Any used market trends on binoculars e.g. Ebay

[justin2992]

When is a good time to buy and when is a good time to sell binoculars on Ebay?

Anyone notice any trends?

[Bubbs]

When is a good time to buy and when is a good time to sell binoculars on Ebay?

Anyone notice any trends?

The trend on e-bay binoculars is for them to be well overpriced. I've been keeping an eye on the Zeiss and Leica pages for several months and it's been unbelievable the price they have fetched.

I dare say that my 24 year old Zeiss would fetch what I paid for them back in 1981.

John.

[matt green]

theres enough swarovski el's on ebay at present to build a small bungalow with!,leicas are just behind followed by nikon.never seen much ziess kit though?

matt

[Pinewood]

When is a good time to buy and when is a good time to sell binoculars on Ebay?

Anyone notice any trends?

The best time to buy is on bank holiday weekends, Christmas Day, and during disasters. Sept 11th, 2001 and July 7th, past, should have been good for buyers but I was not looking on those days.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

[Buster]

Right now is a seller's market because people are wanting new binos for hunting season, Christmas, etc.. The best time I've found to buy is early in the spring when people are scrambling to pay off taxes or credit card bills racked up over the holidays, so they're unloading stuff they're not using right at the moment.

I recently sold two pair of Swarovski 10x42 EL's on Ebay and both brought more than I ever hoped for. Leica prices have also been nuts and have been bringing within $100.00 to $150.00 of retail, which is hard for me to understand given their warranty coverage ends with the original owner. It seems to me, Zeiss binos stay pretty consistantly priced throughout the year. The trick to finding deals on Ebay is to watch it often and to watch for "buy it now" items. I missed a pair of Leica 8x42 BA's about 10 days ago with a "buy it now" of $475.00 because I wasn't on the ball.

There's been a lot scams on Ebay lately, especially for Swarovski EL's. If someone offers them for $700.00 and asks that you pay via Western Union, run as fast as you can in the opposite direction...

[Accipiter Nisus]

which are the best binoculars, Leica or Swarovski. I have a pair of Swarovski 10x42 EL.S

[ksbird/foxranch]

I guess the market on Ebay for extreme high end binoculars like Swarovski, Zeiss and Leica isn't like other brands. I notice that the Nikon 8x36 Sporter bins are regularly available new in the box on Ebay for US$107 plus shipping as a Buy-It-Now (immediate purchase) item and I can't find stores offering them this inexpensively in the USA. If you want to bid and then hope you win, the 8x36 Nikon Sporter bin often sells for US$93-95. Swift Audubons are usually very inexpensive too. Same for Discover, Steiner, Bushnell Elite, Leupold and most military surplus or military new items (like IOR, KOMZ, Hensoldt, Zeiss, CZJ, Russian Red Star, Foton(Newcom) etc). Fujinon FMTs and Docter sell for nearly the same price on Ebay as they do direct from retailers. Waiting for the right deal is the key.

I agree with the post above that says that if an auction finishes at a time when you will be the only bidder online, the price will be lower. I was winning many items cheaply on the night of the American Major League Baseball All Star Game because not many other men were online bidding then. So if the auctions close when there is something else important happening, the end bid price will be lower because many bidders wait until the last moment to bid.

Otherwise I find auction prices lower in the USA early in the morning, weekdays before people get to work, also the day after a holiday any time in the morning as people catch up with work, the first few evenings of the week (Mon-Thurs), early early morning (2am-4am) any day, and then there are times to avoid. Buying during the last 2 months of the year Pre-Christmas is okay for cement mixers (being winter in the Northern Hemisphere) but it's a bad time for gift-possibilities like binoculars/cameras/spotting-scopes etc. An odd situation develops if many many similar items all have auctions ending within a few seconds of each other. It's more difficult for bidders to bid on all of them so some get neglected. Next time Leica bins come up on Buy-It-Now for $475 let me know please.