Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART
Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission on items priced at $1,000 or more. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price is $1000 (or less for a $50 flat-fee). If you are interested, please scroll down here to read the terms. Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice only to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past years, we have sold many hundreds of items. Do know that prices for used gear only go in one direction. Down. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.
Please read the Items for Sale Info below. To avoid any misunderstandings, please read the whole thing very carefully. If you agree to the terms, please state so clearly via e-mail and include the template or templates, one for each item you wish to sell. Then we can work together to get your stuff priced and listed.
Used Gear Realities
In the Canon, Nikon, & SONY: One New Listing and Lots of Slashed Prices! blog post here, there were 14 price-dropped items. Seven of those items, exactly half, sold in a single day. Those sales resulted in $13,171.90 (less the shipping) in the pockets of the sellers. In all cases, the sale prices were greater than what the major used gear buyers (the big camera retailers) were paying. In some cases, the big re-sellers would not have paid one penny for the item. And most importantly, without the price drops, the sellers would have garnered zero dollars.
Do understand that with the world switching to mirrorless, prices for Canon camera bodies and Nikon cameras and lenses have been dropping precipitously. When a new version of a lens becomes available, prices for previous versions drop like lead balloons. Note to all: your gear is not worth as much as you think, especially the older, much heavier super-telephoto lenses. With folks flocking to SONY in droves, the supply of Canon and Nikon gear is up and the demand is way down.
I do understand the each of us would like to get the highest possible prices for our used gear. But often, the best policy is to sell the item asap so that it is not sitting on a shelf when they put you in a box. The BAA Used Gear Page is visited regularly by lots of folks with money to spend looking for good deals. But they will pinch pennies. I will do my very best to help you price your item to sell at a fair price, a price that will attract buyers and get the item sold fairly quickly.
Used Gear Cautions
Though I am not in a position to post images of gear for sale here or elsewhere, prospective buyers are encouraged to request photos of the gear that they are interested in purchasing via e-mail. Doing so will help to avoid any misunderstandings as to the condition of the gear. Sellers are advised to photograph their used gear with care against clean backgrounds so that the stuff is represented accurately and in the best light; please pardon the pun :). If the condition or functioning of an item is mis-represented, the seller agrees to refund the purchase price in full upon receipt of the item. That has happened only once in several thousand transactions and I was able to broker a price reduction that satisfied both parties.
The Check Must Clear
Folks selling used gear should check with their banks to ensure that the check has cleared before shipping the item (unless other payment options were used). All Used Gear Page transactions are based on the honor system. New folks often ask, What guarantee do I have that the seller will actually ship the item after cashing my check?. Though rarely necessary, you can always ask for a business reference or a website address. If the seller is shown as an IPT veteran or a BAA-friend, you can be 100% sure that the seller is legitimate. To date, 100% of the folks receiving payment for an item have delivered it as promised.
Important Note for Sellers on Cashier’s Checks
Do understand that getting a cashier’s check for your gear is no guarantee of anything. You need to get the check to the bank asap. Years ago I “sold” an EOS 1D Mark III for $3,000 to a guy in California. I tried Fed Ex collect. The driver handed the camera to the guy. The guy handed him what appeared to be a Bank of North America teller’s check. When we brought the check to BONA they said, Sorry, it’s phony. I followed up with the Lake Wales police. They got in touch with the police in the guy’s home town. They did nothing.
I was out $3,000. Getting a cashier’s check for your gear is no guarantee of anything.
Items for Sale Info
Please read everything below very carefully — especially #4. Then, if and only if you agree to the terms, please state so clearly via e-mail and include the template or templates, one for each item you wish to sell. Then we can work together to get your stuff priced and listed.
A day or two after your gear is listed, please check the Used Gear Page here to make sure that I have copied your listing from the blog post in which it appeared to the Used Gear Page.
Please check recent sales of your item or items on the Used Gear Page here to get realistic idea of what your gear might be worth. Many folks dream of pie-in-the-sky sale prices. I deal in reality. Please understand that e-Bay prices are bogus. And the same is true of the prices of used gear at the major camera retailers (including my dear friends at B&H) and the other mega-outfits. They offer you pennies and then try to sell the stuff to ignorant folks for ridiculously high prices. With their huge international exposure, they occasionally find someone …
If you agree to the terms, please state so explicitly and fill out a template or templates — one for each item, as below, and shoot it to me via e-mail. Please be complete. If you opt not to agree to the terms, I wish you the best of luck with selling your used gear.
Here are the details and terms regarding the sale of used photo equipment through BIRDS AS ART:
1-The minimum commissionable asking price is $1000/item. If you wish to sell an item priced at less than $1000, the fee will be $50. As BAA sells the following items new, please note that the sale of used tripods, tripod heads, and Think Tank rolling bags require the payment of a $75 fee per item.
2- If and when the item sells, the seller agrees to pay BAA a 5% brokerage fee based on the original asking price. (The average brokerage fee with other re-sellers is in the 13-20% range.) The fee is based on the original asking price to encourage folks to price their equipment to sell from the get-go. Payment will be by check or by PayPal +4% to birdsasart@verizon.net. If by PayPal, please indicate Payment for Used Gear Fee.
3-The seller will–by e-mail–provide BAA with the name, description, and condition of the item, the asking price, any additional conditions of sale, and a valid e-mail address. Day, evening, and/or cell phone numbers are optional.
Please let me know if you have the original product box and please be sure to note all of the items that are included in the sale. Those might include the front and rear lens caps, front lens covers, lens bags or trunks, CDs, cables, manuals, the original product box, and anything else that came in it that you are including. If you are including other items with the sale such as a LensCoat, a lens plate, or a low foot, or anything else, be sure to note those also and be sure to note the manufacturer and the product name and number as well.
Note: All BAA Used Gear sales must include the cost of insured ground shipping via UPS or Fed-Ex to lower 48 US addresses only. Shipping is always paid by the seller. If shipping elsewhere, the seller should charge only the difference between shipping to the farthest US location from their home and the charge to a non-lower-48 address.
4-If the seller decides not to sell the item after I have done the price research but before it is listed, the seller agrees to pay a commission equal to 4% of the current B&H (low-ball) offer. If the item is listed and the seller accepts a price lower than the original asking price, the 5% commission shall be based on the original asking price. If the seller decides to withdraw the item or sells it to a buyer found independently, the seller agrees to pay a commission equal to 4% of the original asking price. If an item fails to sell after one year, the seller may opt to de-list the item and pay a nominal fee of $25.00.
Item 4 is in place as a good deal of work (not to mention my extensive knowledge of current gear prices) is required to come up with a price that is both fair to the seller and attractive to potential buyers.
5-If you make contact with a buyer and sell them the listed item, and then sell them additional items, you agree to pay the fees noted above: 5% on sales more than $1000, and $50 for items less than $1000.00 even though such sales were never listed on the Used Gear Page. All transactions here are based on the honor system.
6-BAA will list items for sale as soon as possible in a single blog post and on the Used Gear Page. Please let me know of pending and final sales asap via e-mail.
If you wish to proceed after reading everything above carefully, please see the lens and camera body condition info below and let me know the condition of each item. And please remember to e-mail me when the sale of your item is pending or completed.
Lens Condition
Are there any dings or scratches or blemishes anywhere on the lens finish? Any dents anywhere? Does the lens mount show signs or wear?
“Good” condition means really beat up.
“Very good” condition means pretty bad.
“Excellent” means very nice with a very few small dings on the lens finish and little signs of wear on the lens mount.
“Excellent Plus” means one or two barely visible blemishes on the body of the lens and minor wear on the lens mount.
“Near-mint” means no dings and no wear on the lens mount with no signs of wear anywhere. You can barely tell that the lens has been used.
“Like-new” means that it looks as if you had just taken it out of the box.
Camera Body Condition
Doe the camera body finish look worn?
Does the body have any dings, scratches, or dents?
Does the top or rear LCD screen have any scratches or blemishes?
Is either screen cracked?
Is the camera in perfect working condition?
“Good” condition means really beat up.
“Very good” condition means pretty bad.
“Excellent” means very nice with a very few small dings on the body and only a few very fine, almost invisible scratches on the two LCDs.
“Excellent Plus” means one or two barely visible dings on the body while the LCDs are very close to perfect.
“Near-mint” means no dings and no wear on the camera body with the LCDs pretty much perfect. You can barely tell that it has been used.
“Like-new” means that it looks as if you just took it out of the box.
If possible, let me know the number of actuations.
Getting Your Gear Priced and Listed
Once I hear from you on the condition of your items or items and receive your template or templates, I will get back to you on price. The faster you get back to me and pay attention to your e-mails, the faster we can get the stuff listed and sold.
If you are OK with the terms, above please fill out a template (one for each item) as below by over-typing, adapting, or using it as a guide. Please be sure to list all extras and include product names and numbers and a link to each item that did not come with your original purchase. That way I know what we are trying to sell.
Please send your template or templates either in an e-mail or attached in a single MS Word file. Please do not send an MS Word file for each item. Please do not send a PDF as I am unable to cut and paste from those.
Here is your sample template:
(Your name) is offering a (complete name of the used item being offered for sale) in (fill this in please or e-mail for help) condition for (suggested or possible price). The sale includes the (list everything as noted above and as applicable): rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the original tough front lens cover, the lens strap, the original product box, anything else, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only.
Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact (your first name here) via e-mail at (your e-mail address here) or by phone at 1-your #) (your time zone).
Best and thanks and later and love, artie
