Question on selling gear

[lkeeney]

I hate to ask this question, and I don't even know if it is appropriate, but here it goes.

I have made the very difficult decision to sell all my Olympus gear. I am not interested in selling it piece by piece. My question is, do you think there is any chance of selling the following equipment as one lot of gear?

E-M1 camera
12-60mm lens
50-200mm lens
50mm lens
2 ea FL 50 flash
battery charger
bunch of batteries

The price I would ask is slightly more than what I would get if I sold all of this to either KEH or B&H.

I don't want to go to all the work of photographing all this equipment if the answer is an obvious no to my question.

[RAH]

My initial reaction was that it would not be possible, mainly because of the old camera body. But, after thinking about it, I think you might get lucky and someone might be interested in the complete setup just because of the camera body - I mean, that body is considered quite good (in a "vintage" kind of way - if a digital camera can be described as "vintage"), and might be sort of a cult thing. I think you should give it a try and let it ride for awhile - you'll have to get lucky and have the right person see it, IMHO.

[lkeeney]

My initial reaction was that it would not be possible, mainly because of the old camera body. But, after thinking about it, I think you might get lucky and someone might be interested in the complete setup just because of the camera body - I mean, that body is considered quite good (in a "vintage" kind of way - if a digital camera can be described as "vintage"), and might be sort of a cult thing. I think you should give it a try and let it ride for awhile - you'll have to get lucky and have the right person see it, IMHO.

Hi Rich,

I believe you read the camera number wrong. I am selling my E-M1 mirror-less camera. I don't think the E-M1 is a vintage camera yet, or is it?

[Edmunds]

First of all - sorry to see you moving away What are you buying in place?

Not sure there would be a lot of interest, as its a m4/3 camera with a 4/3 lenses, especially with the new m4/3 12-40 and 40-150 lenses coming out.

Either way, selling something as a kit by default means it will command a lower price than selling each item individually. That's what I would expect if I was buying a full kit.

That said, there is no harm in listing it. This place has a free buy/sell forum, there is also a free buy/sell forum at mu-43.com, and e-group (though that is for Europe). Out of interest, how much is KEH offering for it?

[Godfrey]

I hate to ask this question, and I don't even know if it is appropriate, but here it goes.

I have made the very difficult decision to sell all my Olympus gear. I am not interested in selling it piece by piece. My question is, do you think there is any chance of selling the following equipment as one lot of gear?

E-M1 camera
12-60mm lens
50-200mm lens
50mm lens
2 ea FL 50 flash
battery charger
bunch of batteries

The price I would ask is slightly more than what I would get if I sold all of this to either KEH or B&H.

I don't want to go to all the work of photographing all this equipment if the answer is an obvious no to my question.

It will be very difficult to sell that as one lot of gear, primary reason being that to the used market buyers you're trying to wrap lenses from one system together with a body from another. The large buyers (like KEH and B&H) will buy as a lot across systems and break it up for resale piece-wise.

When I sell gear, I nearly always sell piece-wise, which is how I and others tend to buy gear.

G

[lkeeney]

First of all - sorry to see you moving away What are you buying in place?

Not sure there would be a lot of interest, as its a m4/3 camera with a 4/3 lenses, especially with the new m4/3 12-40 and 40-150 lenses coming out.

Either way, selling something as a kit by default means it will command a lower price than selling each item individually. That's what I would expect if I was buying a full kit.

That said, there is no harm in listing it. This place has a free buy/sell forum, there is also a free buy/sell forum at mu-43.com, and e-group (though that is for Europe). Out of interest, how much is KEH offering for it?

Thanks for your input.

I have already purchased a Canon 5D Mark III with the 24-70mm f/2.8 and the 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. I was going to keep my E-M1 with the lenses shown as a backup camera, but it is just too confusing trying to remember how to use the menu system on two different cameras. This is particularly true when using it as a backup camera when shooting big events where I don't have time to fiddle with the menu. I never did feel comfortable with the E-M1 menu. I guess it is just my old age.

[lkeeney]

It will be very difficult to sell that as one lot of gear, primary reason being that to the used market buyers you're trying to wrap lenses from one system together with a body from another. The large buyers (like KEH and B&H) will buy as a lot across systems and break it up for resale piece-wise.

When I sell gear, I nearly always sell piece-wise, which is how I and others tend to buy gear.

G

Thanks Godfrey. This is what I was expecting to hear but hoping someone had an idea that may work. I just sold all my older camera gear to KEH for what I thought was a reasonable price. It wasn't what I was hoping for either, but I understand they have to make a profit when reselling it.

[Big Greg]

You'll get a lot more money selling piece by piece. If you're in a hurry to get rid of the entire lot of it, then you could certainly try selling as a kit, but not everyone is going to want 2 flashes or the macro lens, etc. I wouldn't try selling it all together unless you are desperate for some quick cash. If you're not and can be patient sell it one piece at a time, or consider a smaller kit, the body, 12-60, 50-200, and one flash. The other issue is it looks like you're selling a m4/3 body with standard 4/3 lenses? Does the kit include an MMF-3? I think someone that is new to the system looking for a compact system (m4/3 biggest selling point) might not be excited about buying the larger 4/3 lenses.

[RAH]

I believe you read the camera number wrong. I am selling my E-M1 mirror-less camera. I don't think the E-M1 is a vintage camera yet, or is it?

Oops! My mistake (obviously thinking of the E-1). As that character on Saturday Night Live used to say, "Oh, that's very different. Nevermind!"

As far as selling your stuff - I agree with others - hard to sell as a package, for sure.

As far as a backup camera for your new 5DIII, you could get a Canon SL1. I am using one as a travel camera (with the small kit lens or the new 24mm pancake), but also will use it as a backup/auxiliary for my 60D. (Sorry about all this Canon talk, folks!) Menus and buttons are very similar (although fewer buttons, of course).

[lkeeney]

You'll get a lot more money selling piece by piece. If you're in a hurry to get rid of the entire lot of it, then you could certainly try selling as a kit, but not everyone is going to want 2 flashes or the macro lens, etc. I wouldn't try selling it all together unless you are desperate for some quick cash. If you're not and can be patient sell it one piece at a time, or consider a smaller kit, the body, 12-60, 50-200, and one flash. The other issue is it looks like you're selling a m4/3 body with standard 4/3 lenses? Does the kit include an MMF-3? I think someone that is new to the system looking for a compact system (m4/3 biggest selling point) might not be excited about buying the larger 4/3 lenses.

Yes, it does include the MMF-3. I forgot about that. Seeing I already had the 12-60 and 50-200 lenses, I never had a need for the new smaller lenses.

It is not so much that I am in a hurry to sell, it is just that selling individual items to different people is just so time consuming with all the on-line interaction, packing individual items and then shipping them. I recently sold all my older equipment (E-1, E-3, E-5) and a lot of other stuff to KEH when they were in Las Vegas at a camera store, and it was so convenient.

[lkeeney]

Oops! My mistake (obviously thinking of the E-1). As that character on Saturday Night Live used to say, "Oh, that's very different. Nevermind!"

As far as selling your stuff - I agree with others - hard to sell as a package, for sure.

As far as a backup camera for your new 5DIII, you could get a Canon SL1. I am using one as a travel camera (with the small kit lens or the new 24mm pancake), but also will use it as a backup/auxiliary for my 60D. (Sorry about all this Canon talk, folks!) Menus and buttons are very similar (although fewer buttons, of course).

I though you may even be thinking about the E-10 as I had one of those cameras too, which I believe was one of Olympus' first digital cameras.

Thanks for the tip on the Canon SL1. I had not even considered a camera that inexpensive, but if it is a full frame and can use the same lenses it may be a good option. As a backup camera I may never have to use it. In fact this is another reason I want to sell my Olympus equipment. I can't see holding on to it if I will never use it again, as it is a great system that someone else could be using.

[Don Kondra]

I almost hate to suggest it Lawrence but when I sold off my Olympus equipment, what didn't sell here I put on ebay, sigh...

Some pieces went for less than I would have liked, some went for a bit more. In the end, it was a lot of photographing/packaging/shipping but I was okay with the gross amount and very pleased to see the equipment go to new owners/users.

Cheers, Don

[lkeeney]

I almost hate to suggest it Lawrence but when I sold off my Olympus equipment, what didn't sell here I put on ebay, sigh...

Some pieces went for less than I would have liked, some went for a bit more. In the end, it was a lot of photographing/packaging/shipping but I was okay with the gross amount and very pleased to see the equipment go to new owners/users.

Cheers, Don

Thanks Don,

I considered ebay, but again like you say it is a lot of photographing/packaging/shipping of individual items. It is my feeling that if you consider all the hours that go into selling this way, you don't really make the money you thought your were making because you could have been getting paid for that time by doing other jobs.

Right now, I am up to my ears in work I am doing for a ballet company. I realize it may not be appropriate to post an image on this forum taken with a non-Olympus camera, but as one of my last posts here I am going to post a photo showing all the fun I am having at my old age photographing ballet.

[JBC]

Selling it as a group severely limits your potential buyers - it is a very small group of people that would want the full kit. You also leave a lot of money on the table. If you want to sell it in a group KEH really is your best choice. Unless your price is EXTREMLY competitive I think you are unlikly to sell it as a kit.

It really is not that difficult or time consuming to pack and ship items separately and financially well worth the time for most people. The real time involved is photographing and posting the stuff (particularly on ebay. You certainly could list the entire lot here and see if anyone bites, if not you can decide to sell each item separately or pack it all off to KEH.

[Fishtug]

I have had good luck with our local Kijiji - May take awhile but the ad stays
up for about two months and it's no charge - Good pics are important and they
allow you to put eight pics up for free-
Monty

[RAH]

Lawrence,
The SL1 is APS-C, not full frame. So it wouldn't be a perfect backup, but you could use all your lenses, and the menus are very similar.

[lkeeney]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I have another ballet (Swan Lake) to photograph in June, and KEH is coming to Las Vegas the end of February to purchase equipment so I have some time to decide what to do.

[JimUSNY]

I will never sell on ebay again, besides the 13 percent fees between ebay and pay pal, I recently I sold my like new E3 on there and the buyer says he never received it even though post office said they did, and ebay refunded the buyer with no questions asked to me, took the money right out of my paypal account... and did not even return my fees! now they are saying they are shutting down my account because I was 5 dollars short in my paypal account to cover the refund, even though they took 40 bucks at least in fees, so i refuse to pay them that last 5 bucks... anyway rant over, but you can sell on Amazon and they only charge 8 percent fees on camera equipment, but you would have to list separately, Amazon also buys used I think, not sure who gives better offers..

[Godfrey]

I will never sell on ebay again, besides the 13 percent fees between ebay and pay pal, I recently I sold my like new E3 on there and the buyer says he never received it even though post office said they did, and ebay refunded the buyer with no questions asked to me, took the money right out of my paypal account... and did not even return my fees! now they are saying they are shutting down my account because I was 5 dollars short in my paypal account to cover the refund, even though they took 40 bucks at least in fees, so i refuse to pay them that last 5 bucks... anyway rant over, but you can sell on Amazon and they only charge 8 percent fees on camera equipment, but you would have to list separately, Amazon also buys used I think, not sure who gives better offers..

Insurance on the shipping is to protect you in cases like this. I presume the package was insured and that you've filed a claim with the Post Office?

G

[Edmunds]

I will never sell on ebay again, besides the 13 percent fees between ebay and pay pal, I recently I sold my like new E3 on there and the buyer says he never received it even though post office said they did, and ebay refunded the buyer with no questions asked to me, took the money right out of my paypal account... and did not even return my fees! now they are saying they are shutting down my account because I was 5 dollars short in my paypal account to cover the refund, even though they took 40 bucks at least in fees, so i refuse to pay them that last 5 bucks... anyway rant over, but you can sell on Amazon and they only charge 8 percent fees on camera equipment, but you would have to list separately, Amazon also buys used I think, not sure who gives better offers..

Sounds like the person you shipped to saw that you hadn't shipped via signature tracked & insured package, and decided to get both his item and his money back.

Whenever you sell something via paypal (not even ebay), you need to ship in a way that gets the other person's signature. This is a fairly well known pitfall.

Being a seller on ebay is NOT easy. The fees are high, and consumer protection is top notch, and if you aren't selling a lot of stuff, you simply won't have the feedback numbers to encourage lots of bidders. This is why online forums, such as this one, are so popular.