What's your warranty worth?

[bjscharp]

Just a quick thing I was wondering about.

 

I'm sure we've all looked around at second hand lenses at one time or another, but

I've noticed that quite often, these lenses go out for nearly as much as a new lens

would do. Now, this is of course a very good thing if you plan to sell lenses, and

not a big deal, since indeed most of these lenses are just as good as a new one

would be. Being a Canon user, I know that most L-series lensen are tough enough

that I'd have few problems buying it second hand.

 

One thing you'll always miss when buying second-hand though, is manufacturer

warranty. However, most brands only offer one year warranty anyway, so you can

wonder how important that is in the first place.

 

So, the question (at last):

If you had to choose between a well treated second-hand lens without warranty, or

a new one with, how big would you need the price-difference to be before going

either way. Let's assume you know the lens is good and comes with all important

accessories.

 

Personally, even though the warranty is only a year, I think I'd still need something

like 10-15% of difference in price before going second-hand.

 

Your thoughts?

[steve_levine]

Personally I haven't ever filled out a warranty card. In fact I have them in the boxes for most of my Nikon gear dating back to the 1970's. Of course this was when Nikon cameras & lenses were made of metal and felt indestructable. Now days with all the plastic crap (cameras / lenses) on the market I would certainly send in the card.

 

However with normal use even the cheapest built products will usually last a year. So this makes warranties, a moot point.

[sfdgs]

I've never filled out a warranty card either on lenses, but that's just laziness on my part. I've bought several used lenses, always from a reputable seller, like KEH, who will warranty their used items for a certain period of time. As far as price, lenses don't seem to depreciate very much, nothing like automobiles, so you have to just decide on a price you are willing to pay for a particular lens, and try to find it in that price range.

[randall ellis]

I've only had to make one warranty claim on a lens in 20 some odd years, and that was easily done without the warranty card because I had worked with the store where I bought the lens for many years. In the age of internet sales (and plastic lenses) I would likely at least fill out the card just in case, but as the others have already stated, any product will last a year under normal conditions and care. The only reason I would fill out the card would be to protect against manufacturing defects as it seems to me that these are far more common these days than they were in the past, but that's just my own experience.

 

As to how much I would pay for a used v. new lens, I can say that my own differential used to be ~%15 - 20. I don't buy additional gear much at all these days though, so I don't know if that helps you at all or not...

 

- Randy

[lex_jenkins]

AFAIK, Nikon doesn't require sending in a warranty or registration card. You just need proof of purchase. When my D2H needed warranty work I just sent in what they asked for at that time.

 

Some items don't even come with anything to send in.

 

Dunno which method is better. I suppose in a sense it transfers responsibility for keeping track of info needed for warranty work from the company to the individual. OTOH, for folks who tend to procrastinate, not having to send a warranty card in before a certain deadline is more convenient.

[jim_momary]

I'm the least legal person I konw, but I've been led to believe that the act of purchasing with a stipulated warranty is enough to establish the warranty, for whatever the stated time was. The proof of purchase confirms when the clock starts. Many/most consumer items over time, toasters, recliners, etc. have used the warranty card to gather 'intelligence' about likes and dislikes, other purchasing habits & patterns and demographic data. Much like the Internet logs today, behind the scenes, every thing we see, go to or take interest in. My nutty opinion. Jim M..