[rfortson]

eBay is too much of a pain to deal with anymore. I use the forum here, Craigslist, KEH, and pawn shops. We have a semi-regular camera show around here where I've found some bargains and not-so bargains. I found a Sears 135/2.8 for $5 and it was great. I found a Pentax SMC-A 70-210 f/4.0 which was really nice until I figured out it had a fungus (so that's why the contrast was so soft).

Lately, I'm either buying new, buying from here, or (most often) not buying at all.

[richard64]

UK Ebay prices for Pentax are silly (at least 50% up on a couple of years ago it would seem) but here in Sheffield used Pentax is almost unobtainable from the local stores. We have dozens, if not hundreds, of charity shops though

I notice that too :-( Even "spares or repairs" lenses seem to reach silly prices, especially if (like me) you really only want just a bit off the lens as a spare for another lens.

Charity shops are a little more business-like these days. For example, all the clothes donated get sent to some central facility where they are sorted and anything "unusual" is separated to be sold through an auction house or to a dealer. The old adage of you getting better quality clothes in an Oxfam in a posh area is no longer true because the clothes in a shop unlikely to be from the local area. I guess that is understandable because the responsibility of the charity is to get as much money for the items as possible - they have no responsibility to provide bargains to customers.

If you watch ebay.co.uk you'll see that there are some dealers who regularly sell a large amount of old Asahi/Pentax glass. So they must get them from somewhere. I guess house clearances may be one source, but going to house clearances is time consuming and you're never sure that there will be anything useful. So it is unlikely that a specialist dealer would use house clearances as their main source. I suspect that the ebay dealers' main source are the charities.

Richard

[Marc Sabatella]

Pardon my ignorance, but is there a reason you need to use Ebay UK, as opposed the the US site? Many if not most sellers ship internationally, and prices don't seem so high that they negate an otherwise good deal.

And good deals *can* still be had, at least on some lenses. My last three Ebay transactions netted me an M50/1.7 for $33, an M28/2.8 for $21, and - most recently - an M100/2.8 for $70. Of these the 50 is the only one I probably could have done as well as - or close to it - via any other method. Other common "M" lenses like the 85, 135 and 200 are also easy to pick up this way, at prices that are usually under what KEH wants.

[LittleSkink]

[QUOTE=Marc Sabatella;359628]Pardon my ignorance, but is there a reason you need to use Ebay UK, as opposed the the US site? Many if not most sellers ship internationally, and prices don't seem so high that they negate an otherwise good deal.QUOTE]

you know I never really thought about it.

Guess cost is an issue, UK imports get 17.5% VAT and 8% import duty plus £8 customs fee for each parcel - so a $60 lens with $30 postage in US will work out about $140 in UK

My other concern might have been about risk if shipping delicate kit long distances (but hey our Royal Mail parcel service can do untold damage even over short distances), will go and have a look at Ebay US immediately

May even have a look at some of the mentioned dealers prices too as exchange rates are great for UK buyers. BUT need to keep telling myself "must only buy what I need . . ."

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Last edited by LittleSkink; 10-06-2008 at 05:34 AM. Reason: quote not formating - doh! newbie

[vanchaz2002]

Just had one in Toronto. Picked up takumar 85/1.9 with everything (case, hood, caps) for $80 and Tamron SP 70-210mm f3.5 with case /pk mount for $35.

[georgweb]

About ebay-going-prices,
here's a listing with continously updated stats for Pentax lenses.
Scroll down to see your lens on the left side listing, click into it, magnify it.
I'd rather take only the low points in the stat as a reference, that should be the 'real' market price.
You are getting german ebay euro prices for good/mint condition lenses.
Not bad, eh?
Georg (the other)

[Canada_Rockies]

About ebay-going-prices,
here's a listing with continously updated stats for Pentax lenses.
Scroll down to see your lens on the left side listing, click into it, magnify it.
I'd rather take only the low points in the stat as a reference, that should be the 'real' market price.
You are getting german ebay euro prices for good/mint condition lenses.
Not bad, eh?
Georg (the other)

Thanks, Georg. That is a real work of art!

[Steinback]

@vanchaz2002: You're making me feel bad about skipping that camera show, I was thinking of driving up to Toronto for it but decided that it wasn't worth making the trip 2 weeks in a row (Canadian Thanksgiving is this coming weekend and I already had plans to drive up for that too...).

[morfic]

Not sure if this has been pointed out already, Adorama's Very Good is far below KEH's "BGN - Bargain".

Got a Zuiko 35-70 from them as Very Good, which compairing the amount of ratings both have i figured would be around a KEH BGN, i got this lens with chipped coating, stiff point in the focusing and zoom, considerding the price i didn't complain and kept it, shipping both ways would end up being about as much as buying the lens elsewhere.
(KEH BGN come clean body and glass and are at most missing caps, which can be bought rather cheap, if there is one with caps as BGN, you are one lucky fella, EX and EX+ would for most people pass as like new.)

KEH all the way for me from then on, if i don't find it on ebay never had a single issue with ebay lenses)

[LittleSkink]

well I went to one of the few camera dealers near me yesterday to see what they had in the used cabinet. And was told they 'dont bother selling secondhand any more, but if I know what I am looking for ebay is good'

hanging around to browse the tripod section for a hoped for christmas gift (not long now you know ) overheard a conversation from the office about replying to the queries on ebay - from this I deduce that this particular dealer does sell second hand, but only via ebay where presumably he can make some sort of living from the inflated UK ebay prices. But question remains, where does his stuff come from ?

Also, I still dont seem to be able to track down any charity shops round here that have film slr stuff for sale (went to a load yesterday) - suspect as a previous poster suggested the charity shop sector really have cottoned on to ebay too (though how can this be if all the staff are old ladies? )

ho hum, time to stop dreaming about finding that mint Super Program with Vivitar Series One prime for a tenner - cos its never going to happen

[alohadave]

(though how can this be if all the staff are old ladies? )

When eBay first got started, my grandmother introduced me to the site. She's been doing it for years.

I get my stuff at yardsales. I haven't seen any Pentax gear yet, but I did see a nice Olympus OM-1 with three lenses, and a Minolta with two lenses at a couple yardsales, and I just picked up a Ricoh from a friend's yardsale, though the lenses aren't anything to write home about, the lenses are interchangeable with my K100DS.

[ve2vfd]

One of my buddies (a K10 man) picked up a bag full of goodies for $50 at a yard sale over the summer...

A family was selling their "old junk"... in this case the junk was an old style camera bag with a k1000 and 8 Pentax and Takumar lenses... all in pretty good shape.

I was so jealous... I'll have to start checking out yars sales one of these days.

Pat

[legacyb4]

Took a look around at CL and found:

Pentax SMC 50f2.0 M standard lens - $45
Pentax SMC 50f2.0 A standard lens - $60
Chinar 135f2.8 K telephoto lens - $50
Vivitar 28-70f3.5-4.5 zoom lens (KA mt) - $75

Any of these worth trying out (The 50mm A sounds like a fun lens from reviews).

[spiralcity]

eBay is too much of a pain to deal with anymore. I use the forum here, Craigslist, KEH, and pawn shops. We have a semi-regular camera show around here where I've found some bargains and not-so bargains. I found a Sears 135/2.8 for $5 and it was great. I found a Pentax SMC-A 70-210 f/4.0 which was really nice until I figured out it had a fungus (so that's why the contrast was so soft).

Lately, I'm either buying new, buying from here, or (most often) not buying at all.

Why is ebay a pain to deal with? I simply ask questions before I bid and make sure the item can be returned if I'm not happy, then I bid and hope for the best. Simple, really. No, fuss. If your using paypal it's that much easier.

[vinzer]

Why is ebay a pain to deal with? I simply ask questions before I bid and make sure the item can be returned if I'm not happy, then I bid and hope for the best. Simple, really. No, fuss. If your using paypal it's that much easier.

It's arguably much easier for you US folk to use eBay, since returning items doesn't cost much to ship back, as opposed to, say, where I am. The price one pays for shipping to here is already equivalent to another used lens. Or even more.

I have learned to make do with KEH prices (even if it's higher than eBay prices), just because I can buy in bulk there and pay for one single shipping, as well as the trust factor that I have for them when they grade their products.

Unfortunately antique swaps and flea markets are non-existent here, and the used camera shops overprice their wares a lot, so buying online from KEH is my best bet. I'll wait and see if my mom can score some good buys from garage sales she goes to, as she's now based in the US, though I'm not holding my breath about that, as she's none too familiar with cameras in general, save for point and shoots.