂

And yes, I know, occasionally you can sell something for the pie in the sky amount you “want” to get for it because you think you “deserve” to get that much. That’s the “Next biggest fool” theory of marketing, and sometimes it works. It works every day in the housing market.

Larry- very appreciated. Thanks.

 

[farlymac]

craigslist is free.
🙂

I've sold everything from a Leica M-E to a Xpan to a Nikon FE2 there. For zero cost to me. At regular buyer market value.

Ah, but time is money too. Any of your buyers not show up, or were late? Plus, how much gas did you burn in your vehicle, if you drove the item to the meeting place? Every mile is an expense.

PF

 

[easyrider]

What about camera shows? Camerama coming up in Toronto Sept. 23. There are dealers but also private viewers, buyers and sellers. I am thinking of selling my mint Leica IIIF.
A few years ago, I sold a Contax T3 through this site. Buyer was in Canada. All went smoothly.

 

[benlees]

Depends on how fast you want the $ and if you want to maximize how much you get; are you willing to sell under market to quicken the sale?

I've used kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) many times. Hit or miss with regard to prices and amount of time it takes to sell. Have to organize a meeting- lots of people don't show up. Eats a lot of time.

Ebay will get you the most money but will cost the most in fees. BIN prices are a joke so have a look at completed sale prices from auctions to get a vague idea of worth- even these will give you only a range.

RFF if you have a trendy item (Leica, Rolleiflex) and price it for slightly less than market you will sell within the hour of putting the ad up. If you want max price it may not sell for weeks.

Good luck!

 

[Peter Jennings]

I use eBay Buy it Now or Best Offer when I sell gear. Almost always, I end up negotiating the sale price to something 10-20% lower than the asking price. What I mostly sell is non-Leica rangefinders and lenses, so they are never big-ticket items. If I were selling a Leica, I’d most likely do it here.

After doing a sold listing search on eBay, I try to price items a little higher than their average selling price. I also try to be very honest and detailed in my product descriptions. I’ve never had a buyer try to scam me or claim a return for any reason. But when I did auctions, I’d occasionally get a non-paying winning bidder, so I gave up on auctions. Usually, my buyers are very happy with the transactions and feedback is always positive.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Craigslist -- you'll get inquiries "Is your item still available...", but they don't know anyhting and don't seem to care. These are people trying to scam you to ship the item overseas, usually with a bogus check. For one camera sale, Nikon D200, I had 10 such vs. one legit local interested buyer.

Just saying, sort out the expressions of interest, triage the legit from the non.

 

[skopar steve]

I've had no success selling in the classifieds here. Not even nibbles. Items were priced reasonably ( half way between what keh will buy it for and what they will sell it for). Most likely the problem was I had no selling history. So without feedback selling here is a long shot, but worth trying for a couple of weeks. The fee goes to a good cause. Keeping the site going.

The most luck selling or buying gear has been craigslist.



Steve