[Closed] Selling camera gear

Talk Photography is a good start although you have to post a few times before you get access to the classifieds section.

You could also try somewhere like MPB but you won’t make as much there as you would private sale.

To be honest eBay is pretty much the default option for achieving the market rate. My default way of shifting decent gear is to look at the sold prices and choose a price somewhere near the top end (condition taken into account etc) and stick it on as a buy it now with an option for people to make offers.

You could look at Facebook Marketplace too. I generally list prices a little lower than eBay given the lack of selling fees etc. The 1D (assuming it's the original first gen) and 7D are not worth much these days although they are capable cameras - I'd be tempted to hold onto the 7D in particular and maybe the 1D also. The R and the R6 are very nice cameras indeed and with the lenses you should be looking at mid-high 4 figures all in.

Exactly as above. Ebay will get you the most money.

I would recommend ebay too. Just be careful about batteries for the cameras and shipping.

It is the go to, you will get market rate prices, those lenses will be popular.

Recently sold some oly m4/3rds bodies and lenses, got bang on what I expected.

Thanks for tips so far. I use eBay quite a bit for buying low value items and have sold a few things of moderate value, but with high-value items like these my main concern would be avoiding the scammers, which is why I wasn't keen to go that route. Guess I shall just have to buckle up and stay sharp...

There is a Canon Camera Selling Group on Facebook but they do try to hammer the prices down. I use them for smaller stuff. I have sold via eBay but that 10% suddenly seems a lot when you sell £4k of stuff. Its the price of the huge marketplace they have access to.

@maccyb - just look at buyer feedback and don't be afraid of dropping any bidders a message and engage in some small talk and try and get a feel for them. Doesn't always work but no harm in it.

Just make sure you document the shipping photos of it working before boxing it up etc. I've taken to shooting a short video of the item working and using the buyers name in the vid along the lines of 'quick video for Boris showing it all working' etc. Don't skimp on packaging and only send fully insured.

If you get a funny feeling through the process just walk.

Don’t skimp on packaging and only send fully insured.

This x10, and make sure the carrier doesn't exclude lenses etc.

Just to echo what others have said, if you want the best price then eBay works very well, especially for Canon L lenses (usually white) which are always sought after and hold value really well. I sold a Canon EOS 100-400 L lens some time ago - at the time you could get it for £1100 new if you shopped around. I used it for 3 years, including a year travelling - at one point I dropped it and broke part of the mechanism. I had it professionally mended and then eventually decided to eBay it, sold for £900 even with the full details of the repair on the listing. Bear in mind assuming your 100-400 is the L lens, there is a Mk 2 version now which has improved a lot on the original, so the value of mk 1 versions has dropped a fair bit.
Camera bodies might not go so well as it depends on number of exposures and age, and new / better versions come out very regularly.
As others have said good packaging and fully insured delivery is a must.
I have bought from mpb.com before and found them very good, have heard that they offer fairly good prices if you want an alternative.

Surprised nobody has mentioned https://www.ffordes.com/     I've used them in the past for hassle free transactions but maybe they won't be offering the best prices.

I'm a photographer by trade and I ended up using MPB to swap from nikon>sony last year

Their condition ratings exactly matched mine that I quoted with which I all felt were ver fair

I just couldn't be bothered with doing it another way. It helps that it was all purchased under my business though so I essentially thinking very broad term don't get financially hit by a loss (it's still taxable income though! - selling the equipment - disposed asset)

After all the faff and time and worry I didn't have to go through I think they're/were very reasonably priced. The whole process took about 60 minutes of my contact time including cleaning, doing the online stuff, packaging, using their pre arranged couriers etc. Their payment was pretty immediate

Selling stuff to a known retailer such as those mentioned above certainly has merit. You will generally be looking at getting between 50-70% of the price you would doing it privately however you will be safe in the knowledge that you will get paid and never hear from the buyer again so completely hassle free.

Depends if you are trying to maximise value or just get rid...

Second mpb.com

I've use MBP to flog old kit twice, and on both occaisions they were superb. They agreed with my condition ratings, and in both cases they offered more than ebay prices. I'd imagine ebay prices may be better on rarer/more desirable items.

They are very quick and hassle-free, with insured shipping paid for by them. If you decide not to take up their offers they will just ship things back to you.

I would use ebay to get an idea of what things are actually selling for (not what people are asking for them!), and get a quotation from MBP before listing them. If they offer you enough you can get rid of the whole lot with less hassle than selling individually on ebay, but if you don't like the offer you can always list them anyway.

Another vote for mob.com You may not make as much as you do on eBay .... but you might. I have sold on ebay for less than mpb offered me.

Do you still have the boxes for the kit stored away? It makes a difference to the selling price. I've told my wife that in the event I kick off, she should get the boxes we have in storage and match them up with the kit before selling them. Macabre joke - "photographers - don't get Covid - your wife will sell your gear for the price you told her you paid for it".

I've no experience selling, but I recently bought a used SLR through London Camera Exchange and found them very efficient and professional to deal with.

You don't mention whether there's anyone else with an interest in the estate, but if there's any chance of your wife's siblings coming back to complain that you undersold them or were in cahoots with any unscrupulous buyer, I'd be wary of having sold privately via ebay / facebook marketplace - at least going to dealers you can show that you got three offers and sold to the highest...

Thanks again all - will see what MPB offer and compare that to eBay valuations (I've had plenty of practice working out 'real' valuations based on previous sales rather than hopeful sellers pie-in-the-sky prices so should get a good balance there).

I have boxes for the more recent bodies and the big lenses, which is good news.

The siblings are very much of the 'you sort it out, send us a cheque when it's done' mentality so I'm not anticipating there being much risk there, but you make a good point.

As mentioned a few times, try MPB or London Camera Exchange. A Canon Facebook selling page would be a good idea too. If you sell as a job lot on Facebook you will get asked to split so bear that in mind. eBay is a minefield and the fees are ridiculous. Only ever sell on that site when they do the 1% offer on fees. Always insure it for the full value, taking pictures pre-packed and post packed to save any arguments.
MPB are the best, they will collect etc but you will get a little less than actual value BUT it saves time and hassle, bit like We Buy Any Car if you know what I mean.
Prices are better if trading in too.

I've found MBP and Talk Photography classifieds to be excellent and eBay to be a total pain, so much so that I've stopped using it.

Just to update - MPB have just made a sizeable bank transfer into my account - they were indeed helpful, quick and didn't mess around with making judgements on the condition of the kit (it helped that my late FiL took exceptional care of his cameras so most were almost mint). Yes, I could probably have got more on eBay but the amount of hassle saved was well worth the decreased profit (and one transaction going sour on eBay could have wiped out the difference)

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

@maccyb - excellent news. To be honest I've sold a fair few bits of nice hifi and I've just got my local hifi shop (I know the guys there well) to shift on. I get a price I am happy with and move the risk onto them of having to deal with idiots and they make a bit as well. Everyone goes away happy 🙂

Cool!