Selling used gear UK

[paul13walnut5]

Had it with a popular auction site.

Noticed a known scammer had bid on a lens and managed to cancel before sending lens or losing money, feedback rating decimated however and the popular auction site staff won't rescind, despite being presented with lots of evidence of scamming.

I know from my days of retail that I can expect no more than 50% of sellable value as a trade in, so can I ask, has any UK user had any success selling gear elsewhere.

By UK I mean United Kingdom.  Only answers from UK users, in the UK, who have sold stuff in the UK.

Thanks!

[Schruminator]

I recently sold my 7D on Gumtree.com

There aren't any fees (unless you want to "Promote" your advert) and it was pretty painless-- although I probably cold have sold it for more on eBay, I didn't have to deal with shipping or fees, etc which made up the difference to me.

Do be prepared for people trying to haggle you down on your price and either price accordingly (a bit higher than you'd settle for) or hold your ground.

[moocowe]

I'm currently toying with the idea of selling some of my gear too, and like you I'd prefer to avoid a popular auction site.

I haven't used it yet, but a friend has managed to sell a few things on Gumtree without much grief. That's most likely the route I'm going to try.

Someone suggested to me last week that students have just got their bursaries, so it might be worth getting in touch with the local art schools to see if any of photography students are interested.

[GammyKnee]

So far any gear I've sold has been through Fleabay. No real problems yet, but I have all the bidding constraints dialled up and always slap the usual "uk only, confirmed address" etc. at the bottom of the description.

I'm not sure I'd be keen on GumTree, as that has its fair share of scammers too (according to Google), but at least with Fleabay I don't have to invite them into my home.

One other possibility is to sell the gear to a respected second hand trader, or even use it as a trade-in. I've heard MBP Photographic is not bad but I've only used them to purchase used gear, never to sell or trade in.

[charlesa]

Why this reluctance to ship to EU from UK? I wanted to get a Gitzo and a 50 mm from eBay and yet no one wants to ship any from the UK to Malta, a proper EU country with straightforward shipping.

[Patrick]

I have bought and sold painlessly through Amateur Photographer but in the last few years that has declined, I would love to find a reliable source of 2nd hand equipment, most of what I see on-line in Ireland and the UK appears to be either 1) dealers (so why buy unseen by post?) 2) scammers or 3) people seeking to sell overpriced, outdated equipment to the unwary.
If you do find a good place to buy / sell please let us know!

[Stu_bert]

I'm also facing the same dilemna. Can I ask all of the previous respondants, what sort of kit you were selling? I assumed that L lenses would be sold by serious sellers and therefore you are more likely to avoid spammers and the like?

[Schruminator]

Basically, on big items (L lenses, etc), if anything seemed fishy, I just dropped it. I'm sure some of the deals I ended up passing up on were legit-- but I know others weren't. That is, if the seller was suddenly out of town or wouldn't talk to me on the phone, etc they I just wrote it off as being a scam.

Yeah, you pass a few good deals, but on the same note, you save yourself a lot of grief.

[Stu_bert]

thank you Schruminator

[johnf3f]

Basically, on big items (L lenses, etc), if anything seemed fishy, I just dropped it. I'm sure some of the deals I ended up passing up on were legit-- but I know others weren't. That is, if the seller was suddenly out of town or wouldn't talk to me on the phone, etc they I just wrote it off as being a scam.

Yeah, you pass a few good deals, but on the same note, you save yourself a lot of grief.

I have bought 3 Big Whites on E Bay (400 F2.8 non IS, 300 F2.8 IS and 800 F5.6 IS) all were VERY smooth transactions from genuine sellers. However I will NOT buy if I cannot meet up and try the lens before I pay.

[dhr90]

I was was wondering if anyone has sold to or used for commission sales ffordes or camerajungle? I have an old Sony DSLR to sell (recently upgraded to Canon 7D) and would like to get the best price I can. Any good/bad experiences?

[paul13walnut5]

bought plenty from ffordes.  Never the cheapest but I can vouch that they don't buy in rubbish, and therefore don't sell you rubbish.  They sold me an ex-demo fig rig, which had some missing parts and they really went above and beyond to get it into working order for me.  I'm occassionally up their neck of the woods and always make a point of stopping in, it's a slick wee operation.