[magkelly]

That's why I mentioned shipping and is part of why prices have jumped on ebay (that's just a guess on my part). I don't do much selling on ebay anymore either.

Most of my friends who still sell on Ebay are migrating to places like Etsy, Bonanza and Ecrater etc. They all seem to be fed up with the fees and the policies lately. My one friend finally quit recently when she lost a $100 sale to someone in a Pay Pal reversal.

Guy reversed the payment on her and he's so far ignored any requests for an item return on her part. Ebay and Pay Pal so far have been no help because he's claiming the item was defective. Electronics item. There was nothing wrong with the item. I know that for a fact. I checked it out for her before she sent it. He wants to return it, fine, but he needs to send it back to her so we can check the serial # on it and verify that it's the same item she sent. But he doesn't seem too inclined to do that. He wants his item and his money too I think...

I've now heard that same story now from 3 different people I know. I signed up for an Ebay account last year mainly so I could buy lenses? I have yet to use the account. I look a lot but Ebay just seems like a real crap shoot to me and with their stories in the back of my mind I am reluctant to sell there. It seems like Ebay and Pay Pal are great at protecting buyers, but not so much the sellers these days...

[JeffJS]

I'm not sure if prices really jumped because of that. To make up and extra ~8% on shipping on a typical shipping charge of $10-12 is less than $1. Perhaps I can see shipping charges bumped up by a buck to cover it. I rarely sell on ebay, but my understanding was that the overall commission structure is ever so slightly lower in order to compensate for the commission charge on the shipping.

As RioRico, probably 95 percent of my camera gear sold in ebay has gone overseas. It still isn't a great deal of a cut but when you consider that ebay is providing absolutely NO service for their 'cut' of the shipping charges, even $1 is too much for my taste. It's bad enough that you have to pay Paypal (an ebay company) for it but for them to double dip it is absolutely ridiculous. This is one of the reasons I Never offered 'free shipping'. It Isn't free and was only serving to fatten ebays wallet. Now they've fixed it so it doesn't matter. It just thickens the stick that they want to shove up the sellers butt.

My Theory is that many sellers, are burying the entire fee, especially on a BIN, in the price. There is also perception that since they are paying more, they are going to charge more. As I said, Part of the reason. Ebay Use to be a great place for selling camera (and other) equipment but that time has long passed.

If I'm going to pay someone to allow me to sell my camera gear (so I can buy more), I would much rather give it to PF by selling in the marketplace. I don't like craigslist for this sort of thing either. Too many crackpots out there.

[dgaies]

I was traveling when eBay did the change, and I haven't restarted selling yet, BUT... Most of my profits came from overseas sales. Those mean high shipping charges. That means a bigger cut from my proceeds. That means I'll have to raise out-of-USA shipping by US$5-10 to avoid taking losses. That means it will hurt.

I agree it sucks, but in truth you'd only have to raise your shipping prices by $5-10 if the cost to ship your items overseas actually costs you $50-100 (assuming a round 10% commission on everything, which I think might be slightly on the high side).

Most of my friends who still sell on Ebay are migrating to places like Etsy, Bonanza and Ecrater etc. They all seem to be fed up with the fees and the policies lately.

I don't disagree that eBay isn't the greatest place to sell stuff in terms of seller protection and their policies. However, it's important not to consider whether or not the fees, while high, are sill lower than how much less you might be able to sell your items for without the wide exposure eBay gives you. In other words, selling an item on eBay for $100 and losing $10 in fees means you net $90. Sell the same items somewhere else for $85 (and not paying a fee) because there weren't as many potential customers doesn't end up benefiting you in the end. It all depends what you're selling and how close the alternative place to sell it will get you to the amount you would have got on eBay. Just my $0.02.

I don't like craigslist for this sort of thing either. Too many crackpots out there.

Way too many crackpots!

[JeffJS]

Most of my friends who still sell on Ebay are migrating to places like Etsy, Bonanza and Ecrater etc. They all seem to be fed up with the fees and the policies lately. My one friend finally quit recently when she lost a $100 sale to someone in a Pay Pal reversal.

Guy reversed the payment on her and he's so far ignored any requests for an item return on her part. Ebay and Pay Pal so far have been no help because he's claiming the item was defective. Electronics item. There was nothing wrong with the item. I know that for a fact. I checked it out for her before she sent it. He wants to return it, fine, but he needs to send it back to her so we can check the serial # on it and verify that it's the same item she sent. But he doesn't seem too inclined to do that. He wants his item and his money too I think...

I've now heard that same story now from 3 different people I know. I signed up for an Ebay account last year mainly so I could buy lenses? I have yet to use the account. I look a lot but Ebay just seems like a real crap shoot to me and with their stories in the back of my mind I am reluctant to sell there. It seems like Ebay and Pay Pal are great at protecting buyers, but not so much the sellers these days...

Unfortunately there are reasons for the reversal policy. It didn't come just as a way to screw the seller but I do believe is being Used that way. A one rotten apple spoils the bunch sort of thing. The writing was on the wall when they took away the sellers ability to paint feedback red with Negative feedback. So sad the world is really full of a$$holes and thieves. I've seen Recently, people using Video to describe their items, demonstrating that everything works. I use to do this with large format camera lenses showing that the Shutters worked as they should.

Here's a tip, for you as a buyer. NEVER send money as a 'Gift'. You will give up Any protections that paypal provides.

[RioRico]

I agree it sucks, but in truth you'd only have to raise your shipping prices by $5-10 if the cost to ship your items overseas actually costs you $50-100 (assuming a round 10% commission on everything, which I think might be slightly on the high side).

I have had more than a few sales where shipping+insurance was US$40-100 -- not so much for camera gear (although some of that), but for certain electronic and fabric items. Such as an old Levi's jacket (embellished with real 1970 Haight-Ashbury adornments and authenticated with a personal photo from the time) that only sold for US$15 -- but shipping it Express from California to Croatia last year cost US$45! Or shipping an old Roland analog synth to London, t'wasn't cheap.

Not everything is as lightweight as an Industar-50.

The shipping surcharge causes other pains, when sellers factor it into their 'handling' charge. I see many cheap lenses in USA I'd like to bid on, but when the shipping is twice Priority Flat-Rate, I just don't bother, and neither does anyone else in many cases. I've seen many more such inflations recently. Apparently many sellers haven't yet figured out how to deal with it.

[dgaies]

Not everything is as lightweight as an Industar-50.

I know, and that's why I said "if the cost to ship was in the $50-100" range. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of, nor am I defending, the fee structure on eBay. I was just pointing out that for the majority of sales within the US, prices shouldn't rise more than about $1 based on the fact that they now charge commission on shipping. Obviously in your case, and for others who regularly sell internationally, you'll have to raise your shipping fee to those location by a larger amount to offset this new fee.

[RioRico]

But back to the topic.

I got my ST105/2.8 cheap (US$18). Nyah nyah nyah. I could sell it for a sh!tload now. But what would replace it? Think on this: I agonized over the Nikkor 85/2 that cost me just US$9 shipped. Mod it for PK, or sell it for a whole bunch more? Ah, would I be able to get any comparable PK lens for whatever I made on its sale? Likely not. So I kept it and chopped it and now it's a don't-leave-home-without-it part of my kit. Or another example: I got a Meyer Trioplan 100/2.8 cheap (US$27). Recent webtalk has raised it to cult status. I could sell it for a HUGE profit. But how to replace it? It and the SuperTak are my fastest Hundreds (until I mod a Rokkor-PF 100/2.5 to PK). There's still nothing else affordable that gives That Look.

So MagKelly, should you sell your ST105/2.8 to help pay for a common DA55-300? Sure, it's worth a lot. Many old lenses are worth mucho dinero now. People pay good money to get That Look. Are you willing to sacrifice That Look for a modern zoom?

[magkelly]

Not if I can sell my other stuff first, but yeah, just maybe if I can't. In other words if the digital garage sale I am going to have this week gets me a couple hundred the 105MM will stay in my bag, if not, then maybe I need to be more realistic. I'm not getting any younger and neither are my eyes. My eyes are shifting all over the place lately. I'm probably going to need bifocals soon. I do hate to sell the Taks and resort to AF but I think I might have to rely on it more ere long.

[yusuf]

I paid $89+shipping for SMC version.

[RioRico]

My eyes are shifting all over the place lately. I'm probably going to need bifocals soon. I do hate to sell the Taks and resort to AF but I think I might have to rely on it more ere long.

My eyeballs have been delaminating for awhile, and have been lousy most of my life anyway. I've worn specs since I was 8, and bifocals and progressives for a couple decades now. I try not to let this slow me down. So I depend on CIF and prefocus and reading the distance scale and whatever tricks I can find. This almost takes me back to the days of using only a primitive folder -- set focus by pacing off the distance!

Of course many Taks, and my Meyer and Enna and Jupiter and other lenses, have bases too narrow to cover the PK-mount contacts for CIF. One trick is to tape a bit of tinfoil over the contacts if I plan to use only narrow-base screwmounts awhile. Another is to just use a wide-flanged NIF M42-PK adapter to cover the pins. On the ST105/2.8 that cuts the far-focus to about 8-9m, good for many things, not so good for others. On longer lenses (200-300-400mm) it doesn't matter much, as far-focus is still beyond most subjects I'd use those on. Lenses shorter than 90mm are more problematic -- 50's become portrait lenses. Sigh...

Do watcha gotta do.

[abacus07]

Relevant to the original topic I would consider selling several of my lenses if I upgraded to the modern era but shiny takumars would be the hardest sell. And what I lust for in duplicate focal lengths.

[magkelly]

It's sheer dumb luck that I even have this lens. It came with my first SP and the guy who gave it to me had NO idea of what it was worth. Some days I feel a bit guilty about that, but only just a little...