For Sale Cameras For Sale from Estate Collection - Includes over 400 cameras and projectors

My uncle passed away a few month ago and I am helping to sell items from his collection to raise money for the estate.

I have created a web site with his entire collection, and I am listing each item for sale as I research their value and location. A few have already been sold on eBay. Most are in storage, but if someone is interested in a particular item then I can locate it.

If your are interested in any of the collection, then please let me know and I can locate it and contact you.

Thank you.

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Sorry to hear your uncle passed away. I had to do the same thing for a buddy of mine a couple of years ago. Very difficult task. I took a look at the website but find it very confusing. Most things don't have prices or say they have zero quantity.

Eric Rose said:

Sorry to hear your uncle passed away. I had to do the same thing for a buddy of mine a couple of years ago. Very difficult task. I took a look at the website but find it very confusing. Most things don't have prices or say they have zero quantity.

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My uncle had a DVD with the pictures of the cameras and a description, but no value. I imported them into the site but I need to look each one up as I locate them. Most of the camera's are still in storage. I just started going though the boxes and finding values for them. I'll update them with a price and make them available as I do, or I can search for a particular camera if someone is interested. I've sold a few on eBay, but it is very time consuming.

Eric--

I'm genuinely sorry for your and your family's loss. That appears to be a mind-numbingly large collection of cameras to have to deal with.

Have you considered contacting a used/collectible camera dealer (KEH says they handle estate sales), or since you're in Portland, Blue Moon Camera?

Best of luck...

--Greg

You will make a lot more money selling the items yourself. I don't fault them, but camera dealers will offer you the lowest value of all other options. If it's too overwhelming to research all the prices and sell the items at fixed prices reflective of the market value, then auctions are the next best thing. Good luck.

I'm certainly sorry to hear of your loss. But I guess managing the estate couldn't have been made any easier than having the lot cataloged already.

i am sorry for your loss. beautiful cameras you are selling.
i agree 100% with davela, there are some dealer will low-ball, and give you a
price for the whole lot, and then mark everything up by 300%

best of luck selling the collection !
john

In defense of dealers;
Some dealers, (and private buyers) will low-ball. But, others will give a fair-market price.
Since by definition, a dealer will be re-selling, and therefore buy at wholesale prices; the mark up needs to cover the expenses of purchase/transport/prep for sale/rent for the shop/electricity/insurance/wages for any employees, etc.

Then, some of the items will sell quickly, and make back their cost, others will sit on the shelf consuming shop resources, and may never sell, or when they do, it may be a net loss. The mark-up needs to cover that too, or else yet another camera shop will be seen closing up and going out of business.

When you sell to a dealer, you gain convenience, and save yourself the time and effort to research and prep each item for sale, but no, it won't yield the best possible price. Everyone's time has a price though, if the time spent in marketing the stuff is more productive for you doing something else, then selling to a reputable dealer may be a good option. In between, a well run auction is probably the best option for time invested vs. money gained.

First, there are some really great items in the collection that will certainly be of interest to the right person.

But though it's an interesting "storefront", I think it's a bit counterproductive. It implies a ongoing business, when (as I infer from your original post) this is a one time event. From the few examples I clicked on, there were good photos but inadequate description, especially of functional condition (I know you say more is coming). Maybe I'm wrong, but I seriously doubt that anyone would purchase via a "cart" without a more detailed exchange. The "storefront" may imply a level of warranty you're aren't willing to commit to.

It's hard to drive buyers to an eclectic collection such as yours. "Cameras" is too broad a category when it includes Kodak P&S and also folding glass plate cameras. I would suggest starting with a particular category (say 60s to 80s 35mm, or older folding cameras) and get that up with descriptions. I would not promote your site until what is up there is adequately described and priced; otherwise people might write it off permanently and not go back.

In other words, better to "go live" with a more focused, but complete (I mean each particular listing is complete), list than a very broad list without enough info to encourage the buyer to proceed.

Only you can decide how much time and effort you want to put into selling the collection. If you want the most for them, then you need to do your research, document condition, and market in appropriate settings. If you don't have the time, then I'd suggest KEH. I don't believe they low-ball (I agree with bdial's comment). There may be local resources, though local dealers at the camera shows here do tend to low-ball.