xiphios wrote:
......Upon receipt of the equipment Adorama stated that they would pay only 70% of their quote because they needed to make a profit! After several telephone interactions, they would pay approximately what they first offered. I refused and had them return my equipment.....
Again, IF you really care about protecting the future interests of other photographers, emailing me directly: Helen@adorama.com with information that can assist me in identifying the culprit in the used department, will be considerably more effective than posting here.
Thank you. I very much look forward to hearing from you: Helen@adorama.com
For future reference for anyone thinking of selling to Adorama; the used department get upwards of 1,800 pieces sent in for evaluation every week........that's a LOT of used gear (there are around 26-27,000 used pieces in our warehouse right now!) The way the value is established is by using a calculation which takes into account the number of exact same units (of the same grade) in the warehouse at the time of your trade; the average number of that exact same unit in stock over the past 6 months; the average selling price of the unit over the past 6 months and projected decreases in the pre-owned market in the coming months due to new models becoming available. That gives them the value.
Then they offer up to 70% of that figure, (to cover shipping, insurance, staffing, advertising, the warranty (which for most items is 6 months), warehousing costs; plus the costs of shipping and insurance in to Adorama for evaluation, and shipping back if the offer is not acceptable - AND the boss expects them to turn a profit).
Of course, a final figure can only be given once they have had the opportunity to physically appraise gear. They send out a pre-paid shipping label so units can be sent in for a thorough evaluation fully insured at no cost to the seller! And as you know, if no price can be agreed, there is the cost of returning the gear to the seller.
They generally need to arrange for at least 2 (and sometimes 3) highly-skilled technicians to examine and test pieces, and maybe carry out basic servicing to see if minor issues can be fixed fairly easily.
Finally and this is important the selling prices on the website can only be a ROUGH guide if you are trying to figure out how much the used department might be able to pay you for your gear.
Each time new models are released, the overall market tends to soften. Pre-owned units will usually drop in value, but Used will still be looking to sell existing pre-owned stock (which may have been warehoused and therefore costing revenue for days, weeks or months) without making too great a loss on the price originally paid out.
In my personal experience, (and this isnt an official statement from Used!) while you will be offered 70% of the current expected selling price unless you are selling a genuine collectors' piece you possibly shouldn't expect to receive more than 55-65% of the price you see on the website.
BTW negotiation can be a factor if you are trading up, or if you are confident enough to insist that your gear is returned if the offer isnt raised by an amount you feel is reasonable. But this may not be a route for the faint-hearted! At the end of the day, if there are 40 almost identical units in the warehouse and demand has fallen in relation to supply, they will take you at your word and ship it straight back
This was supposed to be a brief note I hope I havent sent you to sleep!
Helen