Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/07/17

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Subject: [Leica] Which stampede?
From: "Birkey, Duane" <dbirkey@hcjb.org.ec>
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:36:21 -0500

Donal wrote:

but I am putting my entire Pentax 67 system (2 bodies, 5 lenses,
polaroid back) on market and finally looked at eBay for the first time
today and it looks a wonderful place to buy gear cheap, but a terrible
place to sell for anywhere near what prices are advertised in
Shutterbug.  Or am I missing something??    Sure a place to buy Leica,
though.

donal (who hopes he hasn't started a stampede).
- - -- 

The first stampede was from Shutterbug to the WWW and E-bay....  Have you
noticed how few ads are in Shutterbug as opposed to 2 or 3 years ago?
Second... ebay and the www have really brought in the supply and demand
economics to the sale of many items....   It used to be that your local
dealer could charge really high prices for uncommon items as you weren't
likely to find them at the competitor down the street.  Now things that
weren't so common at your local store are "everywhere" on the www and the
price has dropped.....   I've noticed over the last couple of years certain
items that are now selling for 50% or so of their former value on e-bay as
well.

I've bought stuff for a lot less on e-bay than I had ever seen at a show or
dealer.  And one can now find nice Scoville Waterbury cameras and other
stuff that you never saw before.  On the other hand, when I sell my Canon FD
system... I won't get anywhere near what they used to sell for.  

At the same time...  things that are truly unusual or in great shape can
bring higher prices because now you've got some guy in Wisconsin, Montana or
New York who is willing to pay more for an item than any of the people who
would drop by the local store.

Remember that store prices will always be higher because they have salaries
and overhead to pay and in many cases offer a 90 day mechanical guarentee
that costs money too...  and dealers tend to ask a higher price hoping
someone will pay it and lower it over time as opposed to giving it away
early on.

But you will probably find that you will end up with more money by selling
it yourself on e-bay as opposed to paying a commision to do so on
consignment through a store or trading it in.   But I've been wrong before.

Duane Birkey
HCJB World Radio
Quito Ecuador
Duane's Photographs of Ecuador
http://duane_birkey.tripod.com
   

Replies: Reply from Kip Babington <cbabing3@swbell.net> (Re: [Leica] Which stampede?)