Crazy eBay prices

[solentbirder]

I've recently seen a used Nikon Sporter 8x36 sell for more than the new price from WE ! A couple of weeks ago a Nikon Monarch went for £170 when you can buy new as low as £179 in the UK. Are people assuming if it's on eBay it must be a bargain ? 10 seconds searching on Google would have put them right. I just don't understand it.

[Forest Knights]

I've recently seen a used Nikon Sporter 8x36 sell for more than the new price from WE ! A couple of weeks ago a Nikon Monarch went for £170 when you can buy new as low as £179 in the UK. Are people assuming if it's on eBay it must be a bargain ? 10 seconds searching on Google would have put them right. I just don't understand it.

It seems people are willing to pay seriously over the odds on ebay. A Ray Mear Woodlore knifewent for £510 retail price £225. Although there is a 12 month waiting list.

[Corvus Corax]

I see this a lot on e-bay, people seem to get carried away with "auction fever" and pay silly prices for kit which is readily available elsewhere.

I think the moral is that if you are going to use internet auction sites then research new prices first before seting yourself a spending limit & stick to it.

(Nice if you are a seller though ! ! ! ! )

[jeff]

Yep, it's true. I remeber selling my old mobile phone, never sold on ebay before, looked at similar models to get a rough idea on price, so i put it up for sale for £12, not one bid :-(

I put it up again for £9.99 and it sold for £22, weird :-)

[Bubbs]

I've been keeping an eye on Leica and Zeiss prices on e-bay for months and it's hilarious what people are paying for ancient bins.

Recently a green pair (late 70's) of Leitz went for close on £700. In the late 70's/early 80's these would have been about the same price I paid for my Zeiss B'gts...£300..ish. The word MUG enters my head.

These people must be made of money!

John.

[Bubbs]

I've been keeping an eye on Leica and Zeiss prices on e-bay for months and it's hilarious what people are paying for ancient bins.

Recently a green pair (late 70's) of Leitz went for close on £700. In the late 70's/early 80's these would have been about the same price I paid for my Zeiss B'gts...£300..ish. The word MUG enters my head.

These people must be made of money!

John.

I see this evening a a pair of old (although mint) pair of Leica 8's described as new..this has to be illegal..surely.

John.

[jeff]

I see this evening a a pair of old (although mint) pair of Leica 8's described as new..this has to be illegal..surely.

John.

As they say, fools and their money ;-)

[Bubbs]

As they say, fools and their money ;-)

And don't ever touch the American Swarovski site.

Type Swarovski binoculars in to e-bay. But never buy!!!!!

John.

[Pinewood]

RE: Swarovski binoculars on ebay

I sold two on ebay, which were sold as "buy now," the day each was posted. I was happy to part with them.

On the other hand, there are a few desirable binoculars, like the Swift Audubon of a few years, ago, which can hardly be found other than on ebay. These are fetching reasonable prices.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

[xenophobe]

I purchased my 12x50 BN Trinovids off ebay for $800 shipped, they were missing the rain guard, but it came with the binocular and strap, in dead mint condition with perfect glass. Sure, no lifetime warranty, but I saved what, $600. Great binoculars for star gazing. This was the fifth or sixth auction I had bid on in a matter of several weeks... I lost the other auctions, for pairs that weren't even as nice as this one. I ended up getting these, and I'm very happy with them.

I also purchased my 10x25 Trinovids off ebay from B&H for $337 demo. When I decided I no longer needed them, they ended up selling for a little over $400.

There are good deals out there, sometimes you need to wait, sometimes you need to be lucky.

[robski]

You sure need to do your homework on prices with ebay. My golden rule is never pay more than high street price for new and never over 65% of new price for secondhand.

Otherwise it is not worth the hassle on ebay.

Robert

[Bubbs]

You sure need to do your homework on prices with ebay. My golden rule is never pay more than high street price for new and never over 65% of new price for secondhand.

Otherwise it is not worth the hassle on ebay.

Robert

And with almost 2 days to go...a pair of old, worn, green Leica 7's going for £300+. They would probably have not cost this new!!

Now where did I put those old 8's?????

Fools and their money.

John.

[clschmalz]

The wind blows both ways on eBay - I recently picked up a pair of B&L 8x36 Customs for $40, but have seen another seller try (unsuccessfully) to get $350 for a nearly identical pair (he's now listing them with an opening bid of $160, still no takers).

That said I too have been amazed at the prices people are willing to pay for some binoculars, particulalry German and Austrian roofs.

Charlie

[Steve Jones]

I got some RSPB 10x42 WP Porro's for £24 (RRP £209!!!) for 'Bins to keep in the car' use. The seller did'nt quote the model or price new, which seemed a bit silly. I only worked out what they were from the rather poor photo.
Having said that, I'd have been annoyed to have paid much more than I did for them once I'd seen the field of view of these bins.

What does amaze me is the relatively high prices paid for Leica/Swaro scopes. A recent Leica APO77 went straight in at £1000 plus first bid. OK, good make, but optically a lemon???...would you gamble at this price?

[JeffMoh]

I think the problem is wider than Ebay. Over the past 40 years I've noticed that people selling used photographic and optical equipment often put a higher price on the gear than the latter sells for new.

Perhaps what happens is that the sellers look up the minimum recommended retail price for the item and work from that. The problem with that approach is, of course, that the recommended price is a marketing ploy and is much higher than the normal or discount price.

Jeff