Need suggestions: best way to sell darkroom items online

[Lowenburg]

I would really appreciate suggestions from those of you who have bought and sold darkroom items online. I have a number of items I want to sell, ranging from an enlarger to tanks, trays, tongs, safelights, etc. The thought of trying to sell each one of these individually gives me a huge headache, especially since some of them are not very high priced items. When you figure the time it would take to do everything necessary, it's prohibitive.

I'm sure others have been in similar situations, so I'd like to get suggestions or hear how you solved it. Did you put things together in a "package deal?" I know doing that may discourage many buyers because they might want specific items, but that brings us back to the problem described above.

Here's my bottom line: Gotta lotta stuff I want to get rid of fast. Need the space, not the money. (Well, that's not entirely true, but space is somewhat more important than money right now.)

Any suggestions you might have are greatly appreciated!
Best regards

Bill
http://www.crashburnlove.com

P.S. Top Gear from the BBC has a 4 page spread about my book in the current issue (August 2006, Issue 155). Top Gear goes out in 14 international editions besides the UK edition, so if you're interested you should be able to find a copy pretty much anywhere in the civilized world.

 

[Chan Tran]

You would get the most money if you sell them seperately. If you throw in a lot of stuff with the enlarger, you generally only get the money for the enlarger itself. However, since you want to sell them quickly, how about making a post here of all the items you have and let buyers pick and choose?

 

[Peter Williams]

Have you checked out Craigslist? It's an online classified ad site where you can post for sale listings at no charge. That's where I found my enlarger. You can post pics and offer everything at a single price.

Peter

 

[Bob F.]

Y...<SNIP>... how about making a post here of all the items you have and let buyers pick and choose?

APUG Classified ads are for subscribers only. The auction site is a possibility if you are already a member and know how it all works. Alternately, if the equipment is in reasonable condition, you may be able to donate it to a local school/college - I believe there are tax breaks available in some parts of the world.

Good luck, Bob.

 

[Campbell]

I'd try to sell it as a complete darkroom. You aren't going to get much if anything for things like trays, safelight, etc. sold separately. And the enlarger is going to be difficult to sell under the best of circumstances unless you get lucky and find someone who can pick it up. Otherwise the transportation cost puts people off. I tried to sell my Beseler MXT on ebay. Unfortunately the top two bidders were both in China and the cost of shipping would have been more than they bid for the enlarger. So I relisted it, this time limiting bidders to the U.S. and got no bids. So I then advertised it either here or maybe it was the other forum and ended up selling the enlarger along with a bunch of negative carriers including a glass one, three Componon S enlarging lenses, a Peak grain focuser, a timer, and four Saunders easels for something like $200 to someone who picked it all up. To say there's not much of a market these days for darkroom equipment is a real understatement.

 

[waynecrider]

I'd try to sell it as a complete darkroom. You aren't going to get much if anything for things like trays, safelight, etc. sold separately. And the enlarger is going to be difficult to sell under the best of circumstances unless you get lucky and find someone who can pick it up. Otherwise the transportation cost puts people off. I tried to sell my Beseler MXT on ebay. Unfortunately the top two bidders were both in China and the cost of shipping would have been more than they bid for the enlarger. So I relisted it, this time limiting bidders to the U.S. and got no bids. So I then advertised it either here or maybe it was the other forum and ended up selling the enlarger along with a bunch of negative carriers including a glass one, three Componon S enlarging lenses, a Peak grain focuser, a timer, and four Saunders easels for something like $200 to someone who picked it all up. To say there's not much of a market these days for darkroom equipment is a real understatement.

Absoutely; In fact you ight be better off donating it. There's just too much darkroom equipment around and not that many want it. List an ad on craigslist and at photonet if you aren't a subscriber here. If you get no bids give it away.