What photography related item did you SELL this week (and why)?

[Macroramphosis]

I found the 30mm best of the bunch. I gave them all a good test. The best photo I ever took was with the 45, but in cam stacking where it’s at for me now, and Olympus crippled my cam to only work with their lens, and the 30 is much better all round. So went with that. Just the 30 and a 75-300 in my bag now. And a big flash unit to help the zoom out. The big flash is cool, used it this morning on a little owl in a tree hole. Wow!

Any chance of an example of what you can get with the 30mm and focus-stacking? And the owl? Would love to see that

 

[comment23]

Any chance of an example of what you can get with the 30mm and focus-stacking? And the owl? Would love to see that

@Bushboy’s owl is here https://www.mu-43.com/threads/olympus-75-300-f-4-8-6-7-ii.52788/post-1433931

 

[Panolyman]

Had a bit of an experience today.
Saw an advert on the web for an E-M5 mk2 special edition body yesterday evening, and "chatted" online expressing my interest with also trading in against it.
Drove to the store, 40 miles away, taking my E-M5 mk1, Oly 45mm f1.8 and Sigma 60mm f2.8.

The first bit of bad news was when they tested my camera and discovered the Image Stabilisation was faulty.
Hence they wouldn't take that in.

The second bit of bad news was the prices they offered for the lenses but we eventually came to an agreement on them.

The third bit of bad news was when they were about to process the sale and they discovered the website price was incorrect.
It turns out that the special edition version was actually the Titanium Limited edition model and the price tag on the camera was 66% higher than advertised.
After discussions with management they apologised profusely, stating that it was a genuine mistake when adding to the website last night.
They offered to bring it down to 50% above, but that was still way too high for my means.

I'm not au fait with the current legislation and some might say I was entitled to the camera at the advertised price, but I enjoy dealing with this company, who have a real life shop and generally provide excellent service, as I've been dealing with them for over 20 years.

They did agree to take my lenses in as a straight deal, so I've come home with two lenses less and with a faulty camera.

Possible good news is that I bought my E-M5 used around 6 months ago, with a 12 month warranty, so next step is to contact that dealer.

 

[RichardC]

"I'm not au fait with the current legislation and some might say I was entitled to the camera at the advertised price"

They would unfortunately be wrong. A price ticket is an 'offer to treat' as opposed to a contract. The shop can withdraw it from sale completely.

The rest of your post indicates a run of bad luck.

The shops I used to work for offered around 1/3 new retail or 1/2 of what they expected to sell the item for. This would give a margin of around 30-35% by the time the VAT was paid.

 

[Panolyman]

Thanks for your reply Richard, with clarification.

I'd had one price quoted for the Sigma in the past, so I had an idea what to expect.
I know their margins are tight and once they'd explained them more thoroughly to me (VAT, card sale contribution, eBay fee, free insured delivery)
I'm surprised they didn't ask me to pay them to take it in.

Like you said, the rest is just down to bad luck - which I'm more than familiar with .
As long as we're all here to fight another day..............

 

[Bushboy]

Hard luck Brian. I would like a second body someday. M5 mkii is a sweet little number.
I sold my kit lenses yesterday. Mate, the prices needed to find a buyer we’re real low. No interest at all really.

 

[Zman]

Sold my trusty E-M10ii. Since acquiring my E-M1ii I hadn't been using it often enough. Always loved the looks of a Pen F, so I used the $ from the sale to buy a Silver Pen F. Should arrive by the end of the week. Can't wait.

 

[comment23]

Sold my E-M10 Mark II and replaced it with an E-M5 Mark III.

 

[RichardC]

Thanks for your reply Richard, with clarification.

I'd had one price quoted for the Sigma in the past, so I had an idea what to expect.
I know their margins are tight and once they'd explained them more thoroughly to me (VAT, card sale contribution, eBay fee, free insured delivery)
I'm surprised they didn't ask me to pay them to take it in.

Like you said, the rest is just down to bad luck - which I'm more than familiar with .
As long as we're all here to fight another day..............

Hi Brian -

Why not just sell the stuff yourself on eBay? (or maybe even on here?)

I have never had an issue selling photographic stuff on ebay - so long as it is described accurately, photographed well, packed very well, and delivery confined to the UK/EU.

I'm not familiar with the workings of trans-atlantic/trans-pacific postal systems - hence I keep it to destinations where I have a reasonable chance of recourse if I have an issue.

Royal Mail Special Delivery can be factored in to the price, as can Tracked and Insured Airmail.

I usually go for a buy-it-now price and get a feeling for what is a realistic selling price by looking at completed listings.

Ebay UK fees are 10% for private sellers plus 50p fee for 'buy-it-now'.

If there is anything you need to know about selling on ebay UK, PM me. I've traded on that platform for 20 years.

 

[Bushboy]

It must be very difficult running a successful camera retail shop these days.
I walked into one last week and out of sympathy more than anything else, felt compelled to buy something.
And the fact that I paid over a $100 NZ dollars for a lens hood, made me not really want to ever go back into one again....

 

[RichardC]

It must be very difficult running a successful camera retail shop these days.
I walked into one last week and out of sympathy more than anything else, felt compelled to buy something.
And the fact that I paid over a $100 NZ dollars for a lens hood, made me not really want to ever go back into one again....

The profit is not in branded camera gear. That comes from used equipment, camera accessories (especially self imported/own branded, where margins can be lucrative to say the least), printing and services such as repairs.

 

[Panolyman]

Hi Brian -

Why not just sell the stuff yourself on eBay? (or maybe even on here?)

I have never had an issue selling photographic stuff on ebay - so long as it is described accurately, photographed well, packed very well, and delivery confined to the UK/EU.

I'm not familiar with the workings of trans-atlantic/trans-pacific postal systems - hence I keep it to destinations where I have a reasonable chance of recourse if I have an issue.

Royal Mail Special Delivery can be factored in to the price, as can Tracked and Insured Airmail.

I usually go for a buy-it-now price and get a feeling for what is a realistic selling price by looking at completed listings.

Ebay UK fees are 10% for private sellers plus 50p fee for 'buy-it-now'.

If there is anything you need to know about selling on ebay UK, PM me. I've traded on that platform for 20 years.

Hi Richard,
Thanks for your suggestions; however:

I've never sold anything on eBay for two reasons.
1. Too terrified.
2. Don't have a PayPal account.

The latter also prevents me from subscribing to this forum and hence selling on here too.

I guess I'm just an old-fashioned, stick-in-the mud, head-buried-in-the-sand, fuddy-duddy Luddite.
But thanks for the offer of help.

 

[Bushboy]

Anyway, they took my money, and ordered the hood.
3 days later, I get a msg saying it’ll be a while....
Probably at the titanium/gold platers....
Me too Brian! I just can’t get through the PayPal give me all your information page... it’s awful.

 

[BosseBe]

I don't think Pay-pal is any worse then any credit card company, they all want the same info.
I use Pay-pal and pay with a credit card, so I have no balance at them.
A couple of weeks ago I got a refund on Pay-pal and suddenly found myself with a balance at them, but the next time I used them to pay for something (a download of music from eClassical) they used my balance first and the rest was put on the card.

 

[Panolyman]

I just find everything so complicated these days.
Nothing seems straightforward anymore (certainly not in camera menus ).
Although mosts things are supposedly written in plain English, there's just too much to take in.
Perhaps it's easier in plain Swedish?
I'm afraid I'm at the stage in life where I need to be shown everything s-l-o-w-l-y.
But after all that, I still have one major problem:
I'm not a slow learner; just a fast forgetter.

 

[Dinobe]

Almost all my Canon gear is sold last week. Since I've got the EM1 MkII I have a fast focussing, high fps camera that can replace my Canon 7D. The only thing lacking in my m43 setup is a replacement for my 70-200L. So I decided to let go of my Canon and use the money to get a 70-200 replacement.

So far sold:
- Canon EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS
- Canon EF 70-200 f4L
- Canon EF 50 1.8

A colleague is interested in buying the 7D

Items remaining:
- Canon EX430 Flash gun
- Yonguo remote trigger for Canon
- Think Tank Retrospective 20 Bag (black)

 

[Macroramphosis]

I wondered what FF meant on these forums. Now I know. Thanks, Brian - I guess I’m a FF’er as well!

 

[John King]

I don't think Pay-pal is any worse then any credit card company, they all want the same info.
I use Pay-pal and pay with a credit card, so I have no balance at them.
A couple of weeks ago I got a refund on Pay-pal and suddenly found myself with a balance at them, but the next time I used them to pay for something (a download of music from eClassical) they used my balance first and the rest was put on the card.

We NEVER use a credit card on the internet ...

My wife and I each have an account with a small balance and a debit MasterCard attached.

PayPal is also linked to this account.

We transfer money into these accounts as required. If someone manages to steal the balance of these accounts, it is all but irrelevant. Even if someone did gain access to them, there is still no access to our other accounts, or credit cards, from them.

 

[BosseBe]

We NEVER use a credit card on the internet ...

My wife and I each have an account with a small balance and a debit MasterCard attached.

PayPal is also linked to this account.

We transfer money into these accounts as required. If someone manages to steal the balance of these accounts, it is all but irrelevant. Even if someone did gain access to them, there is still no access to our other accounts, or credit cards, from them.

I almost never use a credit card directly on the internet, if I do want to use it I have to actively unlock it for internet payments for 60 minutes or something like that.
I also have the credit cards locked by region, so if someone in the US tried to use my card it would not work because it is locked for that region.
That seems secure enough to me.
Pay-pal draws from a credit card, but they have a reasonable security and I can always complain to the bank/credit card company or Pay-pal.

But that said, the question is not if I am paranoid, but if I am paranoid enough!

 

[Macroramphosis]

We have a fairly good system in France whereby internet sales have to be confirmed by a 6-figure code sent to your phone from the bank. The codes are only valid for 10 minutes, too. France is rife with scams and computer crooks, so probably a good thing! The banks will also block your card for the tiniest reason, so one has to be careful what you use it for anyway....