Best time to sell Nikon Equipment?

<p>I have identified what I really need for my purposes, and have decided to sell those that I no longer need or use. </p>

<p>I am thinking eBay. When do you think is the best time to do this?</p>

<p>just before a new update to the product you're selling comes out. or two months before christmas. or whenever the economy improves. or just after a tsunami in Japan.</p>

<p>Hehe...good but funny answer, Eric. Let's predict when another disaster will strike...</p>

 

<p>I think it depends on what you are selling and the supply / demand or if it is unique. I have sold lenses on EB and done well. However, looking at selling my D70s, the prices on EB are significantly lower than selling locally on Craig's List.<br>

Stan</p>

<p>You should expect the best prices in March/April/May, when people have income tax refunds to spend.</p>

<p>The Christmas buying season is not a good choice, since folks seldom give used equipment as gifts.</p>

<p>- Leigh</p>

 

<p>Not good, not funny. Just disgusting.</p>

<p>The best timing depends on the particular model. If you are selling old DSLR, the best timing has been long gone.</p>

<p>Mary - list the equipment here and we can provide better advice.</p>

<p>With Ebay you will lose (approx.) 10% in fees to Ebay and Paypal...</p>

<p>Having sold lots of stuff in the last year, the site that gets the most traffic is Fred Miranda (FM) forums - but buyers there pay the least of all the sites...</p>

<p>If you have a unique piece of equipment (say a Nikon 13mm F5.6 lens; or a Nikon 600mm F5.6 lens) - you can get a good price if you are patient. For common lenses - you might consider trades...or if getting the absolute most money back on your purchase is not the goal, then selling here on Photo.net or FM is quite doable. Just describe your equipment accurately, noting all dings, dents, smudges...</p>

<p>There is no "best time" or "best place" to sell equipment...just post it on sites with heavy traffic and hope for the best.</p>

<p>I'll also second what Robert has mentioned. Tell us the equipment and we can give you better advice.</p>

<p>RS</p>

<p>Buying and selling cameras and lenses on eBay has been a hobby for me since 1999. I've found that actually for used equipment the month or two prior to Christmas has been very good. After Christmas and during the dog days of summer have been the slowest. (Note when you see the most camera ads from the big box stores: pre-Christmas, pre-Father's Day, etc. Those are also good times for selling used photo equipment on eBay.) Also, in my experience when an auction finishes on Sundays or Mondays it can bring more traffic for some reason. Maybe some folks have more time to surf on Sundays and carry over with items that finish in the early work week. Good, clean used equipment makes good gifts. Buyers have sometimes e-mailed me that used cameras were for parents, children, siblings. I agree that the eBay listing fees and combined PayPal fees can take a bite... especially since the percentage rises with higher priced items.</p>

If you know you don't need it now, get rid

of it now. Then you'll have some cash to

buy the things you need now.

<p>Right, the best time to sell is as soon as you no longer need it. :-)</p>

<p>About 10 AM! All kidding aside the best time is when the buyer willing to meet your price steps up. I'm not sure that you can predict when that is. Having sold a lot of Nikon equipment over the years, the best time to sell always seems to be when you want to buy something new.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>If you are selling old DSLR, the best timing has been long gone</p>

</blockquote>

<p>A simple look at prices of completed sales will falsify this viral opinion. Prices on older digital are of course usually far behind new prices, but less so than for film cameras. If your "not-wanted" equipment is fairly new, even still being sold new, prices may even be close to new prices.</p>

<p>Look at eBay prices of completed auctions <em>where the item was actually sold</em>, and ignore what people are ASKING, to see whether it is worthwhile to sell, or simply better to hang onto the equipment as backups.</p>

<p>If the time is right, the retail prices got on eBay <em>can</em> be considerably more than the wholesale prices dealers can offer, even considering the auction fees.</p>

<p>If you are trying to sell a film camera...Forget it. I have been trying to sell my (very nice) F3HP/MD4, 3 lenses, 2 speedlights, etc. as a "kit" for quite awhile now, and have totally given up on selling any of it.</p>

<p>eBay is not about when, but how. </p>

<p>If you have a price you want, sell it buy it now.</p>

<p>If you want to auction it off for top dollar, start it off on Thursday night about 11PM central time and list it for ten days. That way it goes two weekends and ends Sunday nite at 11PM when the kids are all asleep and one has time to check the computer. The dollar amount could sky rocket in the last few minutes. </p>

<p>You need lots of images of your gear. You also helps to have a history of buying and selling on eBay for people to trust you.</p>

<p>The problem with ebay/Paypal is the fee. Together they generally take down about 15 percent. They have inched up progressively over the years. But there really is no place else to go. CL is full of scam artists, and you have to sift through that stuff. It's okay for local stuff where the buyer pays cash in person. KEH isn't bad if you have good stuff. Get a quote from them. When you list on ebay figure out how much you want, then add the fees. For Nikon any time is okay. Has anyone ever actually sold something on photo net? I listed a camera for a week at $1800 and didn't get a single inquiry. I wound up selling it on ebay for $2100, which came out to about $1950, but I hate the hassle. I wish more people looked at photo net classifieds.</p>

<p>"Has anyone ever actually sold something on photo net? I listed a camera for a week at $1800 and didn't get a single inquiry. I wound up selling it on ebay for $2100, which came out to about $1950, but I hate the hassle. I wish more people looked at photo net classifieds."</p>

<p>You're kidding, right? I've sold stuff here since 1999. IF you have something priced right, it will sell. If you overprice an item, it will collect dust.</p>

<p>Thanks for your comments and advises. I think I will try to get my stuff ready for October-November - before Christmas then. I need that much time to evaluate everything. Currently there is a roomful of photo-related stuff (including tripods, bags, projectors, etc), so full that I cannot walk in. LOL!</p>

<p><< Mary - list the equipment here and we can provide better advice. >><br /> For Nikon equipment, off the cuff - what come up in mind are:</p>

<ul>

<li>F6 Camera body</li>

<li>F5 Camera body</li>

<li>F100 camera body (2 units)</li>

<li>F80 camera body</li>

<li>F (FTN) camera body</li>

<li>70-200mm (VRI) lens</li>

<li>17-55mm lens</li>

<li>24-120 VR lens (2 units)</li>

<li>Manual tilt-shift lenses (2 units - forgot the specs)</li>

<li>50mm f1.8, and f1.2 (I think)</li>

<li>Sigma lenses (several units)</li>

<li>Nikon Flashes - SB26, 27, 23, etc.</li>

<li>PB4 Bellows with 105mm "short" lens</li>

<li>Nikon Fieldscope-angled (never used - was thinking digi-scoping at one time, but forget that now!)</li>

<li>Other lenses, accessories, gadgets, filters...</li>

</ul>

<p>The best time to buy on eBay is generally Jan. through end of March. The best time to sell is late April until about mid August. I've been watching prices and buying there for 12 years.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>Thanks Kent. Wonder why though - April through August? </p>

<p>The best place to sell the F5, F6, and F100 is probably ebay, in the photo.net classifieds, or craig's list</p>

<p>Same for most of your NIKON lenses.</p>

<p>The flashes will be a tough sell unless you are including them in a kit.</p>

<p>If you feel like typing out a full list of what you've got, you can contact me. I might be interested in some of the items, but I rarely visit fleabay. I like classifieds and C-list since I'm not bidding against thousands of people that wait until the last seconds to bid.</p>

<p>RS</p>

<p>Tuesday night</p>

<p>Maybe it depends on the camera. People are likely to want a digital P&S at any time of the year. A camera for outdoor work, like a panoramic camera, is probably best sold when the weather is nice and the light is good. April through October, I should think.</p>

<p>Just figure out what a realistic price is by looking at closed listings, write a good listing and take good photos and list individual items as buy-it-now, unlimited duration. It will all sell eventually. But in my experience the best selling happens in May-September.</p>