Is nobody buying gear any more?

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Stephen
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I have a couple of items for sale and the response has been a big fat zilch. Okay, not the most exciting items but there doesn't seem to be much movement on many of the stuff put on the FOR SALE section. Thoughts?
 
In my case it is simple. The 1DX 2 is not that much better than my 1DX (better - yes, but by enough) and If I want to "Upgrade" my main lens I would have to spend £13K and loose 200mm!

Not much out there to tempt me.
 
I still have the itch but common sense is holding me back. I have existing equipment to take photos and price of gear has gone up. I have plenty of photos to edit so even if I didn’t take any for a year I wouldn’t be short of photos.
 
I often look at stuff in the classifieds but if something catches my eye I check used dealers and often find that sellers here are asking too much, and by that I mean they're asking near or sometimes more than used dealers are asking and if that's the case I'd probably be more likely to buy from a dealer and have the warranty. Actually some used stuff advertised here isn't far short of new grey stuff and if that's the case I'd probably prefer to buy new than used.
 
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It is a bad move what you said on your sales thread.

Everyone is in the same boat.

Nothing is guaranteed to sell for a fair price.

Some people have literally lost thousands.
 
I want to want something but I can't think of what ;)

The only thing i would perhaps buy is if Olympus made a 120mm macro to give me more working distance.
 
I have much better luck selling locally, I find that unless you sell below what the used sites are going for then you have little chance of breaking even. There's more competition in the UK, here in Ireland even the used sites are very pricey so you can usually sell on without a loss
 
I agree with Keith - hard to compete with e bay prices- I have several lenses I want to shift

the last lens I actually sold to WEX - not getting any interest in our beloved sales section :(

Les
 
The grey import prices are probably the biggest issue.

Most people on this forum are aware of the prices kit can be purchased for from the likes of e-infin, panamoz etc.

A lot of the people trying to sell stuff on here have bought from U.K companies and don't want to drop below what they consider to be the used value of U.K sourced equipment which can often mean that the kit sold on here seems too expensive. For a buyer it doesn't make much sense to pay a similar amount or only slightly less buying used compared to getting a brand new item from the grey market.

There is also people on here who are a little unrealistic with their pricing having bought grey they try and sell at close to the price they paid new.

Add all that to the fact that not as many people use forums as they used too say even 4-5 years ago.

As a seller, Facebook marketplace and eBay when they have seller promotions on are generally easier places to sell equipment quickly.

When I switched from Nikon to Sony I got better value trading into WEX for a lot of the items than I would of had selling on here.

Then of course there is the demand factor, the market for dslr related equipment has shrunk significantly so it will be more difficult to find buyers for that type of equipment.

It used to be common to see used equipment for sale here at around two thirds of the price new, it almost seemed accepted that selling something on here would always generate less money than selling elsewhere but you then got the advantage of buying equipment at a cheaper rate, that is rarely the case any more.
 
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im still looking for another d850 still waiting on a deal !!
its cheaper to buy new grey than in the shops in the uk
 
Yeah same here. Not had a sniff for the lens im trying to sell. Maybe I am asking too much but i did research into ebay and used prices. Maybe It will pick up closer to...... (that word its too early to mention beginning with C)
 
I'd love a rummage around the For Sale boards but still have to get up to the post count (without spamming) to be granted access. I guess I'm one closer now!
 
I don't know about other people but when someone puts up a for sale thread and it says NO OFFERS in capital letters I tend to just think stuff you. Maybe you would have more interest if you didn't.

You're probably right. I thought that the prices were very reasonable. The SB700 is in extremely good nick and for £120 posted, I don't think it's a bad price. Cost me £160 and I've used it once. Maybe someone has a Nikon lens they don't use and I could swap it for the flash unit.
I've seen a few people buy a lens on here, not use it much and then asking for the amount they paid. Way cheaper than hiring.
 
Yeah same here. Not had a sniff for the lens im trying to sell. Maybe I am asking too much but i did research into ebay and used prices. Maybe It will pick up closer to...... (that word its too early to mention beginning with C)

Thing is though there is a much bigger risk buying from here than on eBay where the buyer at least has some protection and from the buyers point of view the price probably needs to reflect that.
 
Never bought anything that wasn't okay from here, though all the items were under £200. Never sold anything duff, I'd ask them to return it and refund them.
 
Thing is though there is a much bigger risk buying from here than on eBay where the buyer at least has some protection and from the buyers point of view the price probably needs to reflect that.


Not really in my opinion Tommy- I only buy from members with a good rating for sales, I have never had a bad experience with any sales threads I've been involved in & there's been a few :LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:


Les :)
 
I agree with Keith - hard to compete with e bay prices- I have several lenses I want to shift

the last lens I actually sold to WEX - not getting any interest in our beloved sales section :(

Les

I'd much rather pay a little bit more here than for a private evilbay sale as I trust the people here more.
 
Limited customer base on here now TBH.
eBay (despite all the anecdotal horror stories) has worked well for me with £1 final fee deals, even sold to Italy with their Global Shipping Programme.

Good to hear Roger- I meant to say I would NOT buy anything from eBay :)

Les
 
This is a personal opinion:
1. Why hold back on photos? Free to host, free to upload. If I was looking for that lens with £120 burning in my pocket, and the choice was between an item with no photos or an eBay example with good photos, it's an obvious decision. Absolutely no excuse for this with smartphones in abundance.
2. As previously mentioned - shouting NO OFFERS is your prerogative, but when your item is priced similarly to eBay examples, reduces your potential buyers further
3. Small market - niche use lens, compatible with only select Nikon (DX)
4. I've always had no issues trading on this site, but there is always a risk of sending money to strangers, especially for larger transactions
 
Not really in my opinion Tommy- I only buy from members with a good rating for sales, I have never had a bad experience with any sales threads I've been involved in & there's been a few :LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:


Les :)

Yeah, I can understand what you are saying however like with any forum, there is nothing to stop say someone who previously had a good reputation all of a sudden selling of lots of high value items and dissapearing at least with eBay you get some protection from that. As you can see from the disputed trades section it doesn't always go to plan.
 
Yeah, I can understand what you are saying however like with any forum, there is nothing to stop say someone who previously had a good reputation all of a sudden selling of lots of high value items and dissapearing at least with eBay you get some protection from that. As you can see from the disputed trades section it doesn't always go to plan.


Yes I can see that- I'm referring to myself of course and Ive been here a while and bought and sold many items - I personally won't be disappearing any time soon

and I still have some lenses to sell lol



Les :)
 
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Thing is though there is a much bigger risk buying from here than on eBay where the buyer at least has some protection and from the buyers point of view the price probably needs to reflect that.
If you pay a seller on the forum with PayPal do you get the same / similar protection as ebay?
 
I see the problem as twofold

Firstly people are selling used items with no warranty for around the same price as you can buy brand new with warranty from the likes of efinity.

Secondly as a buyer you can oddly get very good prices on used gear from the likes of MPB, so both selling on these forums and buying on these forums makes little sense.

Ironically a member on here bought something from my eBay account recently at more ££ than it was advertised on here for!
 
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If you pay a seller on the forum with PayPal do you get the same / similar protection as ebay?

Most sellers here ask for payment by bank transfer, or paypal gift which offers no protection at all.
 
Generally I'll compare prices listed on forums to those on CEX. Stuff from there comes with a two year guarantee, so forum prices should be cheaper.
In @mossienet listing both items were more expensive than CEX.

So, in response to the original question, they didn't sell as the asking price is too high with 'no offers' attached.
 
Personally I have never had anything ordered from CEX online come that was remotely similar to the description. Infact twice it has been a totally different item.

Never had a problem in that respect. I did have an Olympus m4/3 camera that died after a day though, but took it back to my local CEX who gave me a refund. Kinda reinforces why forum prices should be cheaper than buying from them
 
I’ve recently sold some gear on eBay, it was all little bit and bobs of all different kinds that I couldn’t imagine selling anywhere else. For example I sold a broken Nikon L35AF point and shoot film camera for £43, I couldn’t imagine that selling anywhere else but the buyer is happy and I’ve received positive feedback. Overall it was over £500 worth, which would have been troublesome selling anywhere else, eBay have charged me £55 fees but that’s definitely better than having loads of stuff in my possession that doesn’t get used. My problem now is I don’t know what to spend the proceeds on :LOL:
 
I just bought a nice lens at a fair price on the classifieds from someone I sold a lens to six years ago
 
I don't know about other people but when someone puts up a for sale thread and it says NO OFFERS in capital letters I tend to just think stuff you. Maybe you would have more interest if you didn't.

Imo it would be better to ask a little more and let people make an offer,.

No "offence" was meant by this. I just wanted to emphasize the fact that it was a rock bottom price that's all. Obviously got it wrong. I'm an honest person and have an EXCELLENT selling and buying record. Time to leave the forum maybe, I don't seem to be able to say things in an acceptable manner.
 
No "offence" was meant by this. I just wanted to emphasize the fact that it was a rock bottom price that's all. Obviously got it wrong. I'm an honest person and have an EXCELLENT selling and buying record. Time to leave the forum maybe, I don't seem to be able to say things in an acceptable manner.

No offence was taken, it's just that when putting something up for sale on any forum you have to expect people to haggle, it makes them feel like they have got a bargain and to be honest I always expect the seller to price it a little higher in expectation of this. No need to leave the forum, nobody was questioning your honesty but you did ask why you had no interest and (for me) it was the main reason.
 
The classifieds on here are pretty much dead compared to a few years back. There are several reasons why that’s occurred. The increase in grey imports on here hasn’t helped as it practically means uk bought kit needs to be 50% new price. The problem is that sellers want a good to great price whilst most buyers want a bargain to low price. The problem is both can’t happen. What’s needed is a fair price.

I would rather buy from someone on here rather than eBay as I’ve meet some nice people when buying and selling on here. That’s one of the forum member bonuses.

Personally I think the classifieds needs another shake up otherwise it’s probably the end of them. Changes made a few years back haven’t help as visiting numbers have dropped but I can understand why they were made. The current set up has become a mess as there is a huge amount of open dead sales threads as the ones who managed their sales thread can’t archive or do anything themselves. One idea to help the classifieds would be a few rule changes such as photos and PayPal as the only payment option. If the sellers covered PayPal fees it would provide buyers protection, and if buyers pay postage it could potentially relieve all of the cost burden on sellers and hopefully lower asking prices because there wouldn’t be the whole rising asking prices to take postage and haggling into account. If sellers were expected to manage their sales threads it could work better. If they don’t meet the rules then they get a classifieds holiday for a week/month.
 
I'd much rather pay a little bit more here than for a private evilbay sale as I trust the people here more.

FleaBay has it's place - in my case my photography gear. What bargains have I had??

First was a very cheap Canon EF 400 F2.8 L (the original one) - so cheap that when I traded it in I made a profit + he sold me his (nice nick) Wimberley 2 for £200.
Picked up a very nice Canon 300 F2.8 L IS for about £1k less than the going rate, had to replace the hood lock but that was only £60 - still working perfectly 8 years on
Brand new 1DX for £1400 less than the current UK price? Yes it spoke Chinese but was remarkably easy to teach it English!
Canon 800 F5.6 L IS for an embarrassingly low price, nearly 6 years on and still my favourite lens.
Canon 24-70 F2.8 L Mk2 - only about £400 off - well you can't win them all, lovely lens though!

I won't bore you with backpacks, tripods etc etc and probably a couple of cameras/lenses that I have missed. So I would definitely suggest that you avoid FleaBay/EvilBay - leave the bargains for me:)
 
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