Ebay - lenses from Japan

[erian]

I won't be selecting buyers

My will is made, all 'stuff' will be sold by Estate sale done by an expert old friend

Cash to the sole heir who is not blood

I think that the long term strategy in such case is to find an expert friend who will not expire before the due date.

Joking aside, I am considering something along the same lines for exceptional termination.

I do not want to see my converted tears (both of course, why did you ask?) to end in the recycling center.

PS. You also might want to setup some conditions like your expert friends should not store your valuables in their moldy basement. I had to deal with one such case. It was one of my worst experiences. I think it makes sense to try to keep ones legacy.

[Tin Can]

My friend makes a living selling estates

Somebody has to do it

I pray death surprises me

I have been close before, but no cigar

[SParis]

The general problem which I observe with Japanese eBayers is that they tend to use "boilerplate" description for items. Although they tend to have quite a good after-sale attitude, sometimes with all that time and hassles spent on returning communications, you just wish they had been more upfront about an item's issues instead of saying everything is Excellent+++.

Yep. The item is always "beautiful," and "hard to find in Japan." And the Optics have no fungus or scratches even if the item is a view camera with no lens.

But this isn' really a problem, just a little amusing; as I said, I've had pretty good luck buying from Japan.

[SParis]

I hope I don't sell on eBay ever again.

Can you explain a little?

I sold a lot of stuff successfully on eBay a few years ago, and have been planning on starting up again. I have a few very valuable items that I might rather sell to KEH, trading lower price for peace of mind, but I never had any trouble selling smaller items like lenses.

Has eBay become much worse for sellers lately? There seem to be a lot of sellers doing pretty good ongoing business.

[Corran]

I have a few very valuable items that I might rather sell to KEH, trading lower price for peace of mind

Good luck. My experience with (trying to) selling to KEH was poor. Sent them a perfectly good Leitz lens that was in EX condition minimum, and got a call informing me it was riddled with fungus and they'd offer me $25 just to take it off my hands. I said no and sold it for 25x that on eBay to a perfectly happy buyer (it certainly had no fungus or other optical defects). They seem to now be in the practice of this, plus the reverse - marking things as much nicer than reality on their end.

eBay has its problems. If you make sure to protect yourself and don't give in, you will be okay. I think the vast majority of sales work out fine - it's the occasional bad transactions that really get the spotlight though.

[Tin Can]

I sold one DSLR to KEH as I didn't want it and didn't want to be responsible for it's problems.

I got about 75% of normal resale.

They are a repair facility.

I have bought, even recently very nice LF gear from KEH.

[SParis]

Interesting. My experience in buying from them (KEH) has always been good; prices are a bit more than you'd probably pay on eBay but condition has always been better than described, and they do no-questions-asked returns if the item isn't right.
I've only sold them a couple of things, a long time ago, but the understanding always is that they're buying wholesale. They pay about half what you might get on eBay, but you know you're not going to get scammed. (Meaning they're not going to pretend they didn't get it, or steal a part and then return it.)

[Bob Salomon]

Interesting. My experience in buying from them (KEH) has always been good; prices are a bit more than you'd probably pay on eBay but condition has always been better than described, and they do no-questions-asked returns if the item isn't right.
I've only sold them a couple of things, a long time ago, but the understanding always is that they're buying wholesale. They pay about half what you might get on eBay, but you know you're not going to get scammed. (Meaning they're not going to pretend they didn't get it, or steal a part and then return it.)

At the lastPPA show in Atlanta I took 3 Canon lenses I wanted to sell: the Canon 28 to 300mm, the 85 1.2 and the Petzval. I first went to the KEH booth where the made a ridiculous low, insulting, offer.
I refused it and went to the other booth that was buying cameras and they cut me a check for twice as much!

[Tin Can]

My experience was 6 years ago with a very in demand camera. I hated it.

Selling glass is always a hassle, so I try not to do that.

I collect, I keep, I seldom sell camera gear...

Mostly because I regret selling every motorcycle I ever owned, which exceeds 200, they would take up a lot of room.

I now have one motorbike and...I am not Jay Leno...

[Pere Casals]

Mostly because I regret selling every motorcycle I ever owned

The Bultaco also ?

Only a brave comanche can ride a wild Bultaco