Cooke Taylor & Hobson Achromatic Portrait f/7.5 15 Inch Whats it worth?

[defuser602]

881868818788188Found this lens in my Grandmothers house after she passed away and i've gotten a few offers on it. I'm just looking to get a rough price range on what its worth. I'm not wanting to get ripped off and need every penny I can get for her funeral costs. Any help would be very greatly appreciated and thank you in advance!! I'm uploading a few photos of the lens and I know its hard to put it price on it with seeing it in person.

Also if anyone could give me a year or any more info that would aslo be great.


Thank You!

[cowanw]

I see a mention of $800 in 2010, no mention of size though.

[defuser602]

The offer that I got was $200 which seems like someone was trying to get one over on me....Thanks a whole lot i'm glad I didnt take the $200.00

[Louis Pacilla]

OK so you want to know the "the top or best price" Then I say you need to put it on eBay ((Pay all the fees)Then let it go for a 7 day auction, NO reserve and don't take offers. This is how you find out how much someone will pay and this will set the "Top Dollar" for your lens at the moment.

Otherwise if your looking for fast free sale then it should go for less then top dollar. Particularly given how it seems you joined our community to take advantage of the free selling.

Sorry no offense meant just MHO.

Goodluck!

[Emil Schildt]

oooh - I would love to own that one!

I have one smaller in size and it is fantastic. (if the back lens is unscrewed then it becomes a great soft focus lens!!)

I agree with Louis, but if you add an image taken with it, it might help...

(attached an image made with mine..)

[goamules]

These are good lenses, I have had a few (hi Gandolfi!). Just put it on eBay as the above say, and make the title exactly what it says around the rim plus the words "brass lens" and you'll get the top. You'll also have to deal with fickle buyers, will have to offer it for sale worldwide, and take the chance it gets lost going to China or Brazil. For 45 days you'll have to wait for the buyer to give you good feedback, and hopefully not put a "not as advertised" claim in the last minute. In that case, ebay/paypal will instantly suck the money right back out of your accounts, and return it to the buyer. You'll have to do the work of trying to get the lens back, ebay will abandon you. Also, for all this trouble, you'll pay ebay fees when it sells, then paypal fees when he pays you.

Ebay will give you the highest price, but at a cost....and it's a buyer's market. Sellers take all the risk. Therefore, if someone offers you "close" and you can avoid ebay, do it!

[8x10 user]

Has anyone been in contact with the OP? I have been trying for a few days and now his box is full.

[Jim Galli]

Me thinks this bloke just likes throwing meat in shark infested waters and enjoys the feeding frenzy. He's had serious offers from at least 3 people I can name, myself included. So from this point forward . . . "yawn"

[8x10 user]

The thing is I already sent him a money order to purchase the lens and now hes not responding...

[Steven Tribe]

This lens was also in Craigslist - but the details have been removed since by the lister.

It was under
CL > phoenix > west valley > all for sale / wanted > photo/video
A date appears - 28 jan 2012,
Don't know whether this was the date of listing or removal.
I think it is the genuine article (quality of photos!) but his selling ethics may be just be a little doubtful.

[goamules]

He's definitely acting like the type of person I wouldn't buy from.

[8x10 user]

Well at least it appears that noone else purchased the lens... I became worried when I saw his box was full.

I will give it a few more days before contacting AZ police... I know that most likely the person is just busy.

Postal money orders are a fairly safe way to purchase items like this. Its very traceable and if the seller does not come through with the lens then the action constitutes mail fraud which is obviously a very serious crime.

[8x10 user]

I'm giving the seller until Monday before contacting law enforcement.

The pictures and the fact that the seller had it available for local pick up is still giving me hope that it is not a scam.

The seller had me send him two postal money orders instead of one because he was worried that the post office might not have enough cash on hand? Does anyone find that suspicious?

Is anyone located near Glendale AZ and willing to check on the seller for me?

[Steven Tribe]

The seller had me send him two postal money orders instead of one because he was worried that the post office might not have enough cash on hand? Does anyone find that suspicious?

It does - if USPS has a different security procedure for checking recipients above a fixed amount - and your purchase price is above this cut-off.

[goamules]

Do you have his full name, address, and phone number? I hope so. Have you done a reverse lookup to see if it all checks out?

[8x10 user]

I should have but did not get his phone number. I went to the post office on Saturday but apparently the system that allows them to track the money orders isn't open until Tuesday. I spoke with the Glendale Police and I am suppose to call them after checking with the post office.

I'm still hoping that there is a good reason why I can't reach the seller and that things will somehow workout. The seller also offered the item for local pick up as I thought about maybe finding someone to pick it up for me if the seller wouldn't ship it. If it was a scammer what would he have done in the event of a local pick up?

Also the pictures and story is rather believable and pretty sophisticated for a scammer. I would consider the amount to be pretty low for a sophisticated scam and the consequences (mail fraud?) and chances get busted for this type of crime would be pretty high. It doesn't quite fit to me but we will see.

The worse thing that can happen is that I wont recover the funds or the lens which is pretty bad. The second worse thing is that I contact law enforcement and they show up and arrest someone during a family members funeral and the person turns out to be innocent and there is good reason for me not receiving the lens or contact. I would hate for that to happen.

[dap]

How long has it been since you sent the money?

Personally I would send a certified letter stating that "if I don't receive the lens or a refund by - insert date here -I will contact law enforcement". At least, if the seller is not a criminal, it gives him a chance to make it right before Johnny law gets involved (and it proves that you tried to reach him regarding the transaction in case it ends up in court).

I'm sure that by now you searched the dudes name on the internet. Are the name and address legit? - if not you might be out of luck.

[Steven Tribe]

I hope this thing works out for you.

The photos are realistically poor.

But the story about "clearing out a relatives house after a death" has been heard before. "Money for the funeral" is not the sort of personal information I would expect a relative to present in a sales ad.
If he/she found his/her way, I would have expected to see a new response here by now.

[goamules]

Yeah, hate to say it but there were several red flags on the original post.
1. Newbie with no history anywhere but this post. (you must do some background checking on these)
2. "Whats is it worth?" question posed to an esoteric, expert LF forum. (he had to research to find the forum, but couldn't research the lens?)
3. "I've had offers but don't want to get ripped off" (means - I'm selling this, even though I haven't been a member long enough)
4. "...need funeral expenses for my grandmother..." (means - don't lowball me, I am going through a rough period)
5. Poster didn't answer my questions and request for his phone number (I was doing No. 1 above - before making any offers). Poster didn't answer several people I know DID make offers (they probably wanted more proof than he couldn't give).
6. Poster never returned with a followup post (thanks -sold, etc.)

This was before we heard that 8x10user is missing his lens, and no contact, and the poster asked the payment be split into two money orders. Huge blazing red flags. He wanted to get them cashed with no questions, in lower amounts at two different places.

Still, my hope is it's a young person with poor selling skills, that probably did have the lens. I have not seen these pictures before (but we need to intensively search the web) and these are rare lenses. A pinkham or 4B would have been too obvious. But either way, I'd be talking to the PO tomorrow, and do whatever it takes to get your money back immediately. Skippy with the rare lens needs to learn how to sell better, or get jacked up by the police if he doesn't really have it.

[imagedowser]

Guys, The FIRST red flag is the sticky at the head of the buy/sell section. "All questionable sellers, we are easy pickin's we take all the risk..." is another way to read it...We've had more than the usual requests for estimates and info by new members since the sticky went up and the one listed today even stated he wanted to sell on the auction site... I know it was meant to remind US of the risk but it's (IMO) done nothing but attract those who want free info, at best and a risk free (to them) opportunity to score. I think the sticky should come down, it doesn't seem to be helping. Bill "Running His Mouth" imagedowser.

[Jody_S]

4. "...need funeral expenses for my grandmother..." (means - don't lowball me, I am going through a rough period)

In my experience. limited as it is with estate liquidations, any private individual who is legitimately liquidating his grandfather's estate, does not state that fact up-front, or anywhere for that matter. Unless he's a scammer trying to make a buck, and doesn't have a problem exploiting a real or imagined death in the family.

[8x10 user]

Ok so the post office put the forms on too send me the info on whether the MO's were cashed; I guess they can't check this right away... However the post lady said something about there not being a status which she thinks indicates the MO's were never cashed. They could be lost in the mail. I really should have did a better job of protecting myself with this transaction.

I still don't get why the fellow hasn't responded. I wish I had his phone number...

[dap]

Ok so the post office put the forms on too send me the info on whether the MO's were cashed; I guess they can't check this right away... However the post lady said something about there not being a status which she thinks indicates the MO's were never cashed. They could be lost in the mail. I really should have did a better job of protecting myself with this transaction.

I still don't get why the fellow hasn't responded. I wish I had his phone number...

I've gone through this process before (not a lens deal gone bad, but a lost/misplaced money order). They will take all your info, you fill out an official usps form, they send off the inquiry to the head office, and at the end of it all you will either get a check in the mail for the amount of the cancelled money orders or a photocopy of the cashed money orders. In my case they took about a month from the time the paper work was submitted till I received a status update. I remember there being a certain waiting period before the official paperwork could be submitted. I assume the time frame from start to finish might be influenced by whether or not the MOs were cashed at a post office or a bank.

Good luck - hopefully you'll end up with a check in your mailbox in a month or so.

[8x10 user]

Hmm... I really need to proof read things before I post.

Anyway the money orders were indeed cashed so most likely I am out $1000 :( I did report the theft to Glendale police, my local police department, the IC3 internet crime complaint center, and to the post inspectors (mail fraud complaint form).

The MO's were cashed on the 7th at two different teller windows at a Wells Fargo bank. The tellers' wrote the person's DL# on the money orders as well as DOB... The suspect is 60 years old.

If there is no lens, then I wonder where the pictures came from?




Ok so the post office put the forms on too send me the info on whether the MO's were cashed; I guess they can't check this right away... However the post lady said something about there not being a status which she thinks indicates the MO's were never cashed. They could be lost in the mail. I really should have did a better job of protecting myself with this transaction.

I still don't get why the fellow hasn't responded. I wish I had his phone number...

[Steven Tribe]

If this is the person who wrote the OP is 60, then the deceased grandmother must have been over 100 years old.

If the original Craigs listing was genuine (doubtful) then the text and photos could have been lifted from that.

I am sure this lens exists somewhere and will eventually appear again!

[sun of sand]

Maybe along with a sticky it would help if those who have given a serious offer to purchase and then receive no response to come back into the thread stating thier beliefs of suspicious/crappy behavior on part of the seller

might not always help as if it is a scam he'd wait till the best offer came along and money sent before replying to anyone leaving no time to infer danger



I know if I were to offer a large sum of cash and get completely blown off I'd make it public right away
might be helpful
might get you outbid on occasion but I doubt in an honest sale it would come to that


Or maybe since no auctions are allowed in the Classifieds then all members are to refrain from auctions in Private Messages, as well



Downtrodden guy comes here with high priced item to sell and makes it appear as though he's merely trying to ascertain value while actually hoping to start a little silent auction

[Amedeus]

Google images didn't produce a hit for me ... the lens exists but it is not clear if he lifted the images from someone's auction or blog.

[goamules]

Hmm... I really need to proof read things before I post.

Anyway the money orders were indeed cashed so most likely I am out $1000 :( I did report the theft to Glendale police, my local police department, the IC3 internet crime complaint center, and to the post inspectors (mail fraud complaint form).

The MO's were cashed on the 7th at two different teller windows at a Wells Fargo bank. The tellers' wrote the person's DL# on the money orders as well as DOB... The suspect is 60 years old.

If there is no lens, then I wonder where the pictures came from?

Sorry this happened. So, the police should have a driver's license number, which they can use to match up it's archive picture to the bank's hidden camera pictures. Then go to the address listed, and see if it's the same person, question, and charge someone. But they won't....too small a case.

[Jody_S]

Sorry this happened. So, the police should have a driver's license number, which they can use to match up it's archive picture to the bank's hidden camera pictures. Then go to the address listed, and see if it's the same person, question, and charge someone. But they won't....too small a case.

If he's in a city, no. But if he's from a small town somewhere that happens to have a police force, they might. It would give them something interesting to do. Isn't 'mail fraud' a federal crime in the USA?