# Selling used EF-s lenses worth only dimes?



## blacktiger0802 (May 10, 2011)

I have a Quantaray 18-200mm
Canon 75-300 ii usm
Canon 18-55 f4

I went to my local camera store and all they offered me was 130 :/


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## bvukich (May 10, 2011)

They'll generally pay you half of the minimum they think they can sell it for, and if it needs any repairs/cleaning, etc., that comes out of your half.

I'm not an expert in used lens prices, but I can't see them getting much more than $300-400 out of those lenses. So $130 is low, but not absurdly so.


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## awinphoto (May 10, 2011)

Dont sell to camera stores... It would be like trading in your car to a dealership vs reselling on ebay/craigslist/newspaper. Stores and dealerships have to buy your gear low enough because they cant sell them for new prices, so they got to make it worth their investment, sort of speak, and a $5-10 profit margin isn't worth their time. I've had camera stores tell me to sell my gear on ebay or craigslist because they admitted they couldn't offer near the amount they are worth. Secondly, your canon lenses typically hold their value a tad bit better than quantaray or even tamron, sigma, tokina, etc. If your gear is near mint condition, i would recommend posting a free craigslist ad for a tad below the new import prices you see on adorama/bh photovideo and see what bites you get.


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## branden (May 10, 2011)

$130 doesn't seem too unreasonable a price for that equipment list. You could try selling on eBay, if you list properly the auction will end at going market value pretty much 100% of the time. But then eBay and PayPal will step in and take their cut, and you'll have to pay some to ship the items, and at the end of the day you'll maybe have 80% of sell price. Check eBay auctions that have ended already to see what similar equipment has sold for.


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## ronderick (May 10, 2011)

Just echoing others, you'll probably get better price for your gears online than at local stores. However, the bad part about selling your gears online is that you'll probably have to spend more time with all the knits-and-grits, so you have to allocate some effort there...

As for prices of used lens, it's really a question of supply and demand, and that's pretty hard to grasp (but as a guideline, Canon lens usually retains more value than third party lens, and the higher-grade lens -aka "L" lens- usually retain better value than lower line ones).


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## neuroanatomist (May 10, 2011)

Echo echo echo... The 18-55mm IS lens sells locally on Craigslist for $75-80 (sure, some list it for $150 with a link to the new lens on Amazon, but everyone knows it's a kit lens and no one paid that much for it). That's assuming it's the IS version, the non-IS goes for $50. The 75-300 III USM goes for under $100. If you're actually trying to sell the Mk II version of the lens (as you list below), that's a discontinued product and well over 10 years old, since the Mk III was released in 1999. 3rd party lenses lose value very quickly.

Bottom line, you're selling low-end consumer grade lenses, and I suspect you need to lower your expectations of what they are worth. It's a common mistake - I often see used 20D and 30D bodies listed on Craigslist for nearly the same price as a new 60D. No one cares what the seller paid for the camera/lens however many years ago.


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## jalbfb (May 10, 2011)

I sold my used EF-S 18-200 and my T1i through Adorama and got a fair deal. Used it towards my 5DII. Contact their used dept. They'll email you a ups slip. You send them your equipment. They will contact you and give you their evaluated price and then pay you 70% of that agreed upon price. If you don't like the deal they send you back the equipment at their cost. something to think about if you are coming up with what you feel are undervalued offers.


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