View Full Version : What is the market for unique LF gear?
Jac@stafford.net
5-Mar-2019, 14:38
What is the market for unique LF gear? When I die i do not want to leave my wife with decades accumulations of cameras, many of which are unique, some hand-built. Such would make her life too complex.
I am not concerned with established brands of which among us we have many, but in particular cameras built to new configurations or combinations of parts put together in a novel manner which can be called outliers.
You can only find by putting them on sale, I guess.
Dan Fromm
5-Mar-2019, 14:42
You built what the market wouldn't provide. The first thing that comes to mind is junk.
Calling your treasures junk is unfair. Why don't you stop torturing yourself about how best they can be disposed of them after you die and sell them off now. Offer complete JacBrand cameras on eBay, priced at par with the lenses on them. If they don't sell, offer the lenses.
Another solution would be not to die, I guess. :)
c.d.ewen
5-Mar-2019, 15:06
Short of immortality, the best I can think of is to leave a list of titles, descriptions and photos for auctions.
Charley
When I die i do not want to leave my wife with decades accumulations of cameras, many of which are unique, some hand-built. Such would make her life too complex.
I understand, but are you sure your wife will survive you??
I have a close friend that does Estate Sales, he goes in, does some research, prices the crap and reduces prices once a day until it's all gone.
He takes a cut and gives the survivors a check.
He is specified in my will.
I will not share him with others, he is now Chicago based formerly of Seattle, and much younger than I.
Only motorcycles are excluded, those go to the guy I taught to ride 45 years ago.
The stepdaughter or her heirs get cash.
Heck, you too have a wife??
No, both are deceased. God bless their souls.
Heck, you too have a wife??
I know many who worry about what would happen to the tools of their trade... I always say to get the most out of them while you are alive and kicking and use the hell out of them... To you personally, it won't matter to you after you are gone... But to those that survive you, at least they have a world market online now if as suggested, there is some form of description to help them later...
But sooner than later is a good time for a little Marie Kondo action to get rid of those items that don't bring joy, but might to someone else...
Big problem is you never really know when it's time to go, so live your life like you stole it!!!
No regrets... ;-)
Steve K
pepeguitarra
5-Mar-2019, 22:47
I understand, but are you sure your wife will survive you??
They always do! :)
pepeguitarra
5-Mar-2019, 22:53
What is the market for unique LF gear? When I die i do not want to leave my wife with decades accumulations of cameras, many of which are unique, some hand-built. Such would make her life too complex.
I am not concerned with established brands of which among us we have many, but in particular cameras built to new configurations or combinations of parts put together in a novel manner which can be called outliers.
If you put them for sale, you will find out. Some people want to buy stuff, but not from Ebay. It is always better to buy directly from the photographer that discuss issues with one. Just saying.
To paraphrase an earlier comment, if your items were in high demand they wouldn't be unique. So the more time you have to sell it and the more visibility to potential buyers you have, the more you'll get for it. If getting the most for the items is of concern to you - or your cherished heirs (not all heirs are cherished) - then start the process now and be patient.
Bruce Barlow
6-Mar-2019, 08:07
Another solution would be not to die, I guess. :)
I found a cone from a giant Sequoia tree on the pavement. I still have it and its 130-or-so seeds. I intend to find a tree-ologist somewhere who will coach me on how to grow them here in Maine. Obviously, I'll have to stick around while they mature, so I'm counting on at least 2,000 more years.
Wonder if they'll still make LF film then?
I found a cone from a giant Sequoia tree on the pavement. I still have it and its 130-or-so seeds. I intend to find a tree-ologist somewhere who will coach me on how to grow them here in Maine. Obviously, I'll have to stick around while they mature, so I'm counting on at least 2,000 more years.
Wonder if they'll still make LF film then?
Don't know about the film but like very much your idea with the tree seeds! Maybe the sequoia won't be as big as on the West side but it still will be a sequoia! Hold on!
(Came once home from Borneo with seeds of a Kapok tree - it grew fantastically at home but was so big after several years that I could not move it to my new house and I needed to let it go... Was very sorry for it but it was an immense pleasure to see it grow and to have it!)
pepeguitarra
6-Mar-2019, 08:32
To paraphrase an earlier comment, if your items were in high demand they wouldn't be unique. So the more time you have to sell it and the more visibility to potential buyers you have, the more you'll get for it. If getting the most for the items is of concern to you - or your cherished heirs (not all heirs are cherished) - then start the process now and be patient.
Maybe he is looking for a good home for his stuff. When I sell, I make sure it goes to a good home.
Louis Pacilla
6-Mar-2019, 09:40
To paraphrase an earlier comment, if your items were in high demand they wouldn't be unique. So the more time you have to sell it and the more visibility to potential buyers you have, the more you'll get for it. If getting the most for the items is of concern to you - or your cherished heirs (not all heirs are cherished) - then start the process now and be patient.
That’s sound advice.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Kirk Gittings
6-Mar-2019, 09:48
I helped a friend of mine's widow sell her late husband's LF gear. Some of it was homemade ULF gear. It was frankly very hard to sell, partially because she thought the gear was worth more than it was. So some sold, some was given away and some was donated to schools etc. It took a long time.
Jac@stafford.net
6-Mar-2019, 10:37
if your items were in high demand they wouldn't be unique.
By that measure one way to actualize unique is to lower price significantly; I plan to do just that. One loser example that I have been watching on the 'bay is a lens with an asking price close to $6,000. I would ask $1000 for the same in better condition. I would go even lower for expediency. I would still not lose money.
pepeguitarra
6-Mar-2019, 10:57
Interesting, what lens is that? I have noticed that after couple of guys restored and cleaned up an old wooden camera and posted some pictures here, an abundance of old beat up wooden cameras have surface on the bay site, asking 10 times is true value. So, the law of demand and offer will dictate the actual price.
By that measure one way to actualize unique is to lower price significantly; I plan to do just that. One loser example that I have been watching on the 'bay is a lens with an asking price close to $6,000. I would ask $1000 for the same in better condition. I would go even lower for expediency. I would still not lose money.
I should have been clearer in my comment. By "low demand", I did not mean that they have no value, but rather it will be more difficult to find the person that does value them. Hence the need for more time to find a buyer.
pepeguitarra
6-Mar-2019, 11:07
Intrinsic Value: The value of something that will satisfy one of the three needs: food, clothing, shelter. Camera gear has an intrinsic value of zero.
Actual Value: The actual cost of making an item. Probably the price you paid when you bought it, adjusted for inflation and depreciated with use and time.
Sentimental Value: The value of the attachment you have for the item. Was this a present from your Dad? Wedding gift? Bought it with your first paycheck? It is unique? Made by a friend?
Market Value: The price someone is willing to pay for the item. It is usually dictated by the demand and the offer.
Jac@stafford.net
6-Mar-2019, 11:23
Interesting, what lens is that?
It is item # 322836474536 . Not mine!
Aside to pepeguitarra, your definitions of intrinsic and actual value are uncommon. Market value is, in spirit, acceptable to all but market investors.
pepeguitarra
6-Mar-2019, 11:31
It is item # 322836474536 . Not mine!
Aside to pepeguitarra, your definitions of intrinsic and actual value are uncommon.
I know, it is from 1974 Business School. It may be outdated. I think now days, they combined/placed the intrinsic with actual and true and tangible and intangibles into a new intrinsic value.
I am also talking about the basics of selling our own stuff. Not the market as defined by investors, etc. That is a bit more complicated.
Hugo Zhang
6-Mar-2019, 11:42
It is an Euryscop II #7 lens and its price was lowered to $3,500 a few weeks ago and still was not sold. It went back to 6K waiting for the next guy. Somebody offered the same lens for 4.2K here on the forum a few months ago.
Dan Fromm
6-Mar-2019, 12:46
Actual Value: The actual cost of making an item..
Marxist, sorry, Ricardian concept, long discredited. Theory has it that price equals long run average cost of production in competitive equilibrium, which occurs rarely, possibly never. In other situations the relationship between price and cost of production is somewhat flexible. See the US pharmaceutical industry for examples.
Jac@stafford.net
6-Mar-2019, 12:50
I won't argue with Dan. He is an economist.
pepeguitarra
6-Mar-2019, 12:55
Well, I am not (I only went to that school for a one day seminar on how to start your own business that lasted 35 years), but try to sell a lens and explain that to the buyer. That may help the sale.
Dan Fromm
6-Mar-2019, 13:09
Well, I am not (I only went to that school for a one day seminar on how to start your own business that lasted 35 years), but try to sell a lens and explain that to the buyer. That may help the sale.
Its very simple, at least in auctions. If the thing is worth more to you than the highest bid, outbid the highest bidder (so far). Otherwise, walk away.
It is sometimes simple, at least in one-on-one fact-to-face discussions. This is how much I want for it. There are alternatives, priced at ... They've recently sold for ... If you want to buy at my price, fine. If not, fine, someone who wants to buy it at my price will turn up 'cos my price is in line with the comparables.
It is sometimes complex, as when the item is so rare that there are no comparables or recent sales of comparables and the item, whatever it is, is wanted by few. I think that's Jac's situation, at least for complete cameras. If no one wants the thing, no one will take it no matter how low the price is.
And then there are totally delusional sellers. A couple of weeks ago a 1200/12.5 Apo Saphir turned up on leboncoin.fr. Asking price, 10,000 euros. I'm a happy user of Apo-Saphirs even though near wide open the equivalent Apo Nikkor (I've tested) is better and the equivalent Apo-Ronar and Apo-Ronar (I haven't tested) probably is too. 10,000 euros will probably buy three 1210/12.5 Apo Nikkors.
Jac@stafford.net
6-Mar-2019, 13:14
It is an Euryscop II #7 lens and its price was lowered to $3,500 a few weeks ago and still was not sold. It went back to 6K waiting for the next guy. Somebody offered the same lens for 4.2K here on the forum a few months ago.
That lens was not the same. It had no marking indicating a II. Gosh only knows what it is. Maybe Gosh is Steven Tribe's nickname.
188498
Jac@stafford.net
6-Mar-2019, 13:19
I think that's Jac's situation, at least for complete cameras. If no one wants the thing, no one will take it no matter how low the price is.
Possibly another self-deception comes from working hard to make a specific design and enjoying the outcome. It does not necessarily mean any other person in the universe would appreciate it, and I include my twin John, the unimaginative a**hole.
Hugo Zhang
6-Mar-2019, 13:20
III is usually marked as 7A. This is mostly likely to be a II. There is a catalogue with lens diameters and you can measure it and compare the numbers.
pepeguitarra
6-Mar-2019, 13:21
Its very simple, at least in auctions. If the thing is worth more to you than the highest bid, outbid the highest bidder (so far). Otherwise, walk away.
It is sometimes simple, at least in one-on-one fact-to-face discussions. This is how much I want for it. There are alternatives, priced at ... They've recently sold for ... If you want to buy at my price, fine. If not, fine, someone who wants to buy it at my price will turn up 'cos my price is in line with the comparables.
It is sometimes complex, as when the item is so rare that there are no comparables or recent sales of comparables and the item, whatever it is, is wanted by few. I think that's Jac's situation, at least for complete cameras. If no one wants the thing, no one will take it no matter how low the price is.
And then there are totally delusional sellers. A couple of weeks ago a 1200/12.5 Apo Saphir turned up on leboncoin.fr. Asking price, 10,000 euros. I'm a happy user of Apo-Saphirs even though near wide open the equivalent Apo Nikkor (I've tested) is better and the equivalent Apo-Ronar and Apo-Ronar (I haven't tested) probably is too. 10,000 euros will probably buy three 1210/12.5 Apo Nikkors.
Well, I think we agree on that.
Jac@stafford.net
6-Mar-2019, 13:26
III is usually marked as 7A. This is mostly likely to be a II. There is a catalogue with lens diameters and you can measure it and compare the numbers.
Heck, it is so buried to the back of storage that I can't get to it until the snow abates. That's the way it is with barn doors that open outward.
phil sweeney
7-Mar-2019, 06:14
I know many who worry about what would happen to the tools of their trade... I always say to get the most out of them while you are alive and kicking and use the hell out of them... To you personally, it won't matter to you after you are gone... But to those that survive you, at least they have a world market online now if as suggested, there is some form of description to help them later...
But sooner than later is a good time for a little Marie Kondo action to get rid of those items that don't bring joy, but might to someone else...
Big problem is you never really know when it's time to go, so live your life like you stole it!!!
No regrets... ;-)
Steve K
I have sold quite a bit of equipment. However, the 8 x 10 stays until the end!
Steven Tribe
8-Mar-2019, 07:56
That lens was not the same. It had no marking indicating a II. Gosh only knows what it is. Maybe Gosh is Steven Tribe's nickname.
188498
This is an early series II, before Voigtlander cleaned up their act as regards identifying through engraving alone!
The "A" added to the size number for series III was a first attempt at differentiation. The "A" in this series (F.4.5) was given up when the series number was adopted in the barrel engraving. Series IV was always just a plain "Euryskop" - even though it was described as being for " full standing figures, groups ....".
Steven Tribe
8-Mar-2019, 08:03
III is usually marked as 7A. This is mostly likely to be a II. There is a catalogue with lens diameters and you can measure it and compare the numbers.
Unfortunately, this is impossible as it so happens that size no. 3 to size no. 7 in series II and III have lenses with exactly lens diameters. Only focal lengths are different!
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