# Where do you sell used lenses



## ss396 (Mar 3, 2012)

Hey,

Where is the best place to sell used lenses....


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## kdsand (Mar 3, 2012)

I'm hoping for some good suggestions also.

The odvious places I've heard of are Adorama, B&H and Craigslist but I have no actual experience so....

Help poor ignorant people.

Please? :'(


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## ss396 (Mar 3, 2012)

The last time I checked the BandH online quote, it gives you less than 50% of list for excellent shape. I am hoping to get more.


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## crasher7 (Mar 3, 2012)

Ebay. 85-110% of price paid. Canon stuff holds it's value very well. In fact, last two weeks I sold 4 lenses for $150 more than I paid for them new. A good rule for used is to check vs the price on Canon refurb website.


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## neuroanatomist (Mar 4, 2012)

Craigslist. Face to face in a public location, the buyer gets to test the lens, and you leave with cash.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Mar 4, 2012)

I usually end up selling them on ebay. My lenses are always in top shape with sample images, or if there is a small issue, I describe it. I get a very good price on ebay, but their fees are very high.


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## TexPhoto (Mar 4, 2012)

When I lived in a major city, i would try craigslist first, then go to eBay.

Now I live pretty far from any city, so i just go straight to eBay. The fees stink, but I walkways get more than I could feel it to a store for, even after the fees.


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## jaduffy007 (Mar 4, 2012)

fredmiranda.com


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## wtlloyd (Mar 4, 2012)

WOW. I am gobsmacked that there is any answer given other than Fred Miranda.


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## Jamesy (Mar 4, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> Craigslist. Face to face in a public location, the buyer gets to test the lens, and you leave with cash.


+1

I have also been successful on FredMiranda too.


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## pj1974 (Mar 4, 2012)

I sell mine on gumtree (the Australia equivalent of Craigslist).

Gumtree provides you with free ads (sell, swap or buy) , and you can meet face to face (do this in a safe, public spot) to try / purchase, etc. I've had success in selling 3 Canon lenses that way in recent months.

I sold the lenses below what I got them for, but I expected that, and the reason I sold them for cheaper was:
- I had a LOT of use over several years
- they were not L lenses
- each lens had been superceded in more recent years with superior products (ie newer / better lenses available).
So I was happy with getting at least some decent money for them, but having a clear conscious I was selling them for a reasonable price.

Gumtree really worked for me! 

Paul


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## stevevihon (Mar 6, 2012)

In November, I sold a lens and DSLR to Adorama. I would say *seller beware* based on my experience. 

(1) They refuse to give you an online quote -- they will only give you a quote after you send them the gear to inspect
(2) You must sit through a sales pitch from everyone you speak with in their Used Department -- "We pay top dollar. We will give you 70% of what we will sell the gear for."
(3) I sent my equipment in. They offered me less than two other national camera retailers (one in GA and the other a very large retailer in NYC)
(4) When I balked, I had to prove what the other places were offering. I became so frustrated that the person I dealt with (the head of the Used Department) agreed to give me $25 above the best offer I had received)
(5) So, I am sure you can image I was pretty upset when I saw my gear selling for about $500 more than what they claimed they would sell it for. I wrote to the head of the used department and never heard back.

My advice;
- get multiple quotes if you go the retailer route
- check online to see what these retailers are selling the same equipment for, so you can negotiate with them
- investigate selling the gear directly yourself
- don't take it personally when they lowball you -- they are trying to get the best price for themselves. I just hope whoever you deal with values your time to not make you listen to BS about how they give you the best price when they really will not


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## wickidwombat (Mar 6, 2012)

pj1974 said:


> I sell mine on gumtree (the Australia equivalent of Craigslist).
> 
> Gumtree provides you with free ads (sell, swap or buy) , and you can meet face to face (do this in a safe, public spot) to try / purchase, etc. I've had success in selling 3 Canon lenses that way in recent months.
> 
> ...



yeah i sold all my nikon gear in a week on gumtree. i must have priced it too cheap


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## kdsand (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks!
I guess I'll try Craigslist (USA) .
As I'm slowwwwllllyyyyyy up grading I really shouldn't just let the glass just sit on the shelf.


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## pwp (Mar 7, 2012)

pj1974 said:


> I sell mine on gumtree (the Australia equivalent of Craigslist).



Yep another strong vote for Gumtree if you are in Australia. eBay is officially on the nose now for private sellers.

Paul Wright


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## wickidwombat (Mar 7, 2012)

pwp said:


> pj1974 said:
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> 
> > I sell mine on gumtree (the Australia equivalent of Craigslist).
> ...



why is ebay on the nose?


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## Brymills (Feb 10, 2014)

I sell high end kit on Amazon Marketplace. Sometimes it can take a while to get a buyer, but I've got good prices in the past where I didn't want to risk a sale at a too low price on eBay. I realise you can set reserves, but that doesn't seem to work for me.


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## slclick (Feb 10, 2014)

ebay, CL, keh.com


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## Zv (Feb 10, 2014)

Amazon marketplace has worked well for me. Sold lenses, speedlites and a whole bunch of other stuff. I like the ease of it. I would use ebay too but where I live ebay isn't popular.


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## wsheldon (Feb 11, 2014)

jaduffy007 said:


> fredmiranda.com



Second that. Nothing but good experiences at FM, and a HUGE amount of buy/sell traffic by knowledgeable photographers. You'll never get by with an inflated price (too many comparables), but you won't get low-balled either. Does cost a bit for a buy/sell membership if you want to upload photos, but I find that worthwhile since they also have great discussion and presentation boards.


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## Mr_Canuck (Feb 12, 2014)

I haven't used fredmiranda but it sounds like people think it's positive. I'm new to Canon, but I had good success on pentaxforums and on dyxum for sony/minolta. A forum is a good place, but keep your wits about you in terms of personal information protection and make sure people have good buy/sell records.

Ebay is worth it and you can set reserves.

And local online classifieds are very low risk if you are careful in your communication and always meet face to face.


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## dstppy (Feb 12, 2014)

Mr_Canuck said:


> And local online classifieds are very low risk if you are careful in your communication and always meet face to face.



Did this for the first time this week; I was seriously nervous . . . now I only have to do that 6-10 more times and I'll have reduced the clutter ;D


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## jdramirez (Feb 13, 2014)

dstppy said:


> Mr_Canuck said:
> 
> 
> > And local online classifieds are very low risk if you are careful in your communication and always meet face to face.
> ...



I just meet someplace public. Meet in a bank... they have cameras and security... and you can immediately deposit the money and the bank will swipe the marker over the bills to make sure they are legit.


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## dstppy (Feb 13, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> dstppy said:
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> > Mr_Canuck said:
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I'm lucky, my work building has a lobby with a camera and a Chase in it as well. I took the bills straight down there afterwards (when I saw hundreds I was nervous) and they ran it through a machine that vetted them.

The guy was just a little squirrely; worried about sharpness, focus adjustment, how many owners it had beforehand. I finally got him to stop the damn thing down; he kept taking shots wide open then wondering why it wasn't all in focus ;D


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## jdramirez (Feb 13, 2014)

dstppy said:


> jdramirez said:
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> > dstppy said:
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Which lens were you selling?

And my work building also has security, cameras... but no bank... just an atm... We used to have a bank... but we moved.


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## gary (Feb 13, 2014)

I have used Amazon when I sold a Canon 300 2.8L and got a very reasonable price, satisfied and you know the costs up front. I also know people who have used Fredmiranda, but I'm always told that people only like to buy from sellers who have a good history unless you have someone who will vouch for you.


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## Rienzphotoz (Feb 13, 2014)

Selling my used gear is one of my strong points ... over the last few years, I think I kinda mastered this art ... I work in a company that has 150+ office based employees and 1000+ rig based employees (offshore/onshore) ... because of my hobby, some of the management staff requests me to make images of our rigs and other equipment (some of which are used in our company brochures, presentations and news paper adverts etc ... to my good fortune the so called professional photographers our company hired here so far, have produced some very shabby images and the management prefers the ones I make). This led me to a few of the office staff asking me questions about camera gear selection ... which eventually got me into conducting weekend "workshops" on simple photography principles like f/stops, shutter speeds, ISO etc ... which led to building trust with several of my colleagues ... and when I was planning on upgrading my EOS 400D, one of the colleagues asked me if I was planning on selling any of my camera gear, so I made my first "in-house" sale, he was very happy with that deal and the reputation grew from there ... as on date I have 14 customers who have bought various things from me (i.e. 6 cameras, 18 lenses, 2 tripods, 1 MBP, 1 iPad, 2 iPhones, 1 Samsung Mega, 1 Samsung Tab, 1 Alienware Laptop etc) ... just today, I sold my EOS-M & Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC to one office colleague (he didn't have enough money so he only paid me $500 and will pay me the remaining at the end of the month), plus I've got another office employee lined up to buy my Canon G1 X within the next 2 weeks ... one of the things that works for me is that I accept credit cards ... I sell my used gear and tell them that they can pay me with their CC by purchasing something I want from B&H, Adorama or Digitalrev ... this has worked for me really well since 2008.


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## RustyTheGeek (Feb 13, 2014)

I think everyone here at CR would like and appreciate if CR would start a trade page to sell used gear to other CR members, etc. Sort of a CraigsList for CR. Call it CansList or CRList or something. 

Otherwise, I prefer to sell (in order of preference)...
1. In Person to friend
2. In Person from CraigsList
3. Amazon
4000. eBay (eBay is not fun anymore like it was years ago)

I have never tried Fred Miranda but I may look into it.

Rusty


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## jdramirez (Feb 13, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> I think everyone here at CR would like and appreciate if CR would start a trade page to sell used gear to other CR members, etc. Sort of a CraigsList for CR. Call it CansList or CRList or something.
> 
> Otherwise, I prefer to sell (in order of preference)...
> 1. In Person to friend
> ...



I second that... but even when you sell to a friend and it works pefectly for you... in 6 month... or 2 months maybe the AF motor goes and then suddenly they are ticked at you even though you didn't do anything... still feels easier selling to strangers.


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## dstppy (Feb 13, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> Which lens were you selling?
> 
> And my work building also has security, cameras... but no bank... just an atm... We used to have a bank... but we moved.



EF-S 10-22mm


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## mackguyver (Feb 13, 2014)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I usually end up selling them on ebay. My lenses are always in top shape with sample images, or if there is a small issue, I describe it. I get a very good price on ebay, but their fees are very high.


Same here. I hate their fees, but other than a few attempts to scam me and a couple of LENGTHY waits on customs for international buyers, I've had very good luck. I like to take shots of the lenses with my 180mm macro and post shots I've taken with the lens in my ad. I'm always very detailed about any scratches, marks, etc., no matter how small to make sure the buyer feels comfortable.


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## RustyTheGeek (Feb 14, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> Mt Spokane Photography said:
> 
> 
> > I usually end up selling them on ebay. My lenses are always in top shape with sample images, or if there is a small issue, I describe it. I get a very good price on ebay, but their fees are very high.
> ...



What I hate and I worry the most about is buyer scams where the buyer (the crook) complains to eBay that the seller (me) screwed them over in some way and they either received the wrong item, never received the item, received a broken item or they somehow got an STD from the item they were sold. Whatever the bogus complaint, eBay Buyer Protection automatically refunds their money and yanks it out of the Seller's PayPal account whether it is there to yank or not. So at that point, it is up the the Seller to prove they did nothing wrong while the buyer enjoys a full refund. It's a huge buyer scam and eBay provides the means to do it. I've known others who were scammed like this and not only did they lose the item them were selling but they lost the money they were paid for it as well.

Big Ticket and Popular items are the targets of these scams and eBay doesn't seem to really care unless the seller is some kind of Power Seller or something.


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## Hillsilly (Feb 14, 2014)

pwp said:


> pj1974 said:
> 
> 
> > I sell mine on gumtree (the Australia equivalent of Craigslist).
> ...



Just had a look at Gumtree for the first time in years and was surprised by the amount of camera gear there. What's the drama with eBay? Is it the fees? I rarely sell things, but eBay has been my way of doing it in the past.



jdramirez said:


> I second that... but even when you sell to a friend and it works pefectly for you... in 6 month... or 2 months maybe the AF motor goes and then suddenly they are ticked at you even though you didn't do anything... still feels easier selling to strangers.



But we'd be able to identify those who: -

Dropped their lens, but it was saved by the UV filter;
Dropped their lens, but it wasn't saved by the UV filter;
Ask if mysterious black dots/hot spots on their sensor are normal;
Dropped their camera in the ocean, river, lake but it still works great due to the great weather sealing;
Ask if their lens looks sharp or wonder if it is de-centred;
Ask if loud grinding noises from the AF are normal;
Are sharing their "awesome pictures from last weekends color run"
etc, etc

And of course, on a more serious note, we'd also be able to identify those who have individual pelican cases for each lens and itemise their detailed cleaning and maintenance efforts to show how well they care for their equipment.


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## pj1974 (Feb 14, 2014)

Hillsilly said:


> pwp said:
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> > pj1974 said:
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Gumtree is quite a good resource if you live in a city in Australia. I live in Adelaide, which has a population of about 1.2 million (so medium size city) and it has enough 'buying-selling or to-trade business / traffic' that it's worthwhile.

I have sold a few of my previous lenses on it - which were in good condition - and at a very competitive (ie fair) price. I wanted a no-fuss sale (my time is worth money too). Over the years I have bought items on it - eg 2nd hand ball-head (but not lenses or bodies). Just my personal preference, I prefer these items new - even if I have to import from USA & SE Asia (when I come across a good deal from those places).

There are also a few facebook pages, Australia cameras buy sell and trade (something like that) and 'Australia Canon buy and sell'. These are good, have decent moderators (eg price needs to be mentioned, and photos attached, otherwise they are removed.

On both these mediums - some people try to sell items at ridiculously overpriced amounts (eg more than I can get new imports, including shipping). They often say 'Best camera' 'Amazing' 'Quick sell' (eg when it's a 5 year old body with 80k clicks on it!)  But most people take a more reasonable approach...

I know the market well enough so I speak with authority and if people try to bargain me down, I indicate (truthfully) the number of other people who have contacted me about the lens, and I'm willing to wait for a 'reasonable price' not eg if I listed my lens at $400 and they offer me $250, I say... "No, $380 is the lowest I'm prepared to go. I'm expecting someone might also pay me $400 for it too"  All has worked good so far.

Paul


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## mackguyver (Feb 14, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> mackguyver said:
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> 
> > Mt Spokane Photography said:
> ...


I haven't had this happen yet, but have come close a few times. What I do to protect myself is to video everything working, a close-up of the serial #, then the item being packed into the original boxes, padded in the shipping boxes, taped up, and labelled. I figure that I can upload this to YouTube in the worst case that someone challenges what I sell them, but I too have heard horror stories. I've also had to wait several weeks for a package signature and positive review before Paypal will release my funds if it's been a while since I've sold a "high risk" item. My feedback is finally over 100, so I think that helps, but they'll probably change that 200 now, LOL.


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## mpphoto (Feb 14, 2014)

I have only sold one lens, but I'll add my experience here.

Not long ago I sold an EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III (non-USM). It is one of Canon's most-maligned lenses, so I wasn't sure how easy it would be to sell. I got the lens as part of a package when I was a newbie to DSLR photography.

Tried selling it for $100 on Craigslist. No bites. Waited a few weeks, tried selling it again for $80 on Craigslist. Nobody was interested again. I saw I could get $60 for it from B&H, so that would be my last resort. I tried selling on eBay for $100, and it didn't sell. I tried the $80 price point again, and I ended up selling for $82 plus a $10 shipping fee on eBay. It was the first time in many years since I had sold on eBay, and stupid me, I forgot to check the fees before listing the lens. They were much higher than I remembered. So I grossed $92. PayPal's cut was $2.97. eBay charged a final value fee of $8.20 and a final value fee on shipping of $1.00. The shipping cost me $12.41. In the end, I only netted $67.42. There's no getting around shipping, so let's concentrate on the eBay/PayPal fees. They ended up taking nearly $11.17, or 14% away from my sale.

I have an EF-S 18-135mm lens I want to sell now. Not sure if I am willing to lose a significant portion of my sale to eBay/PayPal again. Those stories about sellers getting scammed by eBay Buyer Protection are scaring me.


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## Zv (Feb 14, 2014)

mpphoto said:


> I have only sold one lens, but I'll add my experience here.
> 
> Not long ago I sold an EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III (non-USM). It is one of Canon's most-maligned lenses, so I wasn't sure how easy it would be to sell. I got the lens as part of a package when I was a newbie to DSLR photography.
> 
> ...



I find amazon marketplace fees to be moderate, certainly lower than 14%! Ouch!


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## brett b (Feb 14, 2014)

fredmiranda.com


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## sagittariansrock (Feb 14, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> RustyTheGeek said:
> 
> 
> > I think everyone here at CR would like and appreciate if CR would start a trade page to sell used gear to other CR members, etc. Sort of a CraigsList for CR. Call it CansList or CRList or something.
> ...



Actually, I wish more of my friends were into photography. My friends know that I take care of my stuff so well that if I am ever selling things they need they will always buy from me. I sold both my cars to friends who had been badgering me to sell them. My iPhone 4S was claimed as soon as I expressed interest in getting the 5+ when it would be announced and now my 3-month old 5S is already claimed. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of photographer friends (at least with GAS).
I prefer CR, because buyers can see my equipment and then they always go for it. Having said that, selling my 7D and the two lenses was terribly difficult, firstly because the huge price drop secondly because Houston is full of videographers and the 70D is undoubtedly a better choice (I suppose even t5i must be although I am going entirely by specs). But I've finally sold them today, hooray!


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## sagittariansrock (Feb 14, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> I think everyone here at CR would like and appreciate if CR would start a trade page to sell used gear to other CR members, etc. Sort of a CraigsList for CR. Call it CansList or CRList or something.



Well this also would be Craig's list wouldn't it? 

FredMiranda is really nice. I bought several items and sold my 10-22 there. Super easy and nice experience all round.


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