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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Best way to sell equipment? (1 Viewer)

KezN

Member
I would be interested in hearing about peoples good and bad experiences of selling lenses and the best places to sell. I have sold items on ebay before, but have learnt the hard way that someone having 100% good feedback counts for nothing: I sold an item and the buyer waited until I gave good feedback and then claimed via their credit card that they had never ordered the item - I contacted their other positive feedbacks and they had done the same on several other people - it looked as though they received an item, regretted buying it and then tried to get the cash back. I complained to ebay and asked to have my positive review removed, but that never happened and the others that were also stung asked for their positive reviews to be removed, but they also remained.

I am wanting to sell a lens (I am in the UK) and am looking at options so that I don't get ripped off.

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
I know what you mean about eBay which can be a pretty nerve wracking and uncertain experience - specially for high priced things.

Here's what I did last time I had some camera stuff to sell. I looked at the range of prices that people got for similar "completed items" on eBay. I then got an online quote from MPB Photographic (https://www.mpb.com/). I took 15% off the eBay prices (that's about what the eBay charges add up to), and compared the two. It turned out that there wasn't much difference, so I went with MPB who arranged shipment (at their expense) to their offices, and paid promptly once they'd had a look at the kit to confirm that my description of condition was accurate. All-in-all, it was a pretty painless experience - no need to prepare an eBay listing, reply to daft queries, get mucked about by people who change their minds, and all the other stuff you get on eBay.

I possibly could have done a bit better on eBay, but I could have done a lot worse, and was pretty happy with my choice.
 
Thanks for your input Jeff. I shall have a browse of their website. I had done a trade in before with WEX, but this time I wanted the cash.
 
Thanks for your input Jeff. I shall have a browse of their website. I had done a trade in before with WEX, but this time I wanted the cash.

Recommend MPB over WEX unreservedly both for buying and selling used equipment. A further plus is their courier, DPD gives a reliable 1 hour time slot for collection/delivery.
 
Recommend MPB over WEX unreservedly both for buying and selling used equipment. A further plus is their courier, DPD gives a reliable 1 hour time slot for collection/delivery.

Thanks for your input and yes DPD are great. I wish other couriers were as good!
 
Thanks for lettiing me know about MPB, I needed something for an experiment at a sensible price and they had just what I needed in their second hand lists.
 
I have used both MPB and WEX and would happily deal with either again - I have bought and sold/PX'ed with both. I have over the years had slight issues with both companies but both have resolved the problems quickly. There will always be mistakes and it is how they are corrected that tells you most about a company. I have also dealt with Ffordes who are another one worth contacting.

If you decide to sell privately then doing so on BirdForum is a good place to start. I have bought and sold a few bits on here over the years. Unless it is someone who you know personally I would definitely recommend dealing face to face rather than posting a lens.
 
I have used both MPB and WEX and would happily deal with either again - I have bought and sold/PX'ed with both. I have over the years had slight issues with both companies but both have resolved the problems quickly. There will always be mistakes and it is how they are corrected that tells you most about a company. I have also dealt with Ffordes who are another one worth contacting.

If you decide to sell privately then doing so on BirdForum is a good place to start. I have bought and sold a few bits on here over the years. Unless it is someone who you know personally I would definitely recommend dealing face to face rather than posting a lens.

Thanks for your input. I have had a look at MPB and they have quite a few of my lens for sale. They aren't selling for as much as I had hoped, so I might hang on to it.
 
If you deal with regular Birdforum contributors I think this is as good a place as anywhere. I have bought and sold quite a few things and my experience is 100% satisfied.
The one thing that is missing though is feedback on sales and purchases, as a matter of course we should do so as it builds trust and helps future transactions immensely I would imagine.
 
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