[Adam]

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If you're on the hunt for a particular lens, sometimes it might be hard to find. But here's where I usually look:
-Our marketplace
-Adorama used department
-BH used department
-ebay
-KEH

Adam
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[opfor]

Yeah opfor, I am interested in finding additional sources also. You really run into a lot of film era stuff in pawn shops? Where do you find these auctions?

I'm in the UK, there is a site where a lot of auctions put their auction lists up on line about a week before their auctions. Gives me a chance to see if there is anything to look at and decide if it's worth the drive....

[shiner]

I regard eBay snipers a lot like online game hackers.

[JeffJS]

I regard eBay snipers a lot like online game hackers.

How many have you lost to the snipers?

[deckroid]

I have looked and looked for lenses. Here are a few that I found, other than those already listed...

Pawn shops.

I picked up a takumar 70-200mm for 35 bucks. Had to talk with the guy to get him drop the price... what helps is scout the shop. See how much they want for it. Come back with what you are willing to pay your in wallet. Put a ten in one pocket, a five in another. The takumar was going for 75. I put a twenty in my wallet. Ended up giving him all my cash, but got a pretty nice lens...

I cannot stress shopgoodwill dot com enough.

Search Pentax and you will find some nice stuff. Oh, not exceedingly nice stuff, and alot of those lenses come with 35mm cameras. Nice lenses attached to nice film cameras. Ok, so you may not want the camera... but for 15 bucks, you can take the camera back to goodwill and get a tax receipt for 50 - 100 bucks donation.

Antique Malls

It seems that here in the US antique malls are a place for people to try to sell their stuff and good stuff can be found there. Like the pawn shops, people are willing to negotiate on money as long as they don't feel like they are being cheated.

[Marc Sabatella]

Ebay prices are what people are willing to pay - that should be obvious from the nature of auctions. So expecting prices to be lower elsewhere is unrealistic. Most people selling on the marketplace here or elsewhere use Ebay to figure out what the going rates are, anyhow. As mentioned, prices for used gear have gone up as demand rises, but it's still possible to get good deals with patience.

[ryan s]

I regard eBay snipers a lot like online game hackers.

Your max bid wasn't high enough to win...

If I get sniped by like 35 cents, oh well. Sucks to lose by so little, but if I wanted to pay 35 cents more (plus another 35 cent minimum bid) I would have entered that in.

Like the saying goes, "Bid to win!"

I cannot stress shopgoodwill dot com enough.

Search Pentax and you will find some nice stuff. Oh, not exceedingly nice stuff, and alot of those lenses come with 35mm cameras. Nice lenses attached to nice film cameras. Ok, so you may not want the camera... but for 15 bucks, you can take the camera back to goodwill and get a tax receipt for 50 - 100 bucks donation.

I've given up on shopgoodwill.com...the prices are higher than ebay in some cases. Keep in mind everything listed by Goodwill is fully untested and there are absolutely no returns. If the buttons press and the levers...leverate...that's good enough.

The items should sell for anywhere between 10-50% less than ebay, but in the last year or so...everything Pentax is going at 0-20% more than on ebay

For me, best to worst:
-Forums
-ebay
-Good pawn shops
-Thrift stores
-Shopgoodwill

I'm cheap and buy weird stuff, so KEH and the like usually don't have it.

[SteveM]

When you see an average price here in the database, take a look at the posts. If one person states they picked up a lens for $15 then the next 4 reviews don't bother to post a price, I would be suspect. One is less likely to post a price if they paid 10X what someone else has indicated they paid, even if that 10X cost was a bargain.

Average prices can be skewed as well, since one low or highball purchase can take the average way out of whack.

[Marc Sabatella]

Your max bid wasn't high enough to win...

If I get sniped by like 35 cents, oh well. Sucks to lose by so little, but if I wanted to pay 35 cents more (plus another 35 cent minimum bid) I would have entered that in.

Like the saying goes, "Bid to win!"

Except that's not really a strategy that is actually optimized for winning on Ebay. If you know that the max you would be willing to pay is $50, not a penny more, then bidding $50 at the outset doesn't give you as good a chance of winning as bidding $30 then being there for the sniping at the last minute. Your strategy would work just as well if *others* were using that strategy too, but they rarely are.

One could of course bid *nothing* earl on and only snipe, and plenty of people do that. But I like my method of putting in some sort of bid early (enough to make me the high bidder, but give room for last minute shenanigans), as on a couple of occasions, there *was* no last minute sniping, and I won with a fairly lowball bid. Obviously, I'd have just as surely won had I put in my max from the beginning in those case, but like I said, that tends not to be the most successful strategy overall.

[Just1MoreDave]

I have never thought the prices listed here are a great guide. I bought a lot of stuff three years ago, really cheap. Other stuff was broken and I fixed it. Why is that relevant, except to make everyone wish they could do the same thing?

[chalion]

I read my community newspaper for my information. It usually lists the township garage sales. I picked up a Canon AE-1 with 10 lenses for $40 at one of these. Pentax, not so much, as it seems i'm the only one in my township that uses it.

I used to shop ebay, but more and more the prices are getting beyond what I care to pay.

[Lowell Goudge]

The problem with shop goodwill is sales are limited to con us by virtually all sellers but non us are allowed to join. Seems kind of stupid to me. I shop mostly at pawn shops, thrift stores and the one or two shops locally that carry used gear, but the best two of these have closed as owners have retired or passed away

[ryan s]

Except that's not really a strategy that is actually optimized for winning on Ebay. If you know that the max you would be willing to pay is $50, not a penny more, then bidding $50 at the outset doesn't give you as good a chance of winning as bidding $30 then being there for the sniping at the last minute. Your strategy would work just as well if *others* were using that strategy too, but they rarely are.

One could of course bid *nothing* earl on and only snipe, and plenty of people do that. But I like my method of putting in some sort of bid early (enough to make me the high bidder, but give room for last minute shenanigans), as on a couple of occasions, there *was* no last minute sniping, and I won with a fairly lowball bid. Obviously, I'd have just as surely won had I put in my max from the beginning in those case, but like I said, that tends not to be the most successful strategy overall.

I like using weird numbers...say I want to pay $50 shipped, I'll go for like $52.91 as my max.

I do snipe when possible, though I guess it depends how many bids show up in the last ~12 hours of the auction and how badly I want it. Sometimes it's just "ehh, why not, see if I can't take it for $15" and put in a bid 3 days before it ends. If I get outbid right away, I can move on and know my money won't be tied up in 3 copies of the same lens

Probably should have prefaced my response with "I ebay casually. There's very few things I intensely bid on because another will always come along...and I'm cheap"

The problem with shop goodwill is sales are limited to con us by virtually all sellers but non us are allowed to join. Seems kind of stupid to me. I shop mostly at pawn shops, thrift stores and the one or two shops locally that carry used gear, but the best two of these have closed as owners have retired or passed away

One of the local shops closed down a couple years ago after 30 or 35 years in business...they had a very nice selection of used lenses. Lots of good stuff for cheap from them...

[Marc Sabatella]

I like using weird numbers...say I want to pay $50 shipped, I'll go for like $52.91 as my max.

Same thing, though. If you want to actually get the lens, and would be willing to pay $52.91 for it but would be unwilling to pay $52.92, I still say you'll have a higher success rate if you don't put the 52.91 in right at the very beginning. It' all about timing in the end game.

Probably should have prefaced my response with "I ebay casually. There's very few things I intensely bid on because another will always come along...and I'm cheap"

There is that:-). I'm actually much the same.

[Bill_R]

I do snipe when possible, though I guess it depends how many bids show up in the last ~12 hours of the auction and how badly I want it. Sometimes it's just "ehh, why not, see if I can't take it for $15" and put in a bid 3 days before it ends. If I get outbid right away, I can move on and know my money won't be tied up in 3 copies of the same lens

Probably should have prefaced my response with "I ebay casually. There's very few things I intensely bid on because another will always come along...and I'm cheap"

I'll rarely put an early bid on. I can't see any point in letting the rest know I'm interested. I've only had about 200 purchses through ebay but learnt early after being sniped. So now, if it is auction, I'll play the game. Many of my purchases have been new from dealers (mostly not photographic equipment). If it's a good deal at Buy it Now then I'll pay that price and Buy it Now. I've been amazed at seeing people outbid each other well before auction close and going well above the original buy it now price.
The only time I've put an early bud on recently was for a new k-r with 18-55 lens and that was about 8 hrs before close. It was through an authorised local dealer with full local warranty (checked beforehand). Starting bid was $599 with Buy it Now $699. I knew I could do better than $699 but wouldn't have access towards the end of the auction. I got lucky and got it for $599.
Your lesson that "another will come along" is the one to learn.