Used lens prices on ebay?

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Donny909

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Am I missing the point here?. For startes, in some cases I've been unlucky not to have been at the pc in the later stage of an auction to win a bid for a used lens so a little unsure how much some have gone for, but not on all.

But is it usual for many of the used lenses on ebay to go for very near the cost (sometimes slightly more) of a new lens?. I'm not so much frustrated that I've been outbided on everthing I've gone for in the last week, but I simply cant see how used Tamrons and Monoltas are going for prices that would rival that of a new lens?.
 
Not always the case for Used Lenses - I just sold my used Nikon 17-55 on there for only £530 inc which I personally thought was a steal for the buyer! :(
 
On ebay you need to take your time and keep looking for a bargain. Like all auctions decide on the maximum you wish to spend and stick to it. I recommend using auction snipe to help stop the bidding going mad.

Auctions rarely make logical sense, you will see older lenses going for more than newer lenses, which might be right for something like the difference between a Mk I and Mk II Canon 50mm 1.8, but usually it makes no sense at all.

Generally buying on here seems to work out a bit more expensive, but that can be a bit mixed too, though I would say that on the whole this seems a better bet. There have been a few horror stories (one going on at the moment) but generally it works very well. Do your homework on products, prices and people wherever you buy.
 
people have forgotten how to use ebay over the years, you're meant to wait 'til the last minute then grab a bargain for next to nothing

nowadays people stick the top limit in early ruining the chance for anyone getting a bargain, then when the end comes, they're bidding more than the thing actually costs new.

idiots
 
buckas said:
people have forgotten how to use ebay over the years, you're meant to wait 'til the last minute then grab a bargain for next to nothing

nowadays people stick the top limit in early ruining the chance for anyone getting a bargain, then when the end comes, they're bidding more than the thing actually costs new.

idiots
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My point exacally and possably the reason I pretty much stoped using ebay a good 2 years or more ago.

Keeping an eye on 3 Tamron whatever mm to 300mm often seen there bid increase by near double with a few hours left. And then go above what I can get them new off the net. I mean a 70-300mm tamrom is as little as £125 off the net new. Yet when used ones are going for pretty much the same price or more it simply dont make sence to bid more when for less you can get the same item new with warrenty.

Guess some prefer to pay the extra for the buzz of bidding and winning lol.

The same for the upto 200mm Tamrons, but missed out on 1 200mm for £67 by just a single quid cos I was to slow lol.

Minoltas a different story if they dont make them any longer I guess as they could be of better quality that even used could be worth more than a Tamron.

A few more coming up on ebay this week I think. Otherwise I'm going to have to hunt down a few local shops dealing with used gear or keep an eye on the used gear on here.
 
The cameras are as bad mate. The prices are almost as much as brand new ones. There must be a record amount of idiots on ebay at the moment.
 
scottduffy said:
The cameras are as bad mate. The prices are almost as much as brand new ones. There must be a record amount of idiots on ebay at the moment.
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There has ALWAYS been a record ammount of idiots on ebay, now most of them run it!
I agree about the prices going daft. You just have to be patient and stick to your max.
 
I think its sometimes down to lazy people, they cant be bothered to look round for the lowest price so just go on ebay. In this case they probably look at jessops and bid to that value (not in all cases ***)

I Emailed a guy who had a lens on the buy it now price, and it was more than the shops were selling it for, I emailed him with a link, and he told me to just buy it from the shop and that someone would buy his at that price!

People rush into things when the auction time is running low, so impulse buy too!

Jordan
 
buckas said:
nowadays people stick the top limit in early ruining the chance for anyone getting a bargain, then when the end comes, they're bidding more than the thing actually costs new.

idiots
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These are the people that just 'have to win regardless' & they do no
homework whatsoever :thinking:

Either that or they win the auction,make up & cock & bull story & get out
of paying for the item :(
 
scottduffy said:
The cameras are as bad mate. The prices are almost as much as brand new ones. There must be a record amount of idiots on ebay at the moment.
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I would have to agree. Personally I usually check the ruff prices of items I want to buy and what they when for previously either buy doing a search on eBay or through secondhand retailers like Ffordes etc. I also work on the rule for say secondhand lenses (if reasonably new) 30% off their orginal value. So say I wanted a canon 300mm f2.8 IS, current value £3600, second hand price I would be willing to pay is around the £2600 mark for it, but prices are crazy at the moment, not helped by the idiots caught up in the bidding war that sometimes even pay more than the items are worth new.
 
Worth pointing on that Ebay is a global marketplace.

For example lenses from US based sellers often sell for close to new USA prices - but for European based buyers, that can still be a big saving on the selling price here.

Ditto lenses in the UK, with the strong euro what might be a silly price for a UK based person, its still a bargain for someone from a Eurozone country due to the currency strength.
 
dalex_257 said:
If you use advanced eBay search with searching the advertisement body as well - it does return in searches though...
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That was not really the point I was making. Many people still sell off Minolta cameras, without saying what lens is included or knowing that they will fit Sony DSLR's.

You have to check each auction, ask the sellers questions about the lens and you will find lenses that come out cheaper than lenses that are listed separately.
 
As has been previously noted you just have to take your time and exercise some control over your bidding. I personally prefer to use the forums for camera kit, but still managed to pick up a used Tokina 12-24 for a very good price yesterday.

Has anyone else noticed that the amount of listings has redcued on the bay recently? I suspect this is due to the extortiate selling fees they now run - but there definitely seems to be less on offer.
 
Ebay prices are dictated by the ammount of people bid on an item, I have found in the past that buyers start bidding wars in the days before auction ending, pushing up the prices, I tend to think of the highest price I'm prepared to pay for an item and enter a snipe bid on a bidding sniper site like Auction Sniper This leaves your bid until the last 3 seconds before auction end and bids the minimum ammount above the last bidder to win the auction, This has worked on several items for me, Also you can set up bid groups where you can bid on the same item from several sellers untill you've won the item,
 
what gets me with buying any second hand lens, especially on ebay is the fact you are not certain of its history... the waranty is invalid normally and ... well to me its such a risk to take for such a high priced item... especially when you are paying so close to the shop prices and have very little legal comeback on the seller if there is a problem. And it tends to be your word against his where as with a shop purchase you have to recieve it in new condition!

I would just never buy any lens of ebay unless it was a complete bargain... Yet in saying that i've sold a couple and always had no issues with the buyers... but the trick when selling is that you must be 100% truthfull!

M
 
markelliot said:
what gets me with buying any second hand lens, especially on ebay is the fact you are not certain of its history... the waranty is invalid normally and ... well to me its such a risk to take for such a high priced item... especially when you are paying so close to the shop prices and have very little legal comeback on the seller if there is a problem. And it tends to be your word against his where as with a shop purchase you have to recieve it in new condition!

I would just never buy any lens of ebay unless it was a complete bargain... Yet in saying that i've sold a couple and always had no issues with the buyers... but the trick when selling is that you must be 100% truthfull!

M
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I have bought two lenses on ebay, EF-S 17-85 and EF 100-400m also bought an unused 40D body on there too.

No complaints at all about the three vendors involved.

Bought 3 lenses on here too, but all from the one vendor.(though not all at once)

It pays to do as much research on people as you can, not just look at the numbers of their feedback but go through it and read it. When I bought CS3 on ebay I'd tracked down the guys personal website, knew where he worked and where he had been on holiday! Got a great deal.
 
leaky5 said:
That was not really the point I was making. Many people still sell off Minolta cameras, without saying what lens is included or knowing that they will fit Sony DSLR's.
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Fair enough, but in that particular example, that was not the case. The lens was clearly advertised in a body of the message. As for specifying it on the title - eBay titles are quite limited in length (presumably to have you pay extra for sub-titles and other gimmicks) so you quite often cannot fit all in there ;)
 
markelliot said:
. . . where as with a shop purchase you have to recieve it in new condition!
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Not for used items, and my occasional 2nd-hand purchases from shops have been less than satisfactory than eBay.

On eBay last week I bought an out of production new-in-box lens for about 60% of its usual 2nd-hand price. :clap: The item title didn't help people find it, but there were six bidders, two of which threw in the towel at 1/3rd of final value. As well as the Psychoville "must have it at any price" bidders, you have to wonder why people leave bids without a hope of winning.

It's easy to find scruffy lenses that work fine and are fairly priced at over £500. If it was a low quality lens from a cheapo manufacturer it might struggle to make £50 or even £5, even if good condition. We may complain about the expense, or our old junk not being worth much, but that's the market for you.
 
barbs said:
As has been previously noted you just have to take your time and exercise some control over your bidding. I personally prefer to use the forums for camera kit, but still managed to pick up a used Tokina 12-24 for a very good price yesterday.

Has anyone else noticed that the amount of listings has redcued on the bay recently? I suspect this is due to the extortiate selling fees they now run - but there definitely seems to be less on offer.
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Agree, it is much better for the seller to sell it via "Buy it now" with best offer than with bidding - the fees for the latter are around 10% which with add on of the enforced free P&P and PayPal fees can accumulate to eat the significant part of your sale.

What is really annoying with this recent trends on eBay that it seems to became a Chinese "flea" market rather then a place where you can actually look for used stuff. No matter what you search for there are usually million hits of stuff from HK and it is hard to waddle through all this to find a genuine UK deals.

I now resort to look in other places more whereas before eBay would be my first place to look for things...
 
What is really annoying with this recent trends on eBay that it seems to became a Chinese "flea" market rather then a place where you can actually look for used stuff. No matter what you search for there are usually million hits of stuff from HK and it is hard to waddle through all this to find a genuine UK deals.
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Just use the options on the left to narrow down the search results by location aperture fitment etc
 
alanwjones said:
...This leaves your bid until the last 3 seconds before auction end and bids the minimum ammount above the last bidder to win the auction, This has worked on several items for me,
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Hasn't worked for me. It only works well if you know the top bid is the final. eBay bidding does not let you see the actual amount of the bid - only the current increase. If the item is currently at say 21 GBP and it's the top offer of the top bidder, and I place a bid at 30 - the item goes to say 22 but my bid still remains at 30. This 30 is not visible to anyone even a seller so I doubt that tool can actually get it to bid over it :(
 
PsiFox said:
Just use the options on the left to narrow down the search results by location aperture fitment etc
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Yeah I know, but there are plenty of them masking as UK chaps - same as SimplyElectronics. You will still receive the stuff from HK ...
 
markelliot said:
what gets me with buying any second hand lens, especially on ebay is the fact you are not certain of its history... the waranty is invalid normally and ... well to me its such a risk to take for such a high priced item... especially when you are paying so close to the shop prices and have very little legal comeback on the seller if there is a problem. And it tends to be your word against his where as with a shop purchase you have to recieve it in new condition!
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I would argue with that - in my view that is what their feedback is for. I would never buy anything from somebody without sufficient feedback selling similar items and having enough feedback to give me a clue about the seller.

If the seller sold socks for about a year and then tries to flog say a Nikon lens worth over 2K - that in itself should give you a huge warning sign ...
 
dalex_257 said:
If the seller sold socks for about a year and then tries to flog say a Nikon lens worth over 2K - that in itself should give you a huge warning sign ...
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what they they have excess socks? and now no use for a lens? :shrug:

i sell general tat on ebay and ive got a random quite expensive camcorder going at the moment, doesnt mean ive nicked it..
 
neil_g said:
what they they have excess socks? and now no use for a lens? :shrug:

i sell general tat on ebay and ive got a random quite expensive camcorder going at the moment, doesnt mean ive nicked it..
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May be I am wrong then, but I do get suspicious when somebody selling some cards or very little cost stuff suddenly tries to sell a very expensive item. There was a post from Flash some time ago here about underground site where you can buy bogus eBay account and my guess is this is how they get their feedback established. If you know of a better way of spotting rogue traders - share it please then as I would certainly like to know.
 
dalex_257 said:
Hasn't worked for me. It only works well if you know the top bid is the final. eBay bidding does not let you see the actual amount of the bid - only the current increase. If the item is currently at say 21 GBP and it's the top offer of the top bidder, and I place a bid at 30 - the item goes to say 22 but my bid still remains at 30. This 30 is not visible to anyone even a seller so I doubt that tool can actually get it to bid over it :(
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It isn't about magically getting round what somebody else might bid.

It is a way of leaving a bid for the most you would want to pay for it without the act of leaving the bid forcing the price up.

If all the serious bidders use auctionsnipe then it still goes to the highest bidder, but you haven't got a load of numpties who keep adding a bit more to what they previously decided was a maximum bid.

When deciding your maximum bid for Auctionsnipe simply ask yourself if it went for more than your bid would you be upset or pleased that you hadn't spent any more on it?

That's how you should be setting a maximum auction bid in any auction.
 
puddleduck said:
Worth pointing on that Ebay is a global marketplace.

For example lenses from US based sellers often sell for close to new USA prices - but for European based buyers, that can still be a big saving on the selling price here.

Ditto lenses in the UK, with the strong euro what might be a silly price for a UK based person, its still a bargain for someone from a Eurozone country due to the currency strength.
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Agreed. Recent sales of mine include my Canon EOS 300 going to France, my Canon 28 - 105 USM II going to Portugal (for about 60% of the new price after only 10 months I might point out :'() and some kit for an old reel to reel player going to Brazil.

Equally I bought a Nikon DX 18-70mm for £95, but I made sure I collected in person in case it wasn't as described. It was and so it's now doing sterling service on my D60.
 
dalex_257 said:
If you know of a better way of spotting rogue traders - share it please then as I would certainly like to know.
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what im saying is that someone who randomly sells one expensive item isnt necessarily trying to steal your money. and unfortunately its the minority that tars everyone else with the same brush.

the good news is that as long as youre paying by paypal youre covered if the item never turns up or is a bag of nails..
 
trapper501 said:
It isn't about magically getting round what somebody else might bid.

It is a way of leaving a bid for the most you would want to pay for it without the act of leaving the bid forcing the price up.
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So it actually submits your max bid but very late in the process? That makes sense and that's how I tend to participate in most auctions (whether winning or not). I thought though that you said it tries to bid a few quid over the maximum bid and that got me confused since max bid is not known (usually).

trapper501 said:
If all the serious bidders use auctionsnipe then it still goes to the highest bidder, but you haven't got a load of numpties who keep adding a bit more to what they previously decided was a maximum bid.
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Whilst I agree that eBay bidding would be a better place with this approach to bidding, you should not forget that eBay is still an auction site - and with this come all there is to it. The auctioning model mimics the real auction pretty close - people bid what they can, then change their mind (can versus want) and bid again and so on. Also the maximum bid is something eBay added out of convenience - it was not even there initially when they first came to life and is simply designed to make your life easier not specify the maximum you'd prefer to pay.
 
dalex_257 said:
So it actually submits your max bid but very late in the process? That makes sense and that's how I tend to participate in most auctions (whether winning or not). I thought though that you said it tries to bid a few quid over the maximum bid and that got me confused since max bid is not known (usually).
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Yes, that's what it does. All i said about it was that it helps prevent the bidding going mad. You can do this yourself but not usually guaranteed to get in within the last few seconds and to do it yourself you have to be up and available when the auction ends. Auctionsnipe will email you if the bidding goes beyond the maximum bid you have left prior to your bid being placed, but if you chose your maximum wisely then that won't bother you as it will already be too much money.

dalex_257 said:
Whilst I agree that eBay bidding would be a better place with this approach to bidding, you should not forget that eBay is still an auction site - and with this come all there is to it. The auctioning model mimics the real auction pretty close - people bid what they can, then change their mind (can versus want) and bid again and so on. Also the maximum bid is something eBay added out of convenience - it was not even there initially when they first came to life and is simply designed to make your life easier not specify the maximum you'd prefer to pay.
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I agree, Auction snipe doesn't mimic what happens in real auctions, that is done by ebay holding your maximum bid and upping the bidding each time somebody else bids.

However late ebay came to doing this, though, it should still be the maximum you are prepared to pay, as it would be if you left your bid with the auctioneer. It is a system used for absentee bidders, but it does allow the auctioneer to push the price up with other bidders who are in the room.

Auctionsnipe is an improvement on this, it uses the fact that auction bids are processed by computers not auctioneers, so there is no problem handing in a maximum bid in the last few seconds as the system can cope.
 
This is an example of sniping The auction here finished at 18.56.10 As youcan see here the winning bid was placed 6 seconds before auction end, This does not allow anyone else in the bidding war to bid within the time limit, My max snipe for this was £4 so i feel I had a bargain.

ME £3.20 02-May-09 18:56:04 BST



Bidder 3 No longer registered with eBay £3.00 02-May-09 17:24:04 BST
Bidder 1 £2.53 02-May-09 16:45:04 BST
Bidder 1 £2.01 02-May-09 10:18:17 BST
Bidder 2 £1.84 02-May-09 16:22:08 BST
Bidder 2 £1.44 02-May-09 16:21:49 BST
Bidder 2 £1.04 02-May-09 16:21:17 BST

Starting Price £0.99 29-Apr-09 18:56:10 BST .
 
alanwjones said:
. . . the winning bid was placed 6 seconds before auction end, This does not allow anyone else in the bidding war to bid within the time limit
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Oh yes it does: I normally manually snipe in the last three or four seconds.

Another thing to be aware of is price points. Someone may decide to bid £17 for an item with £3 postage - £20 is his price point and a bit more (if the item is worth it to you) is all it may take to get it.

If you see the highest bid has an odd number of pence, you can be sure that that is the maximum for that bidder.
 
1 thing I recall about ebay that took a lot of people to catch onto was the way that ebay charges on the winning bid but not the sellers postage costs. Thus, I used to get some right bargains by bidding low on price realaising that the postage costs were the sellers way of saving the fee they payed to ebay. Thus (again) they were never really loosing out but just used to use inflated postage costs to avoid the fee payable to ebay.

Is this still common practice BTW as at 1 time I did got some right cheap camera gear using that line of thought !.

Back to subject matter is it just me or does it seem that regular camera gear by the same seller also effect the prices the gear goes for over those who sell such items as a 1 off?.
 
photon said:
Oh yes it does: I normally manually snipe in the last three or four seconds.
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That won't be a problem, auctionsnipe has merely given the maximum bid to ebay in the last 6 seconds (or whatever was chosen) ebay will use however little of that is required for a bid.

Sitting over an auction at the last second might give you personal satisfaction but it doesn't give you an advantage over somebody using auctionsnipe. Who ever bids the highest wins the auction, simple as that.
 
trapper501 said:
That won't be a problem, auctionsnipe has merely given the maximum bid to ebay in the last 6 seconds
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It's a problem for users of free services that don't allow the bid to be placed sufficiently near to auction end, or multiple bids.

trapper501 said:
Sitting over an auction at the last second might give you personal satisfaction but it doesn't give you an advantage over somebody using auctionsnipe. Who ever bids the highest wins the auction, simple as that.
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It's more about advantage than personal satisfaction, thanks. Although I set my price - and that is a valuable discipline - I can be flexible, and the final minute or two of the auction can be just as interesting as the final seconds. If I see "auction fever" I can walk away, and bid another day.
 
Donny909 said:
1 thing I recall about ebay that took a lot of people to catch onto was the way that ebay charges on the winning bid but not the sellers postage costs. Thus, I used to get some right bargains by bidding low on price realaising that the postage costs were the sellers way of saving the fee they payed to ebay. Thus (again) they were never really loosing out but just used to use inflated postage costs to avoid the fee payable to ebay.

Is this still common practice BTW as at 1 time I did got some right cheap camera gear using that line of thought !.

Back to subject matter is it just me or does it seem that regular camera gear by the same seller also effect the prices the gear goes for over those who sell such items as a 1 off?.
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Unfortunately ebay are now enforcing free P&P in several categories, this caught me out recently (when relisting an item) as they've started expanding forced free P&P to more and more categories. They say it's because buyers want free postage but I think it's to safeguard their final fee income!
 
Never Bid during the auction, this will just push the price up.
Know your maximum bid and snipe in the last 5 seconds or so.
If your maximum bid is £400.00 always bid something like £401.99.

I have won so many auction at the last second and sometimes by pennies.

I just won a Canon 70-200mm f4 L IS for £701.00 this morning. Mint condition, hardly used, 7 year MACK Professional warranty. A bargain I think.
The next highest bidder put in a max bid of £700.00

Also saw a Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L just the other day, the the seller had listed as an EF-S lens, unfortunately most people looking for that type of lens know what it really is and it went for around £400.00. I wonder how much more the seller could have got if he had listed it correctly.
 
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