Author Topic: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?  (Read 7693 times)

jeromedawg

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Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« on: April 17, 2015, 05:17:45 PM »
Hey all,

Was trying to find the easiest/best avenue for selling my used camera lenses and gear. Would Amazon be OK for this? I've sold quite a bit of stuff on Amazon just not much along the lines of camera stuff. I know Ebay is pretty good and have also heard of using Fredmiranda (for a fee too) but wanted to avoid all the hassles with creating listings and paying fees up-front. I like Amazon in that it's just super-easy to post stuff up. I did have to deal with a return one time (some lady bought my Palm Pixi and returned it cause she changed her mind and didn't realize it wasn't a dumb phone.... that was super frustrating). I've also heard horror stories, especially on Amazon, how when something goes wrong it's almost always on the seller. And even in cases of dishonest buyers committing fraud (switching out phones or shipping an empty box back, etc), Amazon takes the side of the buyer. I'm sure the same kinds of things happen on Ebay but there are more 'safeguards' in place to prevent that kind of stuff from happening to begin with.

Anyway, just wondering if any of you photographers have had good experiences selling camera gear. I'm trying to sell my Nikon D200 and a handful of lenses and stuff. Will probably get rid of my Panasonic GX1 and some lenses too. Now that I just mentioned all the gear I have, I might even get a few facepunches!!! Bahahahaha

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2015, 05:21:21 PM »
Oh and I also was hoping to avoid any suggestions of using Craigslist. Besides the stories you hear about people getting hurt or killed, I despise listing more expensive sale items on CL just because of all the low-ball offers. I understand that they want something for "cheap" but it's pretty ridiculous what some people's asking prices are - at that point, posting something of this nature on CL usually results in a flood of spam rather than legitimate offers.

swick

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2015, 05:23:04 PM »
Wouldn't hurt to post in the "Mustachian Marketplace" too, never know if someone from the community  would have an interest.

Also - check out if Facebook has any local camera or buy and sell groups. You'd be surprised.

Ricky

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2015, 05:23:15 PM »
fredmiranda.com - Learned that trick from a forum long long ago. Tons of amateurs / professionals on there. They have a feedback rating system. Basically, you pay a nominal amount for access to post for 30 days. Your postings stay active even if your sell ability runs out. Lots of good people and you'll come out ahead selling there versus eBay.

I've sold a 7D and several 5DIII's and lenses there without a hitch.

It's standard to ask for the buyer to cover the 3% PayPal fee, so you're basically just paying the shipping.

Cut out the middle man as much as you can!

jeromedawg

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2015, 05:25:49 PM »
fredmiranda.com - Learned that trick from a forum long long ago. Tons of amateurs / professionals on there. They have a feedback rating system. Basically, you pay a nominal amount for access to post for 30 days. Your postings stay active even if your sell ability runs out. Lots of good people and you'll come out ahead selling there versus eBay.

I've sold a 7D and several 5DIII's and lenses there without a hitch.

It's standard to ask for the buyer to cover the 3% PayPal fee, so you're basically just paying the shipping.

Cut out the middle man as much as you can!

Now that you spell it out, that actually does sound a lot better. Maybe I'll just do that, since I have quite a bit that I want to sell. And I would think you'd get offers pretty close to fair market value.

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2015, 06:02:45 PM »
I think gimp was in the market for some lenses.

Mirwen

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2015, 07:21:48 PM »
I used to sell things on Amazon, but I don't anymore.  I've heard too many horror stories about them completely closing your account and refusing another one due to poor seller performance (whether earned or not).  So one or two yahoos doing something dumb and blaming the seller for it could prevent you from ever being able to buy from Amazon.  I value my Amazon services too much to risk it by selling there.  It's ebay and craigslist for me from now on.

teacherman

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2015, 07:31:28 PM »
I would second using Fredmiranda.com. I have bought and sold camera bodies and lenses on there with great success. Good luck!

fa

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2015, 07:59:25 PM »
Oh and I also was hoping to avoid any suggestions of using Craigslist. Besides the stories you hear about people getting hurt or killed, I despise listing more expensive sale items on CL just because of all the low-ball offers. I understand that they want something for "cheap" but it's pretty ridiculous what some people's asking prices are - at that point, posting something of this nature on CL usually results in a flood of spam rather than legitimate offers.

I sold an $18,000 car on CL with virtually no negotiation.  Received cash for it.  Paperwork and payment was completed inside a branch of my bank.  Cameras should be easy to sell because they are small.  Starbucks would be a great meeting place with a buyer.

Of course you receive lowball offers on CL.  Ignore those emails and delete them.  There are several kinds of buyers on CL.  Some offer a ridiculously low price and are looking for desperate or ignorant sellers.  But some are serious buyers looking for a used item for a fair price.

I once sold a camera on Amazon and had to refund the money because the camera was broken.  I was 99% sure my camera was switched with a broken one.  Make sure you take a picture of the serial number before sending the item.  That is a benefit of CL because the transaction is local.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2015, 07:28:30 PM »
Coworker just sold a DSLR on Amazon few weeks ago, got more than he was getting offers for from CL.  Just look and see what the current used prices are, and if you're ok w/ undercutting the cheapest by a dollar, you'll offload it quick.

lpep

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Re: Selling camera lenses/gear - Amazon OK?
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2015, 07:56:33 PM »
Why not try both CL and Amazon?

I second Fa's post, having been one of those buyers. People buying used gear want to be able to check it out first, so if it were me buying, I would check CL first, then B&H, Adorama and the circuit because they're trustworthy.