USED PRICES

[JAS]

I view my photography gear as a sunk cost with no expectation of recovery. Where possible I give my older gear to family members who are interested in photography. Recently gave my old 105mm F-mount macro to our granddaughter, and plan yo give her a couple of other lenses as I no longer need them. She shoots a D7500. Other gear has gone to our daughter who used to be a pro jewelry photographer and still dabbles for fun with her D750, but had no longer lenses so I gave her my 200-500 and older 70-200.

Other excess gear is treated as a small source of funds, and is sold at a "Cash for Cameras Day" where you get trade-in plus a 10% discount on any same day purchases. This works for me, avoids haggling and dealing with buyers and gets me a bit of new gear in the end.

 

[AlanB313]

One advantage of the low dslr prices is that newbies like me can get a "fix" for a serious GAS or Nikonitis condition without having to sleep in my truck afterwards!

 

[RichF]

I'll bet that many stores are swimning in dSLR inventory that they find a hard time selling

 

[Wrogu]

Well, looking at the MBP prices on the 400/500 Nike E Glass, they are a steal! I am committed to Sony and have no regrets. But if you are on a budget, it is an awesome time to get cheaper fast super teles. Maybe a bit outdated in terms of crazy fast AF, but still with low aperture numbers and lovely bokeh. Great times!

 

[RichF]

I sold as much as I could when I switched to ML. Finally gave up waiting for a 180-400 TC replacement so I sold it 6 months ago. Took a bath then, I am sure if I sold it now I would get even less.

Too bad Nikon does not buy used lenses to rework them into new Z models Not sure they could.

Anyone who wants to add to their dSLR lens collect, can find lots of great deals today.

 

[SCoombs]

Well, looking at the MBP prices on the 400/500 Nike E Glass, they are a steal! I am committed to Sony and have no regrets. But if you are on a budget, it is an awesome time to get cheaper fast super teles. Maybe a bit outdated in terms of crazy fast AF, but still with low aperture numbers and lovely bokeh. Great times!

I'm not seeing any 500 E stuff on MPB unfortunately. KEH had a few. I may be in the market for a 500pf but am keeping am eye on forum offerings for now.

In any case, I wonder if the DSLR used market isn't quite as universally low as many are suggesting. As a quick experiment I tried to figure what it would cost me if I wanted to sell all my Z mount equipment and replace them with DSLR equivalents and I think I'd probably about break even or lose a small amount rather than making any kind of profit.

 

[gKhan]

Anyone who chooses to sell to a local shop, or an online retailer should expect to get 30% or less of retail price.

The only people who should sell to those institutions are those who greatly value convenience.

I can't believe anyone sells at these prices, but yet - these businesses are thriving.

I agree.
I forget where I first heard it ,but for years it's been my understanding that these buyers generally offer about one third of the price they hope to sell it for. On the few occasions that I've checked that rule of thumb seems to apply

 

[mikeroelaf]

I was offered $9700 by one and &10,450 by another. I sold all my Nikon gear for $18,340 on my own. That is why it’s insulting.

If BH had offered you $18,340 for your gear, what would they have sold it to the next person for? $25,000? Would you have paid $25k for your used gear?

 

[Activert]

A friend of mine went to Midwest Camera in Columbus, Ohio and was offered these prices for equipment in excellent condition. One must make a profit but this “offer” is pretty insulting.
I am well aware of the ins and outs of business so no need to try to justify this to me. Just a word of warning to those who are considering trading your equipment to a dealer.

$10 ea. for TC14II and TC17II
$300 for 200-500
$250 for 14-24 f2.8
$250 for 70-200 AF-I
$250 for D810 with battery grip
$300 for D500 with battery grip
$900 for 500PF

I agree the offer is insulting. MPB offers good deal. I had bad experience with KEH.

 

[O]

I think a large part of it is that demand for DSLR cameras and lenses is falling by the day. I'd wager you'd see much better prices if they were selling mirrorless gear. I think these companies know there's going to come a point where DSLR stuff just isn't going to sell anymore. Last time I was at Roberts Camera I was in their used camera warehouse and it's overflowing with DLSR camera and lenses. I think they just don't want any more of them.

Offensive DSLR pricing may just be another way to say to a seller NO, we don't want what you have for sale or trade,

DSLR parts are becoming difficult or near impossible to acquire, sadly it's a death knock into DSLR gear. In cases surpluses gear may be used for wrecking of parts and may well evolve for higher end DSLR products mainly.

We are even seeing a build up of mirrorless products emerging on the used market and in cases at low to reasonable prices.

The Z9 has been taking hits as well, some list prices on new mirrorless glass are softening from initial list retail prices.

I feel we will see many more dealers rationalise or even move away from any DSLR inventory.

For many people transitioning from DSLR to mirror les has or can be a financial challenge,

It's been no surprise,
DSLR to Mirrorless transition fundamentally is a major evolutionary change not just model upgrade.

The key driver is the world is largely moving to video, hence the industry hybrid stage or progression.

In contrast I even sold my Z9 recently and just took $5500 AUD or $3500 USD in a market of lots for sale used at around $6000 AUD or $3900 USD, I let it go slightly cheaper to a club friend to avoid the hassle of dealing with people I didn't know.

The major dealers offered to retail my Z9 (mint little use) for $6500 AUD less commission of 25% netting me $4875 AUD, Nikon recently cranked the Z8 Z9 prices to pave the way for high pricing of forthcoming models Z9 II Z7III etc.......undewr the excuse of increased costs and inflation, I mean really I think its still product positioning, only an opinion.

If you staying with DSLRs the benefit of falling DSLR prices is WOW what a bargain for some hi end good DSLR glass or gear.

Only an opinion

 

[JFW]

Anyone selling their gear themselves offering a warranty? ( LOL)

 

[Mark Garfinkel]

Never understood the "insulting" part. If you don't like the offer, just say no.

So true

 

[O]

Anyone selling their gear themselves offering a warranty? ( LOL)

Your correct and its a fair point, a dealer is up against a used glut market retail price for a 24-70 F2.8 G of $850 - $900 AUD, or $585 USD, they then have to pay sales tax, company tax of 25% on profits, finance costs, overheads service facility, then warrant the product, my self its reasonable to only pay about $150-$200 USD if your retailing at $585 USD.

If it was me I would only deal in quality F2.8 or 1.4 glass and with such as F4 exotics on consignment only at 28% commission.
With cameras I would only deal in mint pro level cameras.
Its a tough gig retailing DSLR gear currently, my self you have only one option sell things your self......with no warranty if you want the extra money.

Only an opinion

 

[O]

A friend of mine went to Midwest Camera in Columbus, Ohio and was offered these prices for equipment in excellent condition. One must make a profit but this “offer” is pretty insulting.
I am well aware of the ins and outs of business so no need to try to justify this to me. Just a word of warning to those who are considering trading your equipment to a dealer.

$10 ea. for TC14II and TC17II
$300 for 200-500
$250 for 14-24 f2.8
$250 for 70-200 AF-I
$250 for D810 with battery grip
$300 for D500 with battery grip
$900 for 500PF

Sadly from a dealers perspective and based on the competitive nature of the market glut growing in DSLR products for sale at very low prices, I don't see these prices offered above as not to far of the buy mark again from a dealers perspective and buying outright.

In order to be in business at a minimum you need to buy used DSLR gear at a quarter or better of the current used retail market price in order to survive and hopefully make a modest profit to keep the doors open.

You also need to avoid older unpopular items hard to sell.

If a dealer is buying a collection of DSLR items taking the job lot popular and unpopular then unpopular items need to be to offset against some of the more popular items to average out a fair return, a seller can't see that at times.

It's painful to see what DSLR gear is bringing compared to what was paid for it, but the introduction of mirror less is the culderate here.

Selling DSLR gear was needed to be done a while back.

Only an opinion

 

[sh1209]

If BH had offered you $18,340 for your gear, what would they have sold it to the next person for? $25,000? Would you have paid $25k for your used gear?

Totally understand that but speaking for myself, it’s worth an hour of my time and 3-4 trips to the local post office to get thousands more from my gear. Some folks might have all the money in the world and not care but unfortunately I don’t fall into that group lol. I just can’t stomach taking a hit like that financially.

 

[Doug Herr]

We don't take a financial hit when selling older equipment. The market value has already been lost; selling just converts the value to cash.

 

[PhilcTx]

A friend of mine went to Midwest Camera in Columbus, Ohio and was offered these prices for equipment in excellent condition. One must make a profit but this “offer” is pretty insulting.

Your friend is lucky they were offered anything at all.

My recent experience attempting to trade some great F-mount glass at a large 3 store regional dealer was met with a refusal to consider it - even trades from their own employees.

 

[SCoombs]

Your friend is lucky they were offered anything at all.

My recent experience attempting to trade some great F-mount glass at a large 3 store regional dealer was met with a refusal to consider it - even trades from their own employees.

This really doesn't make sense to me because from keeping an eye on listings for some higher end stuff it's clear both that it's selling and that the stock is limited, at least in many cases. For instance, the 500pf which a couple of months ago had ~a dozen in stock at MPB and was this past week totally out of stock at these two sites. MPB is now back up to two, only one of which actually works, while KEH still has none. BH lists three in stock.

This is jus one lens, but it really demonstrates that the idea that dealers are stuck with massive stockpiles of DSLR gear that they can't sell is not altogether true. Now, it may be true of some older lenses or certain categories of lens - maybe shorter primes, for instance (I haven't comprehensively researched all of this), but it's definitely not true of everything DSLR.

 

[sh1209]

I have years of experience selling used, high-end gear. If want to make the most and live near a big city, sell on Craig's List or Facebook. Some things may take months, but be patient and it will eventually sell if priced correctly. My other advise is only take cash and only sell person to person. Clean your items and take good photos. It makes a difference. Try to keep the original boxes and paperwork and mention that in your ad. Pristine, mint, perfect, like-new, etc, are keywords buyers like. And finally, don't be insulted by low offers. Just hit delete and move on. Second best choice for selling used is Ebay, because of the huge market. The downside is their fees and requirements for new sellers. I use Ebay for hard to sell items.

I do pretty much everything you’re saying and it definitely pays off. I don’t mind the extra work and honestly it doesn’t take that long.

 

[abc123brian]

Last year I stopped in Precision Camera in Austin and they have a massive used section and really do a lot of trading etc. they had a sign that said no longer buying DSLR cameras. I inquired as to why and they said with how slowly they are selling they had a 10 year supply and that was last year!

Keep in mind they have two large stores and are always busy. They would gladly take a film camera as they can’t get enough of those but a D850 they don’t want it.

I am glad I got out when I did!

The interesting thing is that film gear went through the same thing but now there is some demand for it. I picked up some very reasonable priced manual focus lenses that are now worth more than I paid. Mirrorless brought back some interest in these lenses. While I can’t think of a reason for a resurgence in DSLR gear, I wouldn’t have thought of one for film gear either. it will be interesting to see if the DSLR market continues to crash or levels out. Could open up a relatively expensive hobby for a new group of photographers at a low cost of entry.

 

[Nimi]

The interesting thing is that film gear went through the same thing but now there is some demand for it. I picked up some very reasonable priced manual focus lenses that are now worth more than I paid. Mirrorless brought back some interest in these lenses. While I can’t think of a reason for a resurgence in DSLR gear, I wouldn’t have thought of one for film gear either. it will be interesting to see if the DSLR market continues to crash or levels out. Could open up a relatively expensive hobby for a new group of photographers at a low cost of entry.

The driver for demand on those old manual lenses is videography. Dune was shot on a (rehoused) $50 Russian lens. My cine-modded Ai-S set is probably worth 10x what I paid for it. There is an entire industry modifying and rehousing old, fast glass. Canon FD fetch crazy numbers, see attach listing (they'll get it).

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[DavidT]

The interesting thing is that film gear went through the same thing but now there is some demand for it. I picked up some very reasonable priced manual focus lenses that are now worth more than I paid. Mirrorless brought back some interest in these lenses. While I can’t think of a reason for a resurgence in DSLR gear, I wouldn’t have thought of one for film gear either. it will be interesting to see if the DSLR market continues to crash or levels out. Could open up a relatively expensive hobby for a new group of photographers at a low cost of entry.

I’m not sure the same will be for DSLR as it was for people wanting to experience analog. I grew up on film but have no desire to go back. Retro is often a thing so maybe. I have my first three film cameras on a shelf Minolta x370, Canon F1N and Nikon F5.

Keep in mind it took film decades to be cool again.

 

[DougC]

The driver for demand on those old manual lenses is videography. Dune was shot on a (rehoused) $50 Russian lens. My cine-modded Ai-S set is probably worth 10x what I paid for it. There is an entire industry modifying and rehousing old, fast glass. Canon FD fetch crazy numbers, see attach listing (they'll get it).

View attachment 84416

$77K and they want an additional $50.00 shipping??

 

[DavidT]

The driver for demand on those old manual lenses is videography. Dune was shot on a (rehoused) $50 Russian lens. My cine-modded Ai-S set is probably worth 10x what I paid for it. There is an entire industry modifying and rehousing old, fast glass. Canon FD fetch crazy numbers, see attach listing (they'll get it).

View attachment 84416

Wow I had that lens back in the day. I also had I think it was a 55 or 58mm f1.2. Traded many years ago when I left canon and went to Nikon.

 

[abc123brian]

I’m not sure the same will be for DSLR as it was for people wanting to experience analog. I grew up on film but have no desire to go back. Retro is often a thing so maybe. I have my first three film cameras on a shelf Minolta x370, Canon F1N and Nikon F5.

Keep in mind it took film decades to be cool again.

Yeah, I wouldn’t hold onto anything with hopes it becomes relevant again. It took a long time for film gear to become desirable. I just wonder if there will a distant future for it.