If you were selling your R5...

JustUs7 wrote:

MarshallG wrote:

Chris Wolfgram wrote:

j tokarz wrote:

Do NOT go the E-BAY route. You will surely regret it. For one reason or another.

Well, I almost always end up selling stuff the easiest, most fool proof way, which I'm sure is part of the reason I never get top dollar. That said, KEH is offering me a pretty fair amount, so I think I will end up doing it that way.

You should be able to easily beat the KEH price by several hundred dollars if you put an ad on Craigslist, if you leave in a reasonably populated area.

Craigslist these days requires a high tolerance for BS and a keen ability to sift through all the scams and bots to get to the occasional sincere inquiry. And the knowledge that they’re going to bring just the cash they want to spend and try to talk you down when they get there.

So then you have to be willing to walk away and try again. After a couple trips to a “neutral site” so scammers don’t know where you live, that gets old.

I’ve done it many times. When I sold my 5D Mark IV about a year ago in the Portland area, it went very smoothly. Of course there were some scambots, but they’re very easy to detect. When you meet a real photographer who wants the equipment, you can tell.

Yes, you have to be willing to walk away and you want to pick a place for meeting which is very safe and public. The first time I used CL, I used a mall that had a coffee shop and also a bank. We agreed that we’d walk to the bank and I’d pay right in front of the teller. No problem. Other times, we just passed cash in a Starbucks.

Every buyer will try to talk you down. That is normal. My advice is you go to KEH and get their “buy” and “sell” prices, and put yourself right in the middle, or just under the middle. Show it to the buyer, if you need, to show you’re giving a very good deal that cannot he had through a reseller. They’ll see that they are saving hundreds while you can just sell it to KEH at the lowball price. You can also bring an accessory alone which perhaps you no longer need, to sweeten the deal. In my case, I brought the battery grip and instead of a lower price, he agreed to pay more to get the grip.. which can be a notoriously difficult accessory to sell by itself. But it could be an extra body cap, spare battery… small gifts go a long way, and if you’re moving to mirrorless, the old grip and body caps won’t have any value to you.

Yes, you’re in a hurry to sell but the buyer is in a hurry to buy. When you’re dealing with a reasonable person who isn’t trying to flip your camera, using a demonstrably reasonable price will always work with a reasonable person. To all others, say no.