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Sales advice (1 Viewer)

Peter Audrain

Consummate Indoorsman
My father has lost mobility and is interested in selling his Pentax PF-80ED 80mm straight-through spotting scope and SMC XW14 1.25" eyepiece, in order to trade down to something, like IS binoculars, better suited to his current birding lifestyle.

Where do you think he would do best to sell them? And how much would it be reasonable to ask for them as a package?

The scope and eyepiece both seem to work just as well as they did when he bought them, having been cared for by a borderline obsessive. In cosmetic terms I could see evidence of handling (maybe handprint oil? not scratches) on the black barrel, which I thought a damp cloth would likely remove. Neither of us knows how to describe the condition of optics. Is there a well-developed system like the one used for books, with Fine, Very Good, and the like, and specific things to mention?

Thanks so much for any advice you can offer. Here are the B&H links for both items when new:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/203111-USA/Pentax_70930_PF_80ED_3_1_80mm_Spotting_Scope.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/321666-REG/Pentax_70515_SMC_XW_14mm_Wide.html
 
It might be helpful if you can attach a picture or two of the one you are in possession of.
 
Hi,

you can try the classifieds here, but images and an asking price will be needed (actually only the asking price is mandatory but you'll get the question for images very soon).

As for price, 60-70% of current or last new is a good starting point for optics in good condition.

Joachim
 
Thanks for the guideline! Are there any preferred specific pictures or descriptors of condition that it helps to include?

And if you have a sense for this, how do most people handle payment?

(In particular, is Apple Pay a thing in this context? I can imagine countless complications with most ways of receiving payment from—or sending it to—someone unknown to you.)
 
Hi,

you should make one or two images showing the overall condition and one each of objective and eyepiece lens.

If there was any flaws to disclose, it's good practice to show them close-up.

As for payment, PayPal is used frequently for International sales - often in the friends & family flavour which is free of charge but offers no buyer protection. If you offer to use their normal service - either with you or the buyer eating up the 3% fee, make very sure to document the state of the item, the packaging and use a tracked and insured means of transport.

Apple pay seems limiting to me, or can you use it without an Apple device?

Joachim
 
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No, it only works through Apple's iOS Messages app. Although if you do have an iPhone, it's insanely, seamlessly convenient. I'll research PayPal's different services and how they work. Thanks!
 
If your dad was involved in any birding groups word of mouth may sell it there. You may want to try Craigslist, but be prepared for strange inquiries from all over the world, ignore those and entertain NJ responses. Also there is a birding gear buy/sell group on Fbook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/binbuysell/

Four PF80EDs with zooms are listed on ebay and range from $669 to $799 for starting or Buy It Now prices. Your eyepiece is not typically seen with this scope and the price might suffer a bit.
 
Is there an eyepiece that would be most typical with a PF80ED? He has a jumbled bunch of eyepieces—this is the one he prefers, since it gives a super-wide field of view at roughly 30x—and maybe the people's favorite is one of them.

EDIT: I guess you're saying zooms are what America wants. He is a knee-jerk zoom-hater, since I guess they used to be terrible compared to fixed-magnification eyepieces, and so far as I know has never gotten one.
 
The eyepieces have a value.
The amount depends on the eyepiece and condition.

However, there may be other scopes that they fit.
 
It sounds like it might be most sensible to separate the eyepiece from the body and offer both individually. I'll see what he thinks about selling other eyepieces. He hasn't given up on amateur astronomy with his reflector, and I know that was one of the attractions of the Pentax (the interchangeability of its lenses with the reflector). So if he does de-bundle the eyepiece from the spotting scope, he might just decide to keep the eyepiece for now.

Inevitably, lots of considerations! I will try to just edit out the complications for him and come up with a clear, well informed, and easily executed recommendation.
 
Personally I would market the scope with all the eye pieces as a bundle, but listing each item seperately. That way, you're shot of everything but would hopefully get offers in for most of the bits.
I'd start with the scope and wide angle eyepiece for $ x and then a price for the other eyepieces.
 
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