Where to sell very collectable old cameras apart from eb** ?

[smiffy_smiffy]

Gumtree always a possibility, but where else - has to be somewhere surely 😟

[Niels - NHSN]

Very valuable or just very collectable?

[c_watson1]

Specifics???

[SCL]

Need to clarify as above. Easy for lots of pedestrian stuff is places like Roberts, KEH and Adorama. Really valuable Leicas, for instance, often go thru European auction houses. Of course there are web based forums like this one which have classified sections.

[smiffy_smiffy]

1 hour ago, Niels - NHSN said:

Very valuable or just very collectable?

Mainly The latter, worth according to Collectiblend goes for about $300 US

[dan_fromm2]

As has already been pointed out, OP,  your question is too vague to answer.  What's best depends on what you want to sell (how many?  how valuable?) and how much time you have.

My late friend Charlie Barringer, who had quite a large collection of rare and valuable photographic equipment, discussed how best to dispose of it with me and many others after he was given his death sentence (esophageal cancer).  The consensus was that he had too much to sell quickly on the great auction site without depressing the market for, e.g., Contax IIs with 50 mm Sonnars (he had a display case full of them), and that potential buyers for his really good stuff paid little attention to the great auction site.

In the end, his estate sold everything to Westlicht for, I believe, pennies on the dollar.  But only Westlicht had the right, um, audience and the capital to buy everything and dribble it out.

To give you an idea of how good Charlie's best items were, his Super-Q Gigantar brought 90,000 Euros and his Barry Lyndon lens brought 60,000 euros, both plus a hefty buyer's premium, in Westlicht auctions.

As I was typing this the OP replied that what he has is "mainly very collectible," valued around USD 300.  Sorry, not even pedestrian.

 

[smiffy_smiffy]

55 minutes ago, c_watson1 said:

Specifics???

Rare Robot Star Junior with 2.8 Xenar Lens , 2 Original Cassettes, ERCase, Original Hood and Manual, professionally tested and cosmetically all pristine.

Advertised on E/B at £150 and no interest being shown, can't figure out why !

[smiffy_smiffy]

6 minutes ago, dan_fromm2 said:

As has already been pointed out, OP,  your question is too vague to answer.  What's best depends on what you want to sell (how many?  how valuable?) and how much time you have.

My late friend Charlie Barringer, who had quite a large collection of rare and valuable photographic equipment, discussed how best to dispose of it with me and many others after he was given his death sentence (esophageal cancer).  The consensus was that he had too much to sell quickly on the great auction site without depressing the market for, e.g., Contax IIs with 50 mm Sonnars (he had a display case full of them), and that potential buyers for his really good stuff paid little attention to the great auction site.

In the end, his estate sold everything to Westlicht for, I believe, pennies on the dollar.  But only Westlicht had the right, um, audience and the capital to buy everything and dribble it out.

To give you an idea of how good Charlie's best items were, his Super-Q Gigantar brought 90,000 Euros and his Barry Lyndon lens brought 60,000 euros, both plus a hefty buyer's premium, in Westlicht auctions.

As I was typing this the OP replied that what he has is "mainly very collectible," valued around USD 300.  Sorry, not even pedestrian.

 

Thanks for the synopsis ..... Anything would appear pedestrian alongside a Lyndon lens !

[John Seaman]

9 minutes ago, smiffy_smiffy said:

Advertised on E/B at £150 and no interest being shown, can't figure out why !

Can you point us to the listing?

[smiffy_smiffy]

45 minutes ago, SCL said:

Need to clarify as above. Easy for lots of pedestrian stuff is places like Roberts, KEH and Adorama. Really valuable Leicas, for instance, often go thru European auction houses. Of course there are web based forums like this one which have classified sections.

If there's classified section on here, kindly direct me to it :0)

[smiffy_smiffy]

5 minutes ago, John Seaman said:

Can you point us to the listing?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314630643265

[Bettendorf]

11 minutes ago, smiffy_smiffy said:

If there's classified section on here, kindly direct me to it :0)

https://www.photo.net/forums/forum/50-member-classified-ads/

[smiffy_smiffy]

3 minutes ago, Bettendorf said:

https://www.photo.net/forums/forum/50-member-classified-ads/

Many thanks

[SCL]

[John Seaman]

I looked at your listing, I can't fault it, you are clearly an experienced and very thorough seller. The only thing I might change is to start the listing in the early evening when more people are looking (at least in the UK) rather than in the daytime. I think you should also consider accepting returns, which might encourage bids. I always accept returns but like you take sufficient care with checks etc to do this with confidence. I have had hardly any return requests having sold many hundreds of photo items over the years.

Another thing you can do is to put the item in two different categories to increase exposure. The Robot can be listed under Film Cameras as well as Vintage Cameras.

The bottom line is that something is only worth what it goes for in the markets available to you. £145 is quite a high starting bid. I've found that if something doesn't sell, when I've significantly lowered the starting bid to attract bidders, it goes for a higher amount.

A final thought – are you sure that the listing is being seen worldwide, as you use Global Shipping?

[smiffy_smiffy]

36 minutes ago, John Seaman said:

I looked at your listing, I can't fault it, you are clearly an experienced and very thorough seller. The only thing I might change is to start the listing in the early evening when more people are looking (at least in the UK) rather than in the daytime. I think you should also consider accepting returns, which might encourage bids. I always accept returns but like you take sufficient care with checks etc to do this with confidence. I have had hardly any return requests having sold many hundreds of photo items over the years.

Another thing you can do is to put the item in two different categories to increase exposure. The Robot can be listed under Film Cameras as well as Vintage Cameras.

The bottom line is that something is only worth what it goes for in the markets available to you. £145 is quite a high starting bid. I've found that if something doesn't sell, when I've significantly lowered the starting bid to attract bidders, it goes for a higher amount.

A final thought – are you sure that the listing is being seen worldwide, as you use Global Shipping?

V. Many thanks John,  I take all your excellent points on board and yes we do use the Global Shipping program which we mention at the end of the listing.

As regards the minimum price, compared to identical items, ours is a genuine bargain when you look at it's outstanding condition and all the added stuff.

Also we had considered two categories but reckoned that collectors would search by Camera Name so that wouldn't actually help ..

Happy days to you John and thanks again :0)

[c_watson1]

Let the boffins help you out:

https://mikeeckman.com/2018/08/robot-junior-1954/

 

 

[john_cooper9]

I was in Cardiff a few weeks back and traded my Fuji X-Pro1 with 18mm f/2 for 60 rolls of 120 B/W film. This was at CameracenterUK. They had a lot of "collectable" stuff but were price high since they have to make a living. No Robots though. I am from the US and have always loved the Robot Star 50 with it's built like a tank feeling. Sold my collection a few years ago for $400. Just bought another for about $200 with 38mm f/2.8 Xenar (12,xxx,xxx) it is the one with the slow silent wind. I have bought/sold on Ebay for 25 years. Sometimes I use a fair to me starting bid but mostly I have always used a small opening bid and let the current market determine the items value. Some times you win and sometimes you loose but that what makes life interesting.

[ph.]

I have both bought and sold at Westlicht in Vienna, Most recently at the Leica auctions. Their comission charges are quite stiff, but their catalogues are excellent distributed both on paper and online (take a look), and appeal to a wide audience.

Quite a number of years ago I sold some duplicates at Christies but they did not follow my minimum bid requirement, so I never used them again. Peter Coeln at Westlight preferred not to receive a whole series of items, rather single, valuable objects

p.

 

[smiffy_smiffy]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:37 AM, c_watson1 said:

Let the boffins help you out:

https://mikeeckman.com/2018/08/robot-junior-1954/

 

 

We have a link in our ad to this excellent review, thanks.

[smiffy_smiffy]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:54 PM, john_cooper9 said:

I was in Cardiff a few weeks back and traded my Fuji X-Pro1 with 18mm f/2 for 60 rolls of 120 B/W film. This was at CameracenterUK. They had a lot of "collectable" stuff but were price high since they have to make a living. No Robots though. I am from the US and have always loved the Robot Star 50 with it's built like a tank feeling. Sold my collection a few years ago for $400. Just bought another for about $200 with 38mm f/2.8 Xenar (12,xxx,xxx) it is the one with the slow silent wind. I have bought/sold on Ebay for 25 years. Sometimes I use a fair to me starting bid but mostly I have always used a small opening bid and let the current market determine the items value. Some times you win and sometimes you loose but that what makes life interesting.

Always interested to read what Americans get up to, photographically that is !

[smiffy_smiffy]

7 hours ago, ph. said:

I have both bought and sold at Westlicht in Vienna, Most recently at the Leica auctions. Their comission charges are quite stiff, but their catalogues are excellent distributed both on paper and online (take a look), and appeal to a wide audience.

Quite a number of years ago I sold some duplicates at Christies but they did not follow my minimum bid requirement, so I never used them again. Peter Coeln at Westlight preferred not to receive a whole series of items, rather single, valuable objects

p.

 

Many Thanks for your contribution ph