Advice on selling two mint Deardorff cameras?

[Mara Kurtz]

I wonder if you can give me advice for selling two mint, barely used Deardorffs, a 5x7 and an 8x10. They were both purchased brand new from Lens and Repro in 1979. I used the 5x7 twice, and the 8x10 just once. There are lenses for both cameras. I have no idea whether ebay is the way to go or there is a better way to do this. I live in NYC. Would appreciate any suggestions from people here who know about how to do this in an effective way. Thanks very much.

[steve simmons]

You could go back to Lens and Repro an get an appraisel (no commitments to sell).You could try E-Bay. I am not sure if you have to sell once you list an item if you do not like the price. You could also call Midwest Photo and get an appraisel. And you cen gt some suggestions here as well.

steve simmons

[John Kasaian]

Mara,

Deardorffs are very sensitive to changes in ownership. Sometimes they will get cranky and refuse to go to work if they feel they are being "unloaded" or "dumped" especially if they've been subjected to eBay and the new buyer will no doubt give terrible feedback if the cameras aren't what they expect---mint, barely used---instead of barely usable. I suggest you donate them to the Old 'Dorff's Home, of which I happen to be the Chairman of the Board, Night Porter, and Chief Administrator;-)

[Oren Grad]

If you don't have to sell in a hurry, you could learn quite a bit by watching eBay for a while. Start by doing a scan of completed sales, and then watch it for a while going forward. Deardorffs come up for sale quite regularly in a range of conditions, and you can get a good sense of what the market will bear.

I'd also second the suggestions of checking again with Lens and Repro, and calling Midwest Photo Exchange.

[Pete Roody]

Hi Mara,

Used 'Mint' Deardorffs sell easily and for high prices. It would be fairly hard to find a Chicago made camera that was barely used. Lens and Repro will make you an offer. They are looking for these cameras. I would also talk to Louis Shu at Photo Gizzmo (in NYC). I am sure you will get a few private emails to purchase the cameras also.

[jerry brodkey]

I've bought plenty of stuff on eBay but only tried to sell one item which didn't sell. Plenty of people wrote me and emailed me about the camera and they seemed quite interested. I think the problem was that I didn't offer a credit card which I guess I could have done through PayPal. Alot of people who might be interested in an expensive camera will only buy it with a credit card, not having to lay out that much cash all at once. Another point is that unless you have a good track record of selling things on eBay people are loathe to send a check or money order without the protection of a credit card. Those are some of the reasons, I'm sure, that so many eBayers have started using PayPal. I finally decided that I didn't want the risk of someone paying with a credit card and finding out later that the card was no good - after I shipped the camera....Selling it to a dealer would not bring that much money, so I decided to give it to a dealer on consignment and let him worry about the authenticity of credit cards, etc. I found a dealer who charged 10% of the selling price and it sold in one week. I probably could have gotten more money but the risk would have been greater. That's my one experience...

Good Luck,

Jerry

[Ralph Barker]

Although John Kasaian's offer was quite generous, Mara, I'm feeling so good today, I'll go one better, and agree to pay the shipping costs to take these duds off your hands. ;-)

Seriously, as you probably guessed, John was joking. Deardorffs in truly mint condition are quite marketable, and should fetch a decent-good price, depending on how much trouble you want to go to in selling them. A direct sale via dBay will likely net you the highest price, but as others have suggested, being to accept PayPal is a big advantage there. Doing so involves jumping through a couple of hoops with PayPal, but it might be worth your while. Additionally, selling the cameras and lenses separately on eBay is likely to get you the best prices. Selling them back to Lens and Repro would likely net you the least cash (they need to make a profit on the resale) , but would probably be the easiest and quickest.

Another option would be to sell through one of the participants on this forum who already have excellent reputations on eBay, assuming they might be interested. I have no idea what sort of commission they might want, but I suspect they might contact you if they are itnerested in that sort of arrangement.

[Neal Shields]

If you haven't sold on Ebay before some people arn't going to bid on something that expensive if you haven't got a LOT of positive feedback.

You might be better off to use one of the new third party Ebay sellers if you can find one you can trust. They are going to charge you a precentage of the price but because of their feedback you will probably net more in the end.

If the camera is truely brand new you might also offer it in one of the Tamarkin auctions.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'd second the suggestion to go back to Lens and Repro and see what they say. They might not give you a cash refund for cameras bought a few years ago, but they might give you comparable value in trade, if you have other photographic needs (and who doesn't have other photographic needs?).

I saw a beautiful 5x7" Deardorff at Photo Gizzmo recently. It's also worth stopping in there and seeing if Louis Shu might be able to work out a deal with you.

[Mike Cockerham]

Another option would be to put them up on ebay with a much to high reserve price and wait to see what they are run upto. This will cost you a liitle for the reserve auction, If you get a price that you can live with you can always contact the high bidder at the end of the auction and offer them a second chance to buy. This will give you the option to sell and also allow you to get an idea of their value so you will not be taken advantage of later if you sell.

[Mara Kurtz]

TO: Steve, John, Oren, Peter, J. Brodkey, Ralph, Neal, David, Mike:
Thank you all so much for the great recommendations. I am so surprised to hear back so quickly and really appreciate your taking the time to respond. I'll let you know what happens!
Best,
Mara

[Hans Berkhout]

Jeff K @ L&R told me some years ago that he would pay me 60% of what he would sell my items for at that time. I bougth a very nice Deardorff 4x5 Special from him also in '79.

[Capocheny]

Mara,

If you're keen on selling the 8x10 privately... please email me off-line. I've been looking for a mint-condition one with front swings and tilts.

Cheers

[Calamity Jane]

Mara,

I have shopped a LOT on ebay and I'd srtongly recommend NOT starting out selling an expensive item. Find another more "personal" method of selling these cameras.

As a buyer, the more expensive an item, the more I rely on the feedback from other buyers. I would NOT bid on an expensive item from a first-time seller, no matter how good it looked.

If you list on ebay, you MUST sell if you price is met. Although you can set a "reserve bid" (minimum price), I am afraid you run the risk of getting only a fraction of what the cameras are wroth.

I have been camera shopping on ebay for the past couple of months and Deardroff from a seller with a lot of positive feedback will fetch a premium price. I haven't seen one from a novice seller so I don't know what it would sell for.

You have cameras that are worth significent $$$ - don't risk giving them away.

Dianne

[Scott Rosenberg]

mara...

i agree with everythng that's been stated here. ebay will not likely yield the highest selling price for you. you have very desirable merchandise on your hands and should have no problem selling them privately. check completed listings on ebay to gauge what 'dorffs have been going for, call lens and repro, and also call jim at midwest photo. jim deals in this stuff everyday and is one of the best out there. as you have probably already noticed, there are lots of folks, many right here, looking for precisely what you are offering.

good luck, and be sure not to sell yourself short.
scott

[evan clarke]

Mara,
Since you have had the cameras since 1979, don't be hasty. You can search completed items on eBay to get an idea of the selling price. Also, contact Jim ant Midwest Photo Exchange. He is a straight shooter who will give you good advice or offer you a fair price for them..EC

[Mike Chini]

I disaagree about going with a photo store such as Lens and Repro. They usually take items like this on consignment so you may have to wait an indeterminate length of time for a sale (L&R also charges high prices vs. Midwest and obviously, eBay). Rather, go the eBay route or try some other large format web sites first such as michaelandpaula.com, photo.net or even f32.net. You have nothing to lose and can wait for payment. eBay prices do fluctuate so wait for a a lull in Dorff's and put it on at your price.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Other places to advertise, in addition to those mentioned in the previous post, are the apug.org classifieds and if you're willing to pay for the ad, there's _View Camera_ magazine or _Shutterbug_. Deardorffs in good condition are very desirable. If you don't need the cash right away, internet classifieds might be the best option.

[Ernest Purdum]

If you do decide to use eBay, don't use a reserve price. A large-scale study found that it was a very bad strategy. Instead, you can set a high opening price if you like. You'll see some extremely high opening prices on eBay. Sometimes somebody will bid. The same study found that if you have a large number of items to sell, the best strategy is low opening bids, but you do take the risk that an occasional item might sell for only the opening bid or close to it.



Selling view cameras and lenses separately nearly always works better than selling as a package.



Good photos and descriptions are very important. Listing in two categories is good. The tiny extra fee for a ten day sale is the biggest bargain on eBay. For a high-dollar item like a clean 8X10 Deardorff, I'd spend the rather high fee ($19.95?) for the extra display at the head of the search columns.

[CP Goerz]

While everyone is telling you to use Paypal bear in mind that it will cost YOU money and Paypal have some truly horrendous business practices. Don't take my word for it though, visit www.paypalsucks.com.

I used to take Paypal for years, even before Ebay bought them out. Once that happened though the company went downhill to the point it is now. It USED to be good but they are following the Ebay plan of nickel and diming you to death and changing the fee structure to the point that you need a business/mathematics degree to understand how much it'll cost you to sell something.

They can also retroactively remove money from your bank account up to six months from the time of transaction. What this means that if you sell the camera and get the cash through Paypal the 'customer' can then say they never got the camera and Paypal will take the money from your account to pay the fraudster back who will then have the cash and the camera. You will then have the worst time in the world trying to prove you actually did send the item(postal slips don't mean anything to them, neither do all the fees you have paid either). Customer service has to be filled with DMV trainees on crack......have I slammed them enough yet? ;-)

Other alternatives are Bidpay which charges the customer(not you like in Paypal and no retro account activity), Money order/cashiers check, personal check-wait for it to clear which nowadays is pretty fast, cash via fedex or registered envelope.

CP Goerz

[kreig]

Agree, Paypal sucks!! I wont buy from anyone with Paypal as an only option.

[Capocheny]

Mara,

Now that Andrew has contributed a note... you might speak with him directly about having him list and sell your cameras on *bay. Of all the folks on *bay that deals with Deardorff cameas...he's the most knowledgeble and fair!

By the way... I've NO relationship with Andrew other than buying from him on that site!

Cheers