New or Used
- Thread starter lucsbaron
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I`ve bought used before (and sold) from this very forum, and MBP. Been happy with both.
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- Chris
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Depends on the lens - Lower value lenses made of more plastic - you might want to go new - and more substantial lenses such as Canon L lenses might be worth looking at on the used market. You can also consider grey import new which in some cases will be considerably cheaper than the UK price. (Usual caveat's apply as per the many, many discussions here on grey imports).
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- Tommy
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I used to buy a lot of second hand gear and still occasionally do but its not often that there is value in doing that these days.
The success of the grey market companies has basically killed that with grey equipment often being cheaper, the same price or only slightly more expensive than buying used with sometimes up to 3 years warranty.
Buying grey is pretty much always cheaper than buying used gear from any of the U.K suppliers like M.PB, W.E.X etc. and the thing is I would say that a huge amount of equipment sold by these companies is grey stock. I know because I have dealt with several of them over the last few years and not once when I traded or sold equipment to any of them was I asked where I purchased the equipment. A great example of this is when a while back I traded a lens to W.E.X. I had put it up for sale privately at first and a guy I know had been interested in buying it but decided not to proceed when I told him I had bought it from Panamoz. I bumped into him again a couple of days later and he explained that he had ended up buying the lens from our local W.E.X. Thing is it was my lens he ended up buying, it just cost him an extra £200 to buy it from WEX rather than me.
Buying used equipment privately on here or in other places I don't think offers great value for money usually either. Sellers even when selling grey equipment themselves often use the U.K retail prices as a guideline for their asking price so you can usually buy new from the grey importer yourself for not much more money and receive the full benefits of the warranty and get a brand new item. On the flipside of the coin those sellers who are trying to sell U.K stock will often be looking to sell at more than the grey price new.
It used to be than when you bought a used piece of camera equipment that you would expect to pay around two thirds of the new price but that is rarely the case now. I think that is one of the reasons the classifieds section of this forum are so dead now. Sellers expectations in terms of what they can sell for are often unrealistic where as back in the day you could get good value buying from the classifieds here.
Just as an example I seen a lens listed for sale recently for £1600, the seller bought the lens from a grey market company for £1760, for such a small percentage discount in price I would rather just buy a new one, going by the old two thirds rule it would be worth £1173, so say £1200 inc RMSD. From the sellers point of view I can see why it would not make sense for them to sell at that price though as they can list it on eBay and not mention it is grey or sell to M.P.B etc. for probably more than that.
The success of the grey market companies has basically killed that with grey equipment often being cheaper, the same price or only slightly more expensive than buying used with sometimes up to 3 years warranty.
Buying grey is pretty much always cheaper than buying used gear from any of the U.K suppliers like M.PB, W.E.X etc. and the thing is I would say that a huge amount of equipment sold by these companies is grey stock. I know because I have dealt with several of them over the last few years and not once when I traded or sold equipment to any of them was I asked where I purchased the equipment. A great example of this is when a while back I traded a lens to W.E.X. I had put it up for sale privately at first and a guy I know had been interested in buying it but decided not to proceed when I told him I had bought it from Panamoz. I bumped into him again a couple of days later and he explained that he had ended up buying the lens from our local W.E.X. Thing is it was my lens he ended up buying, it just cost him an extra £200 to buy it from WEX rather than me.
Buying used equipment privately on here or in other places I don't think offers great value for money usually either. Sellers even when selling grey equipment themselves often use the U.K retail prices as a guideline for their asking price so you can usually buy new from the grey importer yourself for not much more money and receive the full benefits of the warranty and get a brand new item. On the flipside of the coin those sellers who are trying to sell U.K stock will often be looking to sell at more than the grey price new.
It used to be than when you bought a used piece of camera equipment that you would expect to pay around two thirds of the new price but that is rarely the case now. I think that is one of the reasons the classifieds section of this forum are so dead now. Sellers expectations in terms of what they can sell for are often unrealistic where as back in the day you could get good value buying from the classifieds here.
Just as an example I seen a lens listed for sale recently for £1600, the seller bought the lens from a grey market company for £1760, for such a small percentage discount in price I would rather just buy a new one, going by the old two thirds rule it would be worth £1173, so say £1200 inc RMSD. From the sellers point of view I can see why it would not make sense for them to sell at that price though as they can list it on eBay and not mention it is grey or sell to M.P.B etc. for probably more than that.
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Used (or grey if you’re happy doing so) as you lose far too much money buying new.
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Totally agree with what f/2.8 says, most of the second hand gear I see for sale the bodies and lenses are more expensive than buying grey.
Buying grey you will normally get a minimum of a years warranty, used will get you normally 6 months at best or zero if buying privately.......
Bought a Sigma lens about 6 months ago, the best used price was £50 more than new from e-infinity and it wasn’t an expensive lens to start with.
Buying grey you will normally get a minimum of a years warranty, used will get you normally 6 months at best or zero if buying privately.......
Bought a Sigma lens about 6 months ago, the best used price was £50 more than new from e-infinity and it wasn’t an expensive lens to start with.
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Wex give 12 months warranty.
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If you check the [Sold] listings on Ebay you might be surprised at the bargains some buyers found.
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Over 99% of my lenses have been used, and I've rarely had issues with them.
The one lens I have which has developed a significant fault (the AF only moves in one direction) is one of the rarer ones brought new.
The one lens I have which has developed a significant fault (the AF only moves in one direction) is one of the rarer ones brought new.
Having won a couple of bargains this way I've noticed they are more prone to getting 'lost in the post' (so I'm refunded) not always the case but it's happened more than once.
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It’s a good idea to have an idea of the build quality. Some lenses have known faults so buying s/h privately could mean more risk. You have to trust alot of what the seller tells you. I recently bought a second hand lens only because it was a saving of £400. It cost me £200. It was worth the risk. However if I was saving £400 and spending £2000 I would be more hesitant as any loss would be far greater unless it was from a reputable shop. When I bought my Sigma Art 50 I bought it new from Amazon purely because it was known to have AF issues so I didn’t want to have any hassle returning it.
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Thanks @f/2.8 thats a really comprehensive reply...I’ve been scouting WEX, LCE, Wilkinson’s cameras and I’m starting to realise there doesn’t seem much difference between second hand and new.
I don’t mean to be silly but what do people mean by ‘grey’ products?
*EDIT* - found out what grey imports are
I don’t mean to be silly but what do people mean by ‘grey’ products?
*EDIT* - found out what grey imports are
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Most grey camera equipment is shipped from China. Usually this means that the manufacturer provides no warranty and if you run into any issues the warranty is provided by the company purchased from instead.
The two best known companies are.:
Panamoz, they provide a 3 year warranty using U.K repair agents. Delivery usually takes 3-5 working days.
E-infinity, they provide a 1 year warranty and it seems pot luck on if they use a U.K repair centre or ask you to send it back to China for repair. Delivery usually takes 5-10 working days.
As they are imported goods you also can’t take advantage of any cash back schemes that some manufacturers run on a regular basis.
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- Luca
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thanks, it’s given me food for thought