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Making a safe sale of Photo Gear.


gus_gus1

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I am thinking u.s. postal money order will be the safest.

Safest for whom? For you as a seller - maybe. For a buyer - most certainly not. Sending a money order is like sending cash - there's no recourse if the goods aren't being delivered. Like you, I once believed a money order to be safe - I learned the hard way that not to be the case. I won't deal with a seller that only accepts money orders. For me it is paypal only - with a proper invoice and not the "send money to a friend" option. At least I have a chance then to get the money back if the seller doesn't come through sending the merchandise.

 

Selling locally, craigslist is an option. Face-to-face with cash only is an option that has some appeal - but there's also danger in that approach.

I've done a fair amount of selling on ebay until several years ago. Ebay protection has been very good for the seller in the past; this has now completely moved towards absolute buyer's protection. The high fees were another reason for me to look elsewhere.

 

I developed a good relationship with a local camera store - I may not have gotten top dollar for what I was selling/trading but over time, I got my fair share of good deals.

Sadly, the store close two years ago. Nowadays, I rather sell to keh.com than trying to make some more money with a private sale.

 

Vincent's answer prompts me to amend my response: if I were to sell here on photo.net to a "regular", I would be a lot more accepting than described above.

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Facebook marketplace is also a good way to attract buyers, your ad will be seen locally and I believe regionally.

 

On a side note, I've used PayPal as long as they have been around. I love the convenience of sending money back or forth. I recently also got a Venmo account.

If you lead have bank account and a debit card, such a service is a logical next step IMO.

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I haven't sold a lot but when I do I prefer PayPal.

 

As Mr. Schaefer said, face to face and cash sounds nice but their could be a certain amount of danger involved, especially if it is a high priced and desirable piece of equipment.

 

As far as Craigslist and cash, well that is a recipe for disaster.

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There are sales forums on the internets that allow face-to-face transactions, and in eBay it was, may still be, possible to limit to pickup only.

 

Of course, these, like any other seemingly good thing, can be abused by bad actors. I mean, you show up at some unknown (to you) spot with a bunch of cash. What could possibly go wrong?

Edited by JDMvW
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Although you'll get significantly less than you might from selling to another photographer, KEH, B&H and Adorama buy used photo equipment. You send a description, receive an estimate of the sale price and ship your equipment if you're OK with it. They examine what you sent them and pay you or send it back. All three stores are reliable.
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