[Rondec]

It's what it is.

My first experience was going into a baseball card shop (do they even still exist?) and trying to sell a Barry Larkin rookie card. My Tuff Stuff magazine said it should have been worth 7.50 at the time and the guy offered me a dollar. I told him what the magazine said and he just shrugged and said, "Take it or leave it. I'm not buying it for 7.50."

I didn't take his offer because I liked the card but it also let me know that using a middle man really decreases what you get out of something.

(Also many times "rare" items aren't as rare as they might first appear and if they aren't rare, then they are just old).

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Last edited by Rondec; 05-12-2020 at 08:14 AM.

[Lowell Goudge]

Have any of you ever seen the TV show Pawn Stars, based on a Las Vegas pawn shop? watch it to see how things work. although they sometimes negotiate on high value items, where they will take less margins, generally you are much better off selling stuff yourself, and you need to understand that the camera market is somewhat depressed (value wise) and over saturated (quantity wise) at the moment, with the former largely caused by the latter. the same thing happened following the popular rush to SLR photography in the late 1970's through 1990's with film equipment.

its why i never traded or sold off any of my gear, my perceived value if i sell it is not really very high, so i just kept it all. (total of 5 dslrs, 3 film bodies and 60+ lenses) the value to anyone else is not very hgh although i have some nice glass and stilllll even shoot film from time to time.

[Astro-Baby]

A fair few years ago I was rummaging in a charity junk shop and found a pile of mounted cigarette cards. Back in the 1930s in the UK a lot of cigarette companies did collector cards stuff like famous cricketers, aircraft of the empire, history of flight, early days of cars etc etc. There was this huge pile of them and they were rather quaint with pictures of a bygone age so I bought a few of them as decor for my study. I was always curious as to whether they might be worth anything and fondly imagined that few of these would have survived as compete sets and they may well be valuable and this was bolstered by visitors who were always entranced by the quaint images of pre war Britain. And then, one day, years later, I was parking my car in a small street in London when I noticed a shop selling just these type of collectibles so thought I would pop in and ask. Maybe the man would look kindly on my humble collection and pronounce it as the collector find of the decade. So I wandered over to the counter and asked the guy about cigarette cards. He asked what I had so I reeled off stuff like Air Aces of WW1, motor racing legends etc and he heaved a huge sigh and walked out to the back of of the shop and came back with an enormous box of the same cards, literaly hundreds of the things and asked me wryly if the ones I had were framed. ‘oh yes’ I said, ‘they are beuatifully and professionally framed’.
‘Ahhh’ said the man behind the counter ‘the frames are worth maybe a fiver for the lot’ turns out these things are out there in their thousands. Crushed I walked away and not long after gave them to a friend of mines small child who was fascinated by them in exchange for some of their choccy bar and fizzy sweets.

Stuff aint worth what we think its worth.

[Wheatfield]

Prior to all of this unfortunate Coronavirus situation we now find ourselves in, I had visited a local Pawn Shop that had been in business for approximately 20 years but was

new to my area. I brought in a lens that I had not used in a long time and wanted to reduce my stockpile of unused gear. The owner was the one who offered to help me and

I felt he was a pretty good guy since I have been doing business with him even at his former location. Long story short, he examined the lens, got on his computer and

checked ebay's Sold Section. He explained to me that what he does is take the lowest sold price and then cut it in half and that is what he will offer for the item.

Admittedly I was somewhat taken aback and replied: "If you are using the lowest Sold price for the item and then cut it in half, chances are you are basing your decision on

what may have been a piece of junk, or for parts only item. My item is not a piece of junk or for parts only gear." Now he was taken aback, but not enough to reconsider his

offer and proffer a new one. At any rate, I haven't been back since and probably never will again.

Thanks for reading.

Tonytee

You didn't like his offer. Get over it and move on. He's just one guy who has a business to run and a family to feed who does it in the time honoured way of buying low and selling high.

[35mmfilmfan]

Slightly off topic, but one of my other vices is stamp collecting, and I have built up good relationships with several local dealers, both buying and selling. There is a company called Stanley Gibbons (or for Terry Pratchett fans, Stanley Howler - think about it), who publish many catalogues of stamps they have for sale, with the prices they charge for perfect mint copies. When chatting to the dealers, they often say that someone will come in with an old album, containing grandad's boyhood collection, many of which are little more than scrap paper, and demand to be paid Gibbons' valuation for them, with absolutely no concept of the work the dealer will need to do to even list them, let alone sell them.

[35mmfilmfan]

Just found an item on auction at Ebay, which I thought of buying. Opening price was £4.00, with an option to make an offer, so I offered £7, intending to dicker until the price became exorbitant. Offer instantly rejected, with the comment 'It is worth much more than that, so I'll let the auction run'. Can experienced Ebay sellers explain why an item starts at a low price, if the seller feels it is worth more ? Is there any reason that a more realistic opening bid cannot be requested ? Had he stated a price of say £20, with an option to make an offer, I could have offered in the region of £15, and we could have gone from there. I'm watching it, but I doubt I'll make another offer or bother to bid.

[Serkevan]

Just found an item on auction at Ebay, which I thought of buying. Opening price was £4.00, with an option to make an offer, so I offered £7, intending to dicker until the price became exorbitant. Offer instantly rejected, with the comment 'It is worth much more than that, so I'll let the auction run'. Can experienced Ebay sellers explain why an item starts at a low price, if the seller feels it is worth more ? Is there any reason that a more realistic opening bid cannot be requested ? Had he stated a price of say £20, with an option to make an offer, I could have offered in the region of £15, and we could have gone from there. I'm watching it, but I doubt I'll make another offer or bother to bid.

They are trying to induce auction fever. A lot of people on Ebay bid wrong (early bids are never a good idea) and this is more enticing on a ridiculously low opening bid. Then, while the price is low you might get half a dozen bidders staking their claim, and the psychological impact of your bid being outdone* can give you a response of "Oh no you don't". Multiply by X people getting anxious and angry -- because they totally would have gotten the item for £4.00 had those upstarts not shown up. Now you have a race to the top of leapfrogging bids that can make the final bid go much higher than what the bidders actually intended to pay in the first place.

I've seen a used K-7 go from 120€ 5 minutes before the expiration to 250€. For a well used K-7! I've seen a very well used Canon 24-70/4 go to almost 600€... when the regular price of a new one is 800.

Of course, the downside is that if people don't fall for the obvious bait (or your item is worth less than you think, or there aren't people looking into it at the moment) then you end up selling for much lower that you would have otherwise.


Personally, I decide how much I want to pay, I bid once within 10 seconds of the end time so people can't react, I bag the item or I don't. No going over budget, no second thoughts and more importantly I don't give other people the chance to get infected by auction fever. I actually started bidding on Ebay by following the article Ken Rockwell has about the subject (which is actually good and logical, for a change ).


*Ebay actively taunts you with a barrage of "you have been outbid... but there's still time!" emails. Even if you're the highest bidder at a given time, you get the occasional "the competition doesn't sleep... raise your bid now to secure the purchase" notice.

[Not a Number]

Just found an item on auction at Ebay, which I thought of buying. Opening price was £4.00, with an option to make an offer, so I offered £7, intending to dicker until the price became exorbitant.

Part of it is if is auctions often get more bidding with a low opening bid which can lead to a bidding frenzy if it is a "hot" (not in the stolen sense) item. The seller should set a buy-it-now or reserve price if they want a minimum and leave out the make-an-offer choice.

Reserve price aren't revealed until it is met by the bidding. There was one seller that always set reserve prices which were never met. Then he would relist the item with a high starting bid which almost never got any bids. I was guessing the the high open bid was the previously undisclosed reserve price. If no one bid enough to meet the reserve why would anyone open a bid at that price?

[35mmfilmfan]

Thanks for this - it is by no means a rare item, there are several others also for auction up to about £20 starting price, with either no or very few bids on any of them. I'll be interested to see if his 'start low, but don't make specific counter offers' ploy actually works - but I think I'll wait and purchase elsewhere, as this is the only item of photo equipment he is currently offering.

[Tonytee]

For a Pawnshop that is the way they do business. Not insulting. But at least they were honest in explaining how they calculate the amount it is worth. I have twice returned to the camera store I purchased 2 expensive cameras, one camera was probably 6-9 months old with a very low shutter count. They looked up the trade in price at the store. It was likely 20% of the original price. I looked at the sales person and said "Huh". At least he was honest. He explained that they are not reselling the camera in the store but selling it to another company and I should consider selling it privately. Which is what I did. I sold it on PF. And then even private sales sometimes are insulting. Once someone wanted to buy my colour enlarger, lens, trays, everything. I said fine, and would deliver it if needed. The person offered me nothing close to the advertised price, even insulted me. I never replied...until one day she offered me a classical guitar hand painted pink and asked if I was interested in a trade. Again I did not reply.

I totally agree with you VSTAR. Here is one thought on the matter. What if the owner of the Pawnshop were to find the highest price an item sold for and then cut the price in half, or even more. So if an item sold for $200.00 on ebay, he could reduce the offer to $100. or even more, say to $75.00. I would have been happy as a clam to get $75.00 for the lens. The Pawnshop certainly would have marked the lens up to close to $200.00 and made a clear profit of $125.00 rather than leaving it sitting on the shelf.

My little pea brain tells me it is better to make a good transaction where both parties are happy and then move on from there. Another thought is (WOW, two in a row) it may be a case where the Pawnshop does not get that type of clientele. Who knows? Thanks very much for your comment.

Tony

[ChristianRock]

I'd suggest selling it here on the Marketplace. As a Site Supporter you have free access Tony.

I agree... why not just take a couple quick pictures of it and put it here in the Marketplace? You'll get much more than any store would pay, even if you price it as a very good deal...

[VSTAR]

I totally agree with you VSTAR. Here is one thought on the matter. What if the owner of the Pawnshop were to find the highest price an item sold for and then cut the price in half, or even more. So if an item sold for $200.00 on ebay, he could reduce the offer to $100. or even more, say to $75.00. I would have been happy as a clam to get $75.00 for the lens. The Pawnshop certainly would have marked the lens up to close to $200.00 and made a clear profit of $125.00 rather than leaving it sitting on the shelf.

My little pea brain tells me it is better to make a good transaction where both parties are happy and then move on from there. Another thought is (WOW, two in a row) it may be a case where the Pawnshop does not get that type of clientele. Who knows? Thanks very much for your comment.

Tony

Used lenses in a camera store and a pawnshop are indeed being sold IMHO to different people. Camera stores are selling to camera people; pawnshops are on average in the business of money-loans,etc. So I could understand the different prices.

Which is why I believe the PF marketplace is one of the best places to sell used camera equipment. Funny thing....a person once listed a camera on Kijiji near me and we could not agree on the sale... person then posted on PF to comment about me! They actually searched me out to tell me I should buy their equipment at their posted price! You just never know.

[Astro-Baby]

Agree on the eBay thing, thats what I do, one and only final bid in the last few seconds based on what I am happy to pay and not one cent more.

When selling I dont do auctions, I set what price I want and wait it out.

Patience is prime.

Auction fever is common. I used to go to a lot of auctions years ago and people are often entirely emotional about it and end up making crazy bids for stuff. I see people do it on eBay too.....bidding up an item to within a few pounds of what a new one would cost. Madness.

[Rondec]

I totally agree with you VSTAR. Here is one thought on the matter. What if the owner of the Pawnshop were to find the highest price an item sold for and then cut the price in half, or even more. So if an item sold for $200.00 on ebay, he could reduce the offer to $100. or even more, say to $75.00. I would have been happy as a clam to get $75.00 for the lens. The Pawnshop certainly would have marked the lens up to close to $200.00 and made a clear profit of $125.00 rather than leaving it sitting on the shelf.

My little pea brain tells me it is better to make a good transaction where both parties are happy and then move on from there. Another thought is (WOW, two in a row) it may be a case where the Pawnshop does not get that type of clientele. Who knows? Thanks very much for your comment.

Tony

Because it will take awhile to turn over?

I doubt that pawn shops sell many 200 dollar lenses, regardless of their condition, but I could be wrong.

[rogerstg]

He explained to me that what he does is take the lowest sold price and then cut it in half and that is what he will offer for the item.

What if the owner of the Pawnshop were to find the highest price an item sold for and then cut the price in half

My little pea brain tells me it is better to make a good transaction where both parties are happy and then move on from there.

He offers 50% of the lowest eBay sale, but you think that 50% of the highest eBay sale will make both parties happy? It seems like a bridge too far.

In the future, you might want to get an actual price before/instead of arguing methodology based on your imagined worse case scenario. He might have offered an actual price that you would have accepted.

Also, I suspect there are shill sales at inflated prices on eBay to try to establish a high market value. I've noted sold listings at high prices that are duplicates of items currently for sale. I've bought lenses for less than half of such inflated prices.