My Used-Gear Pricing Method

Every now and then I do a "closet dump," and sell the items of equipment that need de-accessioning. Here's the current list, still under construction.

So here's my pricing method, assuming the item is in good clean fully usable condition and doesn't need its price adjusted to take condition into account:

Step one: I go to the item on eBay, scroll down the left-hand sidebar until I can click "Sold Items" (which also highlights "Completed Items"), then take the prices of the last twelve units that have actually sold, rounded to the dollar. As I go I'm careful not to include anything sold as new, factory refurb, or open box, or anything that looks suspicious, for instance non-working examples or anything sold for parts. This is sometimes called out with the phrase "PLEASE READ," which means there are problems of some sort.

Step two: Then I strike the two outliers, the highest and lowest.

It's usually interesting to see where those fall in relation to the group; for instance, the current outliers on the Nikon 70–200mm ƒ/2.8G II are $660 and $1,395, and both those numbers were quite a ways away from the other 10, more than $150 lower in the case of the low outlier and more than $200 higher in the case of the high outlier. On the other hand, the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G outliers are barely different from the numbers near them; the differences are just $6 and $22.

Sometimes I notice that particular sellers bring the averages down. For instance, Roberts Camera in Indianapolis seems to sell things for prices on the low end of the going rate.

Condition ratings on eBay as a whole are barely credible. At the good end of the spectrum is KEH Outlet, which is the venerable KEH Camera in Atlanta. KEH is extremely conservative in its grading, and, in my experience, absolutely dependable. At the other extreme, condition ratings from "From Japan" sellers on eBay, which tend to be seconds from the Japanese home market being offloaded into other markets (Japanese buyers have very high standards), are routinely wildly overstated. More than once I've actually bought items described as some flavor of "mint" that were damaged or actually non-working, or that had missing parts. This is bad enough that I have a personal policy of not buying from these sellers unless the shop is known to me, for instance Irohas Shop in Maebashi, which is a seller with high standards. And there are others.

Rumor: I've heard that a not-uncommon practice in Japan is for the "seller" to be someone who doesn't even own the item. A guy will see a likely item in a local shop, go list it on eBay, and then, if it sells, return to the shop, buy it (for an asking price that's less than he listed it for, naturally) and ship it. I would imagine the stores don't mind; they get someone else to list their gear on eBay for them, and they sell it for what they wanted for it. /Rumor

My other personal policy on eBay is that I never buy from anyone with less than 98% positive feedback. I figure up to two out of every 100 buyers can be crazy or ig'nant or incompetent. Like the buyer I had from China once who proved incapable of giving me a usable shipping address—a stupid vintage strap was returned to me three times and ended up costing me double in shipping what I sold it for, on top of which I got negative feedback. But beyond that 2% allowance, negative ratings can be an indication the seller is difficult. I've dealt with one or two of those over the years, so I'm very strict about this rule, and never break it—a 97% positive rating means means I wouldn't touch it with somebody else's ten-foot pole.

Step three: Finally I simply average the ten prices left after the outliers have been removed. That's the price I put on the item.

Sound fair? If you do it differently, how do you do it?

Step four: If I'm selling it on TOP, I'll reduce that price by another 10%. Gotta be good to readers!

I do like to offer things on TOP before selling them on eBay, and from time to time I hear from people who are still using things I sold to them long ago. So I sometimes still hear about stuff I used to own...not on purpose. The author/bookseller Larry McMurtry was like that with books; he often knew where books went after he sold them, even if they had changed hands again several times.

A list-in-progress of some things I have for sale can be seen here. [UPDATE: This drew very little response, so I've changed tack and will simply be putting my stuff directly on the sale sites and fora. The list won't be completed after all. I suspect TOP readers already have the older and used cameras they need, and your wants tend more towards the latest and best. —MJ]

Mike

Book of Interest this week:

Ralph Eugene Meatyard: American Mystic (Fraenkel Gallery, 2017). An excellent introduction to Meatyard's quirky, spooky worlds. "Photography is a dream of awaking to a world still dewed in sleep." And Fraenkel Gallery's productions are always a cut above. The link is a doorway to Amazon.

Also sponsored by...

Original contents copyright 2021 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

John Holmes: "I avoid eBay after having bad experiences long ago. I just sell my gear back to B&H for wholesale (my description). They pay for shipping and I have never had a problem with selling or buying used or new gear.
If a friend wants to buy from me I still sell it for wholesale value."

Mike replies: I did not even know B&H did that.

Ken Bennett: "I've had a long relationship with the folks at Roberts Camera. Their Pro Services department is one of the best around. Interesting to see that their prices for used gear are, on average, lower than others—they consistently offer me slightly more for my used gear when I am selling it."

Comments

[Joe]

One of my eBay policies is to always offer a two- or three-day complete satisfaction guarantee (with the buyer paying return shipping).

I think that makes every item I sell much more attractive, and in the years I've been selling, I have never had a single return -- I'm sure the return shipping cost is a partial discouragement.

[John Holmes]

I avoid E-Bay after having bad experiences long ago. I just sell my gear back to B&H for wholesale (my description). They pay for shipping and I have never had a problem with selling or buying used or new gear.
If a friend wants to buy from me I still sell it for wholesale value.

[I did not even know B&H did that. --Mike]

[Richard Parkin]

Many people in U.K. use mpb which has branches in US and elsewhere:
https://www.mpb.com/en-us/
I believe their prices are probably helped by operating in several counties.

[Fred Mueller]

Way too complicated for me. I find out what KEH (or MPB) will pay me for it. That’s what I consider “wholesale” price. I figure out what they’re going to sell it for. They mark up 50%, in other words they pay about 2/3 of what they expect to sell it for. My sell price is halfway between those two numbers, I won’t sell for any less because the hassle and risk of a private sale has to command a premium over “wholesale”. If nobody is willing to pay that amount over wholesale, off to KEH/MPB it goes. KEH/MPB earns their premium when selling with their no hassle guarantees and return policies, and that seems fair.

[John Montgomery]

My eBay purchasing strategy:

1) Seller must have 100% positive feedback on hundreds of transactions, most of them photography related.

2) Buy from domestic sellers.

3) Listing must have many high quality photos and they have to look good to me.

I have bought a number of expensive lenses following this strategy and never had a bad experience.

[Fred Mueller]

Addendum to previous.

Never sell on Ebay.

Fred Miranda Forums buy/sell or GetDPI buy sell are excellent and the only place I will sell equipment.

[Benjamin Marks]

I look at the eBay recent sales, discard the high and low, as you do, but then I discount the average by 10%. Thing is, when I decide to sell something, I want it gone. And these are not investments. So I price to avoid a great deal of haggling. I should say, I don't sell stuff that often.

[SteveW]

I've sold used gear to B&H as well, they make it easy, which is the plus. The minus is you get the "wholesale" or what is a much lower price than you could likely sell on eBay. The Fred Miranda Buy/Sell forum is really good since you have to be a member of the Fred Miranda community.

You can go onto the B&H web site and go to the Used section, and they have a web page where you can use pulldown menus to select your gear and then get the trade-in value.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/trade-in.jsp&cm_sp=Banner-_-Promotions-_-CashInYourGear

[MikeR]

My method is quite similar to yours. I try to place the starting bid under the market average, with the idea that it's then more enticing. Good photos. Wordy description. When I'm selling, I want the thing GONE. If it's too precious, why am I trying to sell it?

[Manfred Winter]

When looking at Ebay buyer ratings, I look at comments and conversations between seller and buyer to evaluate the negative ratings in case its slightly below 98%. That allows me to discard ratings by nutcases

[Rich]

Apparently eBay is splitting with PayPal soon and instead are demanding direct access to your bank account. Presumably this saves them having to share fees, but I personally don’t feel comfortable with that and I doubt I’ll use eBay again once this comes into effect.

I never used it much anyway but it will be awkward as I don’t know of an equivalent service (no I’m not on Facebook and will never sign up!).

[Kodachromeguy]

I agree with Mr. Rich above. Once eBay demanded that I link my bank account to my account there, I also decided no. One bureaucratic workaround might be to open a new bank account with a minor amount in it exclusively for ePrey use.

[Colin Odenbach]

I have found Roberts to be excellent to deal with when buying used equipment (no experience with selling used to them). Their "Very Good" rating is equal to or better than KEH's "Bargain" and you get a 6-month warranty on anything that is in operable condition. You can save yourself a few more dollars by using their Used Photo Pro website to buy directly instead of eBay taking their cut.

I have never had a bad experience with KEH, B&H, or Adorama when buying used, either (I always go for ratings Bargain or higher from KEH, of 8 or higher from B&H and E or E+ from Adorama), but I prefer how Used Photo Pro includes the serial number in the thumbnail of the listing and provides multiple photos so you can get a better idea of condition of the exact item you are interested in and you can compare it with others they have listed. They also will throw discounts on slow-moving stock from time to time.