Selling SLRs

ongakublue · Sep 13, 2015

Hi guys,

So I suppose some of you have experience of this. I am having trouble shifting some cameras and lenses quickly. I need the cash from them. (I am not in the U.S. by the way) and I wonder how much I would be likely to get for working slrs from the 60s and 70s and their kit lenses in good condition. I don't expect a quote of course, I mean what's the mark up? For example, if they sell for 50 dollars in the shop what would you say they would buy for? I am sure it's maybe only a quarter of the price or perhaps it depends a lot on the model.

Peltigera · Sep 13, 2015

The answer, I'm afraid, is very little assuming a shop wants to buy them in the first place.

antmar · Sep 13, 2015

Don't expect any reasonable price if you sell your cameras to a shop but you can easily have a good trade.
There are also some photo-shops, where you can leave your cameras to their window for selling, at these shops you can arrange the asking price.

bdial · Sep 13, 2015

Generally a shop would look to pay 50% +or- of their retail price. But that also depends on how fast the item is likely to move.
A run of the mill 35mm is likely to stay on the shelf for a very long time, hence what they are willing to pay is likely more like 25% of retail or perhaps even less.

Much depends on the specific camera and the local market however.

Nodda Duma · Sep 13, 2015

Selling on eBay is your best bet. There's a larger potential customer base and you will make money in about a week plus the time to transfer the funds to your bank account.

RobC · Sep 13, 2015

Nodda Duma said:
Selling on eBay is your best bet. There's a larger potential customer base and you will make money in about a week plus the time to transfer the funds to your bank account.

bet being the operative word. It's always a gamble and depends largely on how many people are interested. If there's only one don't count on getting a good price.

gone · Sep 13, 2015

The unanswerable question gets many and various answers. There must be a bigger truth here to learn from.

BrianShaw · Sep 13, 2015

momus said:
The unanswerable question gets many and various answers. There must be a bigger truth here to learn from.

"It depends..."

fotch · Sep 13, 2015

The devil is in the details. More specific info is needed to give any intelligent answer. The value comparing a Nikon F2 to a Mamiya is huge. Maybe state the cameras in question will give you a better idea.

RobC · Sep 13, 2015

fotch said:
The devil is in the details. More specific info is needed to give any intelligent answer. The value comparing a Nikon F2 to a Mamiya is huge. Maybe state the cameras in question will give you a better idea.

Maybe paying to be a subscriber here and posting in FS forum might be a good idea (if you have something decent to sell).

blockend · Sep 13, 2015

Selling old film SLRs is not a good way of raising cash quickly.

Les Sarile · Sep 13, 2015

ongakublue said:
Hi guys,

So I suppose some of you have experience of this. I am having trouble shifting some cameras and lenses quickly. I need the cash from them. (I am not in the U.S. by the way) and I wonder how much I would be likely to get for working slrs from the 60s and 70s and their kit lenses in good condition. I don't expect a quote of course, I mean what's the mark up? For example, if they sell for 50 dollars in the shop what would you say they would buy for? I am sure it's maybe only a quarter of the price or perhaps it depends a lot on the model.

Goes without saying there are some that are more desirable than others and the condition - as well as color, can make a huge difference.
Just to get an idea, you can get a quote for your slrs at Dead Link Removed

ongakublue · Sep 13, 2015

Thanks everyone. I am starting to think this is not a good way of raising money at all, yes. Since the selling price for the cameras with their lenses seems to be less than 50 bucks on average. I should hold on to them.

BrianShaw · Sep 13, 2015

That would be my conclusion. But I suppose it all depends on how much one needs the money.

Chan Tran · Sep 13, 2015

I agree that selling on Ebay would yield the most money but it does take some time.

Alan Gales · Sep 13, 2015

I did well when I sold all my Contax Zeiss lenses on Ebay. Zeiss lenses, Leitz lenses and Leica cameras do well. Most of the common stuff isn't worth selling.

Nodda Duma · Sep 13, 2015

RobC said:
bet being the operative word. It's always a gamble and depends largely on how many people are interested. If there's only one don't count on getting a good price.

My apologies, there was a lot of unstated common sense in my post that I felt didn't need to be explained. Internet forums were made for academia and theoreticians, not for common talk. Let me sum it up:

Don't do it stupidly and/or blindly expecting riches and you won't get burnt. The flip side is that if you do it right, even a Nikon EM camera body can be sold for $20. The first lesson is to forget everything you knew about camera prices when film was common. You'll just end up hanging onto crap you don't need hoping that the prices will come back up.

Lots of college kids and teenagers looking for film cameras these days. So the stuff moves, just not at the price point that you'd like. Sold one of my old, unused Agfa box cameras and a semi-functional GE light meter to a high schooler at our yard sale this weekend. Made $35 and figured I did well. He was pretty excited. On a side note, I also learned that our high school has a functioning and active darkroom and students interested in film photography get film and paper for free. Said he had gotten into film photography 3 years ago when he became a freshman. Said it stays pretty busy. So hopefully the darkroom is still around when my kids get to be that age.

RalphLambrecht · Sep 14, 2015

ongakublue said:
Thanks everyone. I am starting to think this is not a good way of raising money at all, yes. Since the selling price for the cameras with their lenses seems to be less than 50 bucks on average. I should hold on to them.

good idea;they will be worth even less next month

fotch · Sep 14, 2015

RobC said:
Maybe paying to be a subscriber here and posting in FS forum might be a good idea (if you have something decent to sell).

That is a great idea.

John Koehrer · Sep 16, 2015

For a quick reference check the SOLD section listings on the bay. It'll give you a ballpark.

Selling SLRs

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