Selling Used Equipment

Jeff Fillmore · May 11, 2007

Anyone have any experience selling used equipment at to online retailers such as B&H or Adorama? I have a couple lenses I have upgraded from and never use and am not really into the Ebay thing. Any thoughts on this?

Nothing fancy - a Tamron 18-200 and my 18-70 Kit Lens.

Thanks.

Scott_Quier · May 11, 2007

Why not try selling them here first? Lots of people, me included, have been very successful and happy with the transactions. Besides, most of the folks here are easily vetted for so the pucker factor is greatly reduced over places like Ebay. Finally, the Flea Market is set up to most easily handle sales, not auctions. Pretty cool. Check it.

Tommyboy · May 11, 2007

I echo Scott's comments. Easy to do business here.

I recently took the plunge of setting up a PayPal account and an ebay account. There are folks who've been doing this for years, and although I'm pretty net saavy, I never did. It's easy and I've had more than a dozen successful transactions in the last 30 days.

Either way, you'll likely come out ahead. I don't have any experience selling to dealers online, but I do know that a dealer will give you half of or less than what you can sell it here or on ebay for.

Jeff Fillmore · May 11, 2007

Yeah- well thats kind of it- I don't have that much stuff and did not really want to go thru the motions of setting up accounts w/ ebay, paypal, etc to make it all happen. Maybe I should look into it- I WAS just looking for a no fuss way to unload the stuff.

brambo76 · May 11, 2007

gdad wrote:

Yeah- well thats kind of it- I don't have that much stuff and did not really want to go thru the motions of setting up accounts w/ ebay, paypal, etc to make it all happen. Maybe I should look into it- I WAS just looking for a no fuss way to unload the stuff.

are you local to any of those stores? When I was trying to sell one of my lenses, I considered retails store option as well. I sent B&H email, but the offer they sent me was just too low.. I ended up selling it here. Good luck with sale.

robbrenner · May 11, 2007

I have some old film stuff that just won't move. I did the online form with b&h and got a quote. But I have not sent anything to them yet - though I am getting close. Their offers were low, but they are a business and are not running a charity. They offered me half of what they were selling one item for used. I ended up selling it elsewhere for $50 more than what b&h offered. I don't have paypal. I deal in just USPO Money Orders so far. I have only lost one deal b/c I would not take paypal. But I guess that person did not want the item enough. What, they can't get a USPO money order? I think I will be selling some items to b&h even though I will get close to nothing since "close to nothing" is better than nothing.

Rob

brambo76 wrote:

are you local to any of those stores? When I was trying to sell one of my lenses, I considered retails store option as well. I sent B&H email, but the offer they sent me was just too low.. I ended up selling it here. Good luck with sale.

BeachBill · May 11, 2007

gdad wrote:

Yeah- well thats kind of it- I don't have that much stuff and did not really want to go thru the motions of setting up accounts w/ ebay, paypal, etc to make it all happen. Maybe I should look into it- I WAS just looking for a no fuss way to unload the stuff.

"No fuss" is the way it works here on Dgrin, plus if you sell it here on Dgrin, then you don't need to set up a ebay or paypal account. You could accept money order and be done with it.

Retail stores will always offer you less than what you could get selling it yourself. I would suggest giving Dgrin a try. If only your 18-200 was for Canon, I'd be interested.

DoctorIt · May 11, 2007

Jeff,
If you list everything up front like "sorry, no paypal acct, MO only", "will only ship USPS (the UPS store is too far)" then there will be no surprises for either party.

this is a friendly community. take some photos of what you've got, give us a price, and let us know how we can help you move it. As I've said before, and say in my guidelines, this place is about good peer-peer trading of photo equipment.

photobug · May 12, 2007

DoctorIt wrote:

If you list everything up front like "sorry, no paypal acct, MO only"...

I echo all the previous posters re trading on DGrin, except that money orders are no longer a safe form of payment. There are way too many scams/fake money orders out there -- and they can take weeks to "bounce" so the only way to verify them is by a trip to Post Office for verification. (just Google "Postal money order scam" or read http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/26/business/scam.php)

Not that I've ever had a problem with a trade on DGrin... but I would recommend that everyone have at least a PayPal "Personal" account for receiving payment. It's secure and there are no fees on a Personal account. If you want to also accept credit cards, then open up a second PayPal acct that's a "Business/Premiere" account (using a second email address). That way you have the best of both of both worlds.

My two cents.

BeachBill · May 12, 2007

photobug wrote:

I echo all the previous posters re trading on DGrin, except that money orders are no longer a safe form of payment. There are way too many scams/fake money orders out there -- and they can take weeks to "bounce" so the only way to verify them is by a trip to Post Office for verification.

That's a very specific scam that has been going on longer than that article is dated (2005). To avoid it, make sure the purchaser has a history here at Dgrin, make sure the purchaser isn't in Nigeria, and the purchaser isn't sending you way more than the cost of the item and asking you to send back the difference in cash. Also as you mention, just cash the postal money order at the post office and you don't need to wait to see if it will bounce.

photobug · May 13, 2007

BeachBill wrote:

That's a very specific scam that has been going on longer than that article is dated (2005).

I didn't even read that particular ariticle -- just Google to find plenty. I read another one that included photos of how good some fake money orders are. Pretty scary. Only the Post Office can tell the difference.

To avoid it ... just cash the postal money order at the post office and you don't need to wait to see if it will bounce.

Thanks for the tip -- I didn't know that you could cash a money order at the Post Office. That would remove the "scam" worries, at the price of taking time off work for a long trip down to the Post Office. For a large-ticket item, it makes some sense.

Still, it seems far safer and saves time and money for everyone just to use PayPal. It takes maybe five minutes to set up a PayPal account (I've done it twice) -- far less time than a single trip to the Post Office!

Jeff Fillmore · May 13, 2007

Thanks all- I did set up a PayPal account- and am planning on offering the items here. I am supposed to get my camera back tomorrow from Nikon Service (Fixed 2 hot pixils) so I can take some pics of the items, examples, etc. I appreciate all the feedback.

di-queso · May 14, 2007

Kind of nervous, but still positive...tick...tock...tick

BeachBill wrote:

That's a very specific scam that has been going on longer than that article is dated (2005). To avoid it, make sure the purchaser has a history here at Dgrin, make sure the purchaser isn't in Nigeria, and the purchaser isn't sending you way more than the cost of the item and asking you to send back the difference in cash. Also as you mention, just cash the postal money order at the post office and you don't need to wait to see if it will bounce.

Myself being a newbie and bitten by the digital bug.. Used the Flea Market section of Dgrin. On thursday I sent out a thousand dollars of hard, and I mean HARD earned money, for a D70S and 4 lenses , yada yada. The seller is a newbie too. Today being monday I hope to hear that he has recieved and shipped. But I can tell you my nerves are a little on edge. I think its more the anticipation of taking a million pictures and not having to pay developing fees. Maybe 10% of it is fear of being taken. I used a certified cashiers check from the Bank in hopes that It would carry the insurance if anything happened. (not really sure if that is true) but it is what I was told.
I will let you know how it works out.:photo

photobug · May 14, 2007

Suggestions for practicing Safe Buying

di-queso wrote:

Used the Flea Market section of Dgrin. On thursday I sent out a thousand dollars of hard, and I mean HARD earned money, for a D70S and 4 lenses , yada yada. The seller is a newbie too. Today being monday I hope to hear that he has recieved and shipped. But I can tell you my nerves are a little on edge.

I went through something similar a couple of weeks ago (for a bit larger sum, yet) -- but the difference is that I checked out the seller's references first, which gave me more assurance that everything would end up well (it turned out very well; OceanView turned out to be a very honest, reputable seller).

...Maybe 10% of it is fear of being taken. I used a certified cashiers check from the Bank in hopes that It would carry the insurance if anything happened. (not really sure if that is true) but it is what I was told.

The only insurance with a cashier's check or money order is in case the cashier's check is lost, then you can get the bank to put a stop payment on it and issue you a new one. So the insurance is basically against the Post Office goofing up and losing your check (which is very unlikely).

There is no insurance against getting "taken" when sending a certified check, cashier's check, or money order, or Western Union funds -- they are entirely equivalent to sending cash. That is, if the recipient decides to pocket the money and thumb his/her nose at you, in practice you would have little recourse other than to give them negative feedback (which we don't post at DGrin, BTW, probably for legal reasons).

So I highly recommend checking any Seller's feedback before sending them money, esp for larger-ticket items. (New sellers can best get started by selling some smaller items, to build up their feedback and establish their credibility/trustworthiness.) If they don't have feedback at DGrin, ask them for where they have feedback elsewhere (FM, eBay, Amazon, etc) and be sure to verify that the user name they gave you for the other service is the same person (by using a "contact the member" link on the other service, asking that Seller to confirm they are the same person and not a victim of someone attempting to borrow their user name).

There are some exceptions to the above, that make it safer to deal with a relatively unknown buyer or seller:
(1) meeting in person (in a public place) for the exchange, in which case you can both see what you're getting in trade when the transaction occurs,
(2) using a form of PayPal that provides guarantees to Buyer & Seller against fraud (read the fine print -- I think the Seller must have a Business/Premier account, the item must be shipped to the Buyer's "Verified" address, yada, yada), and
(3) if you can do the trade through a trusted 3rd party or escrow service.

di-queso · May 14, 2007

Only time will tell....
Thanks for the information. I hope this works out for the best.
But like my father said "A lock only keeps an honest man honest"

photobug · May 14, 2007

di-queso wrote:

I hope this works out for the best.
But like my father said "A lock only keeps an honest man honest"

A wise man, your father.

One of my points was that by checking feedback, you can greatly increase your odds that you are, in fact, dealing with an honest trading partner, before the transaction ever starts.

di-queso · May 14, 2007

Did a check

photobug wrote:

A wise man, your father.

One of my points was that by checking feedback, you can greatly increase your odds that you are, in fact, dealing with an honest trading partner, before the transaction ever starts.[/quote

I looked into his ebay ID and he has good feedback but less than 10 transactions. I am willing to take chances though. I recently bought a Gary Fisher bike the same way with about the same feedback and saved about a Grand.

Appreciate the input and maybe a Prayer..

photobug · May 14, 2007

I looked into his ebay ID and he has good feedback but less than 10 transactions. I am willing to take chances though.

The transaction will very likely work out great.

I'm not particularly comfortable discussing the following, because I've been a party to numerous equipment horse-swaps here on DGrin and have never ever had a problem with any DGrin'er. But in the interest of education / spoiling possible fraud here or elsewhere, here goes ...

For anyone who is concerned about a Seller with no direct feedback at DGrin and has been referred to feedback for the Seller on another forum (be it eBay, FM, Amazon, whatever) ... keep it mind that DGrin member ABC says that they're member XYZ on the other forum, there's no guarantee that they're not just picking a random member name XYZ who happens to have good feedback (a type of identity theft), in order to perpetrate a less-than-honest deal. One additional step that anyone can take is to contact user XYZ on the other forum through that forum's member-contact mechanism and ask them if they're the same person as member ABC on DGrin. Once you close that loop, you can safely apply the feedback from the other forum to a new transaction on DGrin.

20DNoob · May 18, 2007

I caught somebody doing that once from a very reputable seller from FM on another board. The sneaky bugger changed the screen name by swapping two numbers back to front, he even copied the profile info of the proper person. I pm'ed the original seller and he got in touch with some of the Admins and they banned the fake for the "similarities".

Art Scott · May 18, 2007

robbrenner wrote:

I deal in just USPO Money Orders so far. I have only lost one deal b/c I would not take paypal. But I guess that person did not want the item enough. What, they can't get a USPO money order? Rob

With most people having a paypal acct to buy with gives them a sense of security.....Take this as an example only.....Your selling a lens for 75.00 and you say it is almost like new and it is for Canon mount....okay....I get the lens it iall beat up scratches on the glass and it is a Miranda mount....With a M.O. I have no true recourse......but with Paypal I lodge a complaint and possibly get my money back...it may take me 2 weeks to 2 months but it can happen......real life story.....I bought 2 brand new Sandisk Extreme lll 4gb CF cards....I was using Lexar Pro 2gb Cf's and saw a good deal....not so good it sparked the supicious side of me...just good.....I had some extra cash and bought 2.....they arrived and I poped them in my camera....should be twice as many frames available as my 2gb Lexars...right....NOPE....had just about 35% more....so it is late but according to SanDisks site I still ahd time to call for tech support...called starting sking questions and gave them the s/n's and all and they came back with it being a very low grade card I had never heard of and then they asked me the retailers name...which I gladly gave them.....now I contact seller....he tries telling me too bad....I said no returns.....so I sent that email to both Paypal and also ebay.....had money back into my account in 48 hours but yes I did have to ship the cards back...So I took a gold paint pen and wrote "COUNTERFEIT" on the front and back of both cards....then the reseller was gone off ebay...but I ran some searches for the same cards and got a different reseller with the same exact address and I sicked ebay on them again....it took less than a day and they were gone.

So Paypal is a security device mopst of US that use it........

I kind figure that if a seller is too lazy to spend 5 minutes signing up for a PayPal account(they used to give $5.00 to each new account registered), then does that person really deserve my money....or is that person trying to screw me by selling me junk........Now if someone asks me to take a M.O......I will sometimes...but just as with a check....it must clear the bank and sit for 2 weeks to make surew it is not stolen or counterfeit.....if it is a Postal M.O. I run to the P.O. to have it checked out....if it is Western Union , Money gram or any other M.O. it is deposited and I wait 2 weeks to make sure it was good.....Same thing with travelers Cheques...get deposited and then a 2 week wait......

these are just my reasons for Paypal and my thougths on M.O.'s in general.

Scott_Quier · May 18, 2007

Art Scott wrote:

So I took a gold paint pen and wrote "COUNTERFEIT" on the front and back of both cards....then the reseller was gone off ebay...but I ran some searches for the same cards and got a different reseller with the same exact address and I sicked ebay on them again....it took less than a day and they were gone.

Well done Art!!

thumb

Seymore · May 18, 2007

di-queso · May 23, 2007

oops....

photobug wrote:

The transaction will very likely work out great.

Package arrived:ivar

Only problem is the packing job was terrible. The three nikon ed lenses were together in a plastic bag (with nothing in between them) the box was filled with shredded paper, and the camera body was underneath the whole shabang). Needless to say the lenses bounced up and down on the body cracking the pop up flash assy. Now it just clicks and does not open unless you give it a healthy helping of finger nail. (anyone know where to get this fixed). I emailed the guy I bought it from and he is sending me a copy of the ups reciept showing the insurance for shipping. Does anyone know if this will cover the damage sustained to the camera. Or will they just scoff and blame it on the packaging. I am assuming it will be null and void.

All that aside the camera came in just as described and works great. All in all not a bad deal. Just bad packaging.

photobug · May 23, 2007

Awful packing -- SEND IT BACK

di-queso wrote:

Package arrived..... Only problem is the packing job was terrible. The three nikon ed lenses were together in a plastic bag (with nothing in between them) the box was filled with shredded paper, and the camera body was underneath the whole shabang).

Agggghhhh! That's an awful packing job. Shredded newsparper is worthless (except for very lightweight items like lightbulbs). Bubble-pack is great for photo gear. Styro peanuts are OK but not as good (unless they're the pricier, anti-static kind). Even wadded-up newspaper would have been better than shredded newspaper.

The shipper violated the unbendable rule that no two items should ever touch, because anything that touches is guaranteed to bounce or rub against each other during transport, causing anything from rub marks to scratches to chips to out-and-out breakage (internal or external).

Needless to say the lenses bounced up and down on the body cracking the pop up flash assy.

And the lenses must have also bounced against each other, possibly causing internal damage ... if I was in your shoes, I'd be very nervous about the internal condition of the lenses.

I emailed the guy I bought it from and he is sending me a copy of the ups reciept showing the insurance for shipping. Does anyone know if this will cover the damage sustained to the camera. Or will they just scoff and blame it on the packaging.

You are correct. UPS insurance only applies if (1) it was packed by a UPS store or (b) UPS inspects the box and determines that it was properly packed. It sounds clear that this one won't meet either test, therefore you'll get nothing from UPS. (I went through this a few months ago) If your description is accurate, the damage is clearly the shipper's fault, therefore it's up to the shipper to make good on the damage (UPS won't, and shouldn't have to).

All that aside, the camera came in just as described and works great. All in all not a bad deal. Just bad packaging.

For what it's worth, unless the deal was so incredibly good that you're willing to cover all the damage costs, I'd ask the seller to accept a return and get my money back. Or give you an allowance for repairs due to poor packing. Get rid of the problem you already know about (flash) and problems that may be lurking (possible internal lens damage). Pay for return shipping if you have to -- it will be a lot cheaper than repairing the flash alone.

And regardless, next time you order, be sure to specify how it must be packed so there are no surprises. Make sure the shipper agrees to use bubble-pak, for example, and that each item be wrapped separately. Most will do so as a matter of course, but apparently you ran across someone this time who doesn't know how to pack for shipment.

As I orginally said, odds were that the deal would work out fine. I'm sorry to hear that this one didn't go that way :cry.

di-queso · May 23, 2007

Thanks for the advice

photobug wrote:

Agggghhhh! That's an awful packing job. Shredded newsparper is worthless
The shipper violated the unbendable rule that no two items should ever touch, because anything that touches is guaranteed to bounce or rub against each other during transport, causing anything from rub marks to scratches to chips to out-and-out breakage (internal or external).

I will see what happens in the next few days.

Selling Used Equipment

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