Originally posted by Tuner571 Wow, this is why I never what to buy lenses on eBay. The prices of these lenses just go through the roof and I can never afford anything.
From 1999-2003 there was an amazing supply of seemingly un-touched exceptional lenses on eBay. * lenses unbid at starting prices of $199 - things like a A*85/1.4 or A50/1.2 sat there unbid (and unsold at KEH).
If you got a complete camera bag with a K2 or KX and some lenses, you could redo the seals, break it up and make a profit. John O'Connell is still selling 4-8 lenses a week that he bought a decade ago.
Then in 2003 the *istD was released . . . . and the lens inventory cleared, as did the supply of clean film bodies.
For a time in 2006 and 2007 prices were decent - we all had our lenses.
Now the K-7 and K-
x have captured consumers' imaginations.
IMHO the market is similar to late 2003 and 2004. New Pentax users have entered the secondary lens market and are bidding prices up - they're still better prices than new.