odd pricing question

[Whiteymorange]

I have a question about pricing, but not because I want to sell something. PHSNE, the group that foolishly elected me president about a year ago, has gotten in a large lot of cameras and lenses that will be sold off as sets on that auction site by someone else, not me. I might want to purchase one of them before it goes away to the seller, but I need to make sure I compensate PHSNE appropriately for it. Collectiblend.com gives me auction prices for the body and some lenses, but info from dealers I picked up this past weekend makes me think that the real-world prices here in the northeast might be very different. KEH doesn't seem to have these oldies. Ebay pricing is all over the map.

Here is a sample of what I might buy, all in very good and better condition:

Bronica focal plane cameras: S, C2 or S2 body with a waist level and a prism viewfinder,
2 backs,
75mm f 2.8 Nikkor H, 40mm Zenzanon f4 lenses.

If I go with individual prices from Collectiblend, the bodies with one lens average $320+ and the Zenzanon adds $160.

A dealer told me yesterday that he had trouble selling a similar camera with one mint lens for $150.

What is your experience? And please, no advice about other cameras I might want to look at. These is the only ones I want to consider at this time.

Thanks in advance

 

[gzinsel]

I think the dealer is telling the truth. I have seen these cameras go for next to nothing, if they sell at all. I have heard that bronicas have quality issues. just for comparison! Other waist level MF cameras from germany can be had for the same price. a friend of mine bought a blad about a year ago -body, back and lens for six hundred in excellent condition. just sayin'. . .. good luck

 

[Dan Fromm]

Whitey, if you want to be fair to PHSNE you should let the cameras, backs and lenses go to eBay, bid as much as they're worth to you. And then you can rejoice for yourself if you get what you want or rejoice for PHSNE if someone wants them more than you do. Either way PHSNE will get market value and you won't be seen as exploiting your position at the club's expense.

 

[Alan Gales]

I sold a mint S2a with 75mm Nikkor a few years ago on Ebay for $400.00. The S2a is very desirable because of the all mechanical operation and the improved steel gears for film advancement. The earlier models are less desirable and go for less money due to internal brass gears that can strip. With the early cameras it is recommended to advance film with the knob and not the fold out lever so you reduce torque on the soft brass gears. I received top dollar on my camera but of course the camera and lens were both in in mint condition and it was the later S2a.

I didn't know Bronica made a 40mm lens. I have never seen one. I would grab that! I know the Nikkor 40mm is really rare. I have seen four sell on Ebay. I sold mine a few years ago for $400.00 to a collector who all ready had 3 or 4 of them! The glass was perfect but the barrel was missing a bit of paint. It looked like rub marks. The Nikkor lenses bring more money than the Bronica lenses except for the 135mm Nikkor which goes for next to nothing because it is on the soft side.

Most early Bronica cameras and lenses go pretty cheap and keep getting cheaper. I got about $75.00 for my Bronica 150mm lens! Like I said earlier, I would buy the 40mm lens. The Nikkor I had was one of the best lenses that were made for the early Bronica, plus it is rare and a collector's item. I wouldn't pay more than $200.00 for the Bronica version though. The last time I looked, you could buy a real nice S2a or EC with a 75mm Nikkor lens for $300.00 so I wouldn't want to pay much at all for the earlier cameras.

Oh, and Dan's probably right. It is a bit of a conflict of interest.

 

[nsurit]

I'm with Dan on this one. No matter how fair you want to be, there will be someone pissing and moaning about how you screwed the organization if you don't buy it through eBay. Do it through eBay and everyone gets their pound of flesh and there is no room for someone to yell "Foul."

 

[snapguy]

s guy

I know a guy who volunteers at a thrift shop. They have a rule that none of their people can buy anything from the shop for the first two weeks that the item is for sale, if it lasts that long. It would be not nice for you to pluck an item from their inventory no matter how much you huff and puff about a fair price. Don't do it.

 

[MattKing]

How big is the group? Can you poll everyone and ask if they have any problem with you buying it for X dollars?

 

[Whiteymorange]

Good advice, Dan. I'll take it.

 

[Alan Gales]

Good advice, Dan. I'll take it.

Try to pick up that 40mm off Ebay when listed if you can get it cheap enough. Add an S2a or EC with the 75mm Nikkor and a 150mm Bronica lens and you would have a real nice outfit for cheap!

I could focus my old EC almost as close as my old RZ. The early Bronica lenses have a real nice bokeh. The 75 is sharp as a tack and the 150 makes a great portrait lens, sharp but not harsh. They are cheap to own because you have no leaf shutters to service.