Originally Posted by ddt0725
Well there's your first problem right there. I see this issue pop up all the time when people try to sell something. What you paid for something should never factor into it at all.
Imagine if I bought a lens a few months ago, right after the prices jumped from $900 to $1000 because of the earthquake and tsunami. Then the price dropped back to $900 and Canon added a $150 rebate, dropping the brand-new price $750. If I tried to sell it for 80% of what I paid for it ($800), I would get laughed out of the marketplace because that's $50 more than the just buying it brand new. On the other hand, if I sold it now for 70% of the current new price, that would be 50% of what I paid just a few months ago.
Personally, I only pay a maximum of 70% of the new value, because anything less than a 30% discount is not worth the hassle and risk of buying used. But with a little patience you can usually find buyers who will pay 80% (or more) of the new value.
You have to learn to forget entirely about what you paid for something and think only about what its value is right now.
Now, of course you're always going to have low-ball offers, even if you try to warn them off in the posting. They're hoping that you're desperate enough to sell quickly. They could even turn right around and resell your lens at the normal going price (by waiting long enough). So just ignore them.
Another issue that tends to trip up sellers is over-valuing the accessories. To me, as a buyer, protection filters are completely worthless. Same with warranties, tripod collars, etc. If you don't want to include them for free, sell them separately (probably for a steeper used discount than the lens, because they usually do not hold their value as well).
Here's what I suggest: find the last 5 completed sales of your lens, excluding the outliers (broken, scratched, moldy, etc.) and average the price. What you wont see is what it *really* sold for -- some of the sellers may have accepted a lower offer than their listing price.
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