Selling unboxed stuff secondhand

how much do you think you would lose in a sale if you were selling a 3 week old camera with all accessories but minus the box? the camera costs about £1200/$1200 new.

 

(i’m travelling back to the UK tomorrow and i don’t really want to carry an empty box with me along with my luggage.)

Can't you carefully flatten the box, pack it in your case, then re-constitute it upon arrival ?

Tony, splendid idea. Thanks very much.

Er - thinking outside the box ?

I just sold a 2 year old camera for about half the new price. I included the original box, manual and accessories. Does a box make a difference? It sure does for firearms, expecially those over 30 years old. Boxes alone go for $200 and up. I wouldn't think you would get enough for a new camera to cover your cost, but then the US doesn't have an import duty nor VAT on cameras.

Just found a recent eBay ad for a Pentax FA 28-105 lens, with a good picture of the box. The other picture shows something vaguely lens-like in a thick polybag, no details visible at all. Don't think I'll bid .. ..

I wouldn't think you would get enough for a new camera to cover your cost, but then the US doesn't have an import duty nor VAT on cameras.

Sorry, my cost of what?

how much do you think you would lose in a sale if you were selling a 3 week old camera with all accessories but minus the box? the camera costs about £1200/$1200 new.

By your own words you wish to sell a camera you bought 3 weeks ago at a cost of 1200 pounds (or dollars?). Usually an item like that loses 40% of its value when you carry it out the door. On trade-in, it loses 60-70% of its value.If you purchased it outside the UK, it becomes a grey market item without warranty nor the possibility of local repairs. The box is the least o your worries.

 

That's how capitalism works, my friend.

Sorry, the figure i quoted was the approximate UK/US price. I think the actual UK (amazon) price is £1249. I assume, but haven’t checked, the US price is $1299. With discounts and claiming back VAT, I paid about £1000. Furthermore the warranty is valid worldwide so I should be able to sell it on ebay uk for about £950 according to completed sales which all seem to be for boxed items. I was just wondering if people put a price on having an a box. Which is all academic now as I intend to take the box back with me.

Don't forget those ever increasing eBay and PayPal fees. They seemed to take somewhere between 15%-20% of my money last time I sold something there. How they get away with charging a percentage on shipping fees astounds me. That is money that is merely passed along from buyer to shipper, so how they deserve a cut of that is beyond me. Of course, like most people, I overestimate the shipping to make up for this, or bump up the selling price of the gear, but it still irks me.

 

As for the box, it depends. Leica folk seem to like that sort of thing a lot, while your typical Pentax/Canon/Fuji buyers, probably not so much.

Edited September 27, 2017 by steve_mareno|1

Don't forget those ever increasing eBay and PayPal fees. They seemed to take somewhere between 15%-20% of my money last time I sold something there. How they get away with charging a percentage on shipping fees astounds me. That is money that is merely passed along from buyer to shipper, so how they deserve a cut of that is beyond me. Of course, like most people, I overestimate the shipping to make up for this, or bump up the selling price of the gear, but it still irks me.

 

As for the box, it depends. Leica folk seem to like that sort of thing a lot, while your typical Pentax/Canon/Fuji buyers, probably not so much.

 

I suspect that some would price the item low, and shipping high, to reduce the ebay fees. Charging on shipping avoid that.

 

As far as the OP, I suspect that the percentage discount without box is fairly high, as is the "out the door" depreciation.

I just saw an auction end, though didn't bid, on a Nikon F eye level finder for $125.

 

It occurred to me that the box included may have helped get that price.

 

Or maybe they always go that high.