Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

A friend of mine lost her husband a couple of years ago and she has come to the point of dissolving his assets. Among them are several Nikon cameras and lenses. There is also some Leica camera equipment. I told her that I would help her by putting everything in its appropriate boxes and trying to sell them here. Being somewhat of a novice when it comes to pricing equipment, I would appreciate advice from my fellow Hoggers as to where I can get approximate values of the equipment that I will list for sale. Is there a website, book, or other source for determining estimated values? We would both appreciate your assistance in this matter. Thanks ahead of time.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Personally, I'd just do a quick check on ebay. They may not be gospel, but it will give you a pretty good idea what other's selling or buying prices are. If you do go to a photo store, inquire as to the fair insurance value to declare, as opposed to selling or purchasing.
--Bob

blackest Loc: Ireland

Ebay sold listings can be a good guide. It is essential to fully identify what you are selling, photo's in focus showing the ends and the markings will also help. I wouldn't want to post big ticket items on ebay. You will get people trying to rip you off.

The local market can be interesting, although I can usually buy cheaper on ebay. I don't mind driving 50, 100 miles for something i want and paying a bit more.

But definitely look at ebays sold listings as a guide to market value. Buyers will as well, you might have to find an ebay seller who will sell on behalf of the owner if you have say 10 seller feedback I wouldn't trust you.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Just make sure you use eBay's "sold" listings under the "advanced" tab and make sure to check the condition of her gear and the sold listing...

repleo Loc: Boston

Bromfield Camera in Boston offer estate appraisals and will buy outright or sell on consignment.

https://www.bromfieldcamera.com/services

They are an old time camera store / Aladdin's Cave right in Downtown Boston. I haven't really dealt with them myself, but they have been there forever and they offered me a pretty decent price on a trade-in I was considering.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Since they are a reseller, they can't compete in their offers as they have to make a profit when reselling the gear. You, since you were getting something from them as a trade in, could be offered a better deal as they had some room to negotiate on the item you wanted. That said, camera stores can be less of a headache when selling gear as there are no shipping costs or other fees to consider.

digit-up Loc: Flushing, Michigan

[quote=Dziadzi]A friend of mine lost her husband a couple of years ago and she has come to the point of dissolving his assets. Among them are several Nikon cameras and lenses.

I had a similar occurrence a couple of years back. I offered to do what I might for the surviving wife of an old friend. He did not have the same BRAND of gear that I do, so I was not the beneficiary of any of the gear. I went to KEH, B&H, Adorama and Ebay, to get a sense of approximate value, with the gear being almost mint, cause that's what most of his stuff was . Anyway, I then posted a lot of the things here on The Hogg. Some of the stuff was highly sought-after, and I asked fellow hoggers to send me a legitimate P.M. offer, The main thing was, I didn't want to "
give away the stuff, cause his widow is not independently wealthy. Many things sold at attractive prices, other things, I accepted what KEH would give me. In the end, everybody was HAPPY. RJM (digit-up)

ricardo7 Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile

KEH.com

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

I sold a camera to KEH. While their prices on used gear are good, what they offer one for used gear is not so much.

d3200prime

After you get an idea of the fair market prices, I would advise you to help her set up a private sale. Notify all the camera clubs, post ad in classifieds, etc. If you have the right stuff photographers will make a way to be at the sale. You should do well for her without much overhead and whats left over can be sold on UHH, ebay, craigslist, etc. Talk it up in the city, community etc. People will turn out for such a good cause and you will be blessed for doing the good work. Oh yes, give a little on prices if you have to. Everyone likes a little discount but don't let the scoundrels have their way. Best of luck on this worthy project and please let us know how it turns out whichever way you decide to go.

tjpratt Loc: Ballard

eBay

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Thanks for all the advice so far from all of you. I just picked up the equipment, and am overwhelmed by how much he had. Starting off with a Nikon D40, D7000, and an F3. Everything is in pristine condition. I am guessing that there are at least 14 Nikon lenses and 4 dozen lens filters. The Leica is an M4-2, with several lenses.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

That, in my opinion, is the best answer.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

One question is how much research are you willing to do? Another is are you comfortable with doing research in the ebay sold listings? A third is how much of a hurry are you in? You have quite a lot of equipment, and each individual piece will need to be researched and priced. Some, although not all of the filters may fetch decent price, but there is not such a big market for filters today.

Sold listings on ebay are a very good source for getting a real market value price, but that would only be if you sell the items privately. Clearly any dealer would need to make a decent margin. Ebay is a good place to sell equipment, but there is a skill in doing it well, and it may take a while since the right buyer needs to show up. Patience may be required, especially for less common items to even appear in the sold listings.

As others have said, do not use the prices asked by people on items that have not actually sold, they are frequently all over the map. Some are ridiculously low to get people interested, some are ludicrously high in the hope that some uninformed individual will pay significantly over the market value.

Good luck.

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Thanks for your questions. I am retired and disabled. I have a lot of time on my hands. I dread the thought of selling on Ebay and would much rather sell to Hoggers here, even at a discount. The most tedious part of the process will be the packaging and shipping.