Analog camera prices

[Thwyllo]

I'm mainly curious from a European perspective but would also be interested to see what's happening in the US.....

I have a large collection of kit that I have been meaning to reduce for some time and I noticed of late that, on some of the auction and other sites, prices seem to be softening quite a bit, with stuff that would have previously easily sold for reasonable money failing to attract even half acceptable offers.

Is it just the time of year or have old film cameras lost their shine?

 

[mzjo]

I would say that, for my part of France at least, there always has been some stuff that was way over-priced and some stuff that was "I don't know what it's worth, take it away" level. What seems to be happening now, if I look at Le Bon Coin for example, there is a lot less of the really cheap good stuff, junk is being way over-priced and probably not selling and what is left is expensive enough to depress the enthusiasm of the buyers to the point that they are simply not buying at all. No point in putting collector's prices on good but not collectable items, which is what seems to be happening. (The extreme being the number of Instamatics and similar that the sellers consider "collector"!)

 

[Thwyllo]

Ah but France is on another planet isn't it! My neighbours used to say "you Brits and Americans, all you talk about is money and property prices".....they stopped when I pointed out - with online evidence - that we are not in the habit of putting second hand plastic buckets on LBC for €2...

But in particular, it's Catawiki that I've watched for ages now and analog stuff just doesn't seem to be getting what it fetched a year ago, and in a lot of cases often doesn't even reach the assessors auction estimate....maybe it's because Xmas is on the horizon.

Although I have noticed an increasing number of Japanese sellers on there and so import duties don't help I'm sure....

 

[loccdor]

I think at this point some of the rise and fall in prices must be coming from YouTubers with big followings doing videos on certain cameras or lenses.

Personally I don't notice a universal trend - some things are going up a lot, others are going down or staying the same.

 

[BrianShaw]

Trying to micromanage the sale of old cameras seems a bit of an impossible task. Like many other things being bought and sold, the market is fluid. Sell when and if you are ready. Be glad that someone is interested enough to buy it. Market as effectively as possible in places whre it is most likely that a motivated buyer will be found.

 

[Nitroplait]

It fluctuates and focus changes. The shop where I work can’t really sell Rolleiflex cameras even close to the prices 1.5 years ago. The interest has evaporated.
Nikon FE/FM series has gone 50% up the past year. Compact point and shoot is still strong and crappy digicams fly off the shelves.

 

[RezaLoghme]

I thought everyone is outraged that gear which used to be offered at flea markets for pennies is now $$$$. Now that it softens, its also not ok.

 

[mshchem]

KEH is still a good option for me. I'm interested in simple. No 9ne has money, selling on eBay can be horrible or not.

 

[mshchem]

I thought everyone is outraged that gear which used to be offered at flea markets for pennies is now $$$$. Now that it softens, its also not ok.

Prices of Leicas and Hasselblads haven't softened