Selling Equipment

<p>I am in the process of ordering a few new lenses and another camera. In the past I sold items on eBay, but am now looking for other options. I am not fond of the fact they require you to use Paypal and then place a hold on the money for a great deal of time.<br>

Any ideas on how I can go about selling this equipment?<br>

Thank you</p>

<p>Huh. When I collect money through PayPal, I have it available immediately. It depends on how the buyer is funding the purchase, of course. You certainly don't have to ship the goods until you know you have your hands on the money.<br /><br />Otherwise, you have to use other listing services, and work out other payment methods. All of which take time to get to you, and which you'll still have to assume are no good until you've seen it not only clear your bank, but sit there for a good 10 days to make sure your bank doesn't discover later that you've both been defrauded. It happens.<br /><br />Or, use something like Craigslist, and just tell people it's face-to-face and cash only. But that narrows down your audience by orders of magnitude.</p>

<p>I sell with Craigslist. I meet people in a public place and only take cash. I've never had a problem other than a few canceled meetings. I don't see the smaller audience as a problem, it actually keeps the price higher since people aren't shooting over and over for the same item on ebay at a specific price.</p>

<p>amazon.com also offer selling service, fees compared to ebay+paypal is competitive IMHO, no listing fee, only when it's sold. I could get my money right away, free transfer to your checking acct. I think you have to be in the US, because the first time I listed they need to call you with US # (I know, easily bypassed with VOIP for non US seller)</p>

<p>Thank you. I checked with Paypal and they said the maybe is being held and can be for up to 19 days. They did say that the seller could have it released, but I am not sure if it is right to ask them to do that (we both need to protect our interests). Should I explain this to the seller? By the way, anyone want a D200 with grip, Nikon 50mm (1.4) or old D70 - LOL</p>

<p>I've had transactions held by PayPal for as long as 48 days. It's very arbitrary, but I won't use them any more. Craigslist has always worked well for me. I live in a smaller town and people pay a little more to get their hands on equipment that would take days to get shipped from elsewhere. You can always try selling it here, on PNet's classified section. There is also Google's checkout system that is like PayPal, and it's also free to sign up for.</p>

<p>Preston, I have little problem wth Paypal use among its registered users. Generally, money is transferred to my account, or out of it to a receiver, within a few days.</p>

<p>However I have never sold on eBay (too expensive) and I prefer selling and buying right here on Photo.Net classified. Easy to put up or inspect photos of equipment, and if you use Paypal any such auction site is fairly secure anyways. Of course, Paypal takes its cut, but so do money orders or certified checks or credit cards.</p>

<p> Like Jeff, I also sell through Craigslist. Quick cash, never had a problem besides no-shows.</p>

Sorry, double post.

<p>The Buy & Sell boards at Fred Miranda are very active, but PayPal is the most likely payment method buyers will request.</p>

<p>craigslist is great for buying and selling as long as you live in a large community, it is almost useless in even a midsize area. I personally love craigslist, i have sold many things and gotten the best photo equipment deals of my life there.</p>

<p>I buy and sell on Ebay..... have done for a few years, with no money delays what-so-ever.<br>

eBay notifies me by email that the money is there, and I go into my paypal account and action the transfer to my bank account.... simple as that.<br>

If I don't action the transfer myself then the automated transfer will take more time.... however this is all spelled out in the PayPal rules.<br>

When one buys and sells around the world, this is the safest payment method out there.<br>

Incidentally I have found that the postage costs far exceed the few dollars charged by PayPal..... having said that, I believe that if one uses paypal to buy direct from another paypal account holder, the sellers fees are higher than for the same transaction had it been via eBay (if that makes sense)<br>

I guess I just did my homework.<br>

Regards</p>

<p>I understand Preston's objections completely. eBay charges you such a hefty participation fee, and then PayPal charges another for transferring the money to a bank account - I have recently taken up selling things through Amazon (who also charge a fee, but much smaller), or through individual small classifieds in photo magazines, or through portals like this one here (is there a marketplace? in most of the German forums, you have one). eBay has become such a commercial thing that it is not funny anymore.</p>

<p>"or through portals like this one here (is there a marketplace?...)"</p>

<p>Monika, I don't know why Photo.Net doesn't proclaim it more often, but you just have to click on Forums at top and then go to the right side text, under which is the term "classified". Clicking that brings up the marketplace offers to sell (FS) or buy (WTB). You can change the order of presentation at the top, starting from most recent or staring with the oldest ad. You can also specify, at the right again, a specific category of products, to minimize the number of post to scan. Most provide images of their products for sale. I have had lots of success buyng and selling on this site.</p>

<p>I'm with Arthur. I've sold (and bought) lots of photo equipment on photo.net and fredmiranda.com, and a very small amount on some of the other boards (e.g., rangefinderforum, ebay). I like paypal because I can get my money instantly -- never a delay. The buyer also has some degree of protection if an item is lost or otherwise not delivered. Specialty items will receive a wider audience through ebay.</p>