Selling gear: best venue?

[Takkun]

Hi everyone,
I'm clearing out my closet, mostly to fund my RF habit. I've got a big pile of old Nikon gear mostly, and some accessories included. I'm really not particularly good or patient with eBay, so I'm trying to avoid that route. I'm also not entirely sure of the value of many of these items, so listing here on RFF is also lower on my priority list.

Which leaves two alternatives: KEH or one of the two brick-and-mortar stores here in Seattle.

Any input?

 

[Vics]

The stores will give you half what they'll sell for. They have to make a living, too.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I used to manage a camera shop and we had to buy at 40% or less and sell for the markup. Just keep that in mind.
Keh is ok but it takes a while
RFF is a great venue for photo sales. The best, in my opinion. This community is very invested in its members and the strength of the forum.
Other than that, private sales are the only other means I can think of.

Phil Forrest

 

[thegman]

Generally I have good luck with eBay, although recently I got a very quick sale here on RFF.

 

[Takkun]

Much appreciated. I used to sell used gear at a shop. Operative term is "sell;" we had a separate buyer, so I had some idea of resale value but no idea how much we paid for them.

I guess I'll hunker down and put some of these up here on RFF. Sounds like that's the best idea. Wasn't sure if KEH vs local was better.

Moderately related story: in high school, I bought some equipment from a tiny, overcrowded shop on 43rd in Seattle. Now I'm a graduate student at UW, and noticed my 28mm Nikkor was engraved "UW CAUP" (the program I'm in) and showed it to the architectural photo professor. "Where did you get this? All of our Nikon stuff was stolen 15 years ago." Turns out the place was known for selling stolen equipment.
Got to keep the lens, though.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

You also might want to try Green Mountain Camera in Vermont. They gave me significantly more for used SLR gear than KEH offered. Here's the link: http://www.gmcamera.com/

 

[daveleo]

You made a good choice.
I have sold some things to KEH and as stated, they must come in far below market value for them to cover expenses and make profit.

When selling my stuff, I check out what KEH is selling for and undercut that by some amount.

Selling here on RFF has been an extremely positive experience. Almost like you know the buyer personally !

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Register as a seller in Amazon.com. I did that, and, as long as they sell the item, you can list yours as a "used" choice. If they don't, then you have to go through a process to create an item or some such thing. Look up the stuff you're selling; if it's selling in Amazon, you can join the choir. If not... then don't.

Granted, it's not a quick process. At one point, I listed a few Nikon AF lenses there. It took about three months, but when they sold, it was in quick succession. Also, I got my money deposited in my bank account at the end of the month. They do charge a percentage, but give you credit for shipping (meaning, more money per item into your account).

Best of luck! 🙂

 

[Paddy C]

I've sold some gear recently and have more to go. Once finished I promise I'll write a post about it all because it's given me some insight into buying gear. But I digress...

Check KEH and completed listings on ebay to get a sense of what you can reasonably expect.

Try listing it on RFF first. Take whatever doesn't sell and start looking at other forums. A lot of people seem to like Fred Miranda for example. You should also try to sell locally through free classifieds like Craigslist, Kijiji etc. No harm in having the stuff listing in several places.

Keep working at it. ebay as a last resort because you give up too much money in fees. IIRC, you are now paying about 13% to sell on ebay and, in most cases, despite what some will say, you can't mark gear up enough to make up for it.

 

[Paddy C]

One other consideration that I've been mulling over is to include "free" shipping. If you limit your sales to buyers located in the continental USA you can figure out what the most expensive destination will be. Increase your price to cover a certain percentage of that (you're making a small bet that the buyer won't be from that place). This, IMO, creates less hassle for both parties and is appealing to the buyer.

 

[Paulbe]

Takkun--if you are selling some Nikon stuff--why not list it here? Especially with the "Df" on the way--and I'd like to see it, too!
Paul

 

[Vickko]

I list my stuff on RFF and www.largeformatphotography.info/ depending on what I'm trying to sell.

I find if it doesn't sell quickly here, or at largeformat, then it is off to ebay.

The nice thing is that both sites show how many times the ad is viewed. I find that an ad can easily be viewed a couple hundred times, and well, with that many views and no sale, it isn't going to sell here.

 

[daveleo]

One other consideration that I've been mulling over is to include "free" shipping. If you limit your sales to buyers located in the continental USA you can figure out what the most expensive destination will be. Increase your price to cover a certain percentage of that (you're making a small bet that the buyer won't be from that place). This, IMO, creates less hassle for both parties and is appealing to the buyer.

The USPS has a shipping cost calculator on their website. I've done it a few times and it's in the range of $12 - $20 for a camera body across the USA. Simply advertise it as $15 cost to the buyer and if it comes lower send the difference back to the buyers Paypal account.

 

[35mmdelux]

If its priced to sell, just about any gear forum is good. Generally price drives sales..

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Here is good. eBay works, but notice that their policies protect the buyer, sometimes to excess.

Know your values (from eBay or KEH) and price reasonably. Or, for a popular item, start it at $0.99 on eBay and let it go where it goes.

 

[goamules]

Ebay = fast sale, highest price. If you want to ensure everything will sell in one week, go with Ebay, with a low starting bid and no reserve.
LF formum = no hassles, slow sales. If you are ok if things don't sell, and waiting a month or more to find out, sell on this forum by coming up with the "right price".

 

[Bill58]

RFF used to be a good place to sell, but no longer. eBay is your best bet now. However, be careful. There's some scam artist buyers/ sellers there.

 

[Lauffray]

What if someone is new to ebay and doesn't have any seller cred on there ?

 

[segedi]

Check KEH and completed listings on ebay to get a sense of what you can reasonably expect.
Try listing it on RFF first. Take whatever doesn't sell and start looking at other forums. A lot of people seem to like Fred Miranda for example. You should also try to sell locally through free classifieds like Craigslist, Kijiji etc. No harm in having the stuff listing in several places.

Yep, see what the market is offering. Even search here and on Fred Miranda and GetDPI.

I often try local first with Kijiji and have had nice success doing that. No shipping hassle, cash!

Where I tend to buy/sell/trade in order of preference:

• Kijiji
• RFF
• GetDPI
• APUG
• buy on Fred Miranda, but I find it can be more problematic, more scammers.