Selling without getting cheated (or robbed!)

["joe b." <joe@azurite.demon.co.uk>]

In message <9604052340.AA06738@kennebec.pa.dec.com>, Brian Reid
<reid@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> writes
>I've never contemplated selling or trading my Leica before. It's felt
>like selling or trading my children. I've had this camera for 35 years.
>How do I determine if this camera that I've put five thousand rolls of
>film through is an EX++ or an EX-- or whatever. How do I determine a
>fair price? I'm a photographer, not a used-camera trader. How do I
>avoid getting cheated?

The best way I've discovered for selling equipment, if I can afford for
it not to be sold straight away, is by getting a dealer that I trust to
sell it on commission for me. Thus with Ffordes in the UK, I can get 80%
of their selling price; a fair bit more than if I sold it to a dealer or
if I traded it in. And that means I can send it to them, let them
advertise it, let describe its condition over the phone to enquirers,
let them guarantee it, and do all the work. And they will know what to
price it at as that's how they make a living; they won't overprice it as
that way it won't sell, or underprice it as they lose money (commission)
that way. If you can find a dealer that [1] other group members use and
trust and who [2] will sell used Leica screw equipment on commission,
that might be a good way to do it. From what I've seen advertised,
selling privately is no more lucrative and must be a lot more hassle. I
certainly wouldn't want a total stranger coming round to look at my
Leica equipment...
-- 
joe b.