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Thread: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!

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    Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    Hi All -

    I have a 17-55mm lenses that I bought in Feb. 2010. It has seen very, very minimal usage and is in A-1 perfect condition. I talked on the phone today with a rep froma camera store that we pretty much all do business with & I asked about trading it for a used E+ lens they have for sale. I paid $1,060 for my lens but he said that tops he would give me $700 for it if it is in as good condition as I say it is. I have everything it came with, even the box that doesn't even look like it was ever opened! Isn't that quite a hit for a lens less than a year old? The lens I was going to purchase was selling for over $1,000 and has a date code of 1992!


    I also lost quite a few $$$ on my 300mm f/4 when I sold it out right myself and it was only a couple months old. So I guess to say glass holds it's value ...I'm not quite sure what that means. If it is less than a year old what percentage should I expect to lose? If it's 5 years old?

    Denise

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    Senior Member clemmb's Avatar
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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    Looks like KEH would give you $533 according to their website calculator. They have to be able to turn a decent profit on your lens so they are not going to give you as much as a private sale would bring you. Usually when I have looked at buying used, the asking price is high enough i would prefer just buying new. I guess you just have to be a t the right place at the right time.


    Mark
    Mark

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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    I guess. Maybe in the short term you lose it but in the long term it holds it

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    Senior Member Trowski's Avatar
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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    Camera stores will never give you nearly as much as you could get selling the lens yourself since they need to pay for their overhead. If you want to get a good value for you lens, you
    - Trowski

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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    Trowski - I fully understand and agree with what you are saying. I guess it was just an initial sticker shock when he said the $700. I was hoping I would get $900 for it since I was buying another lens (with markup) from them.


    On ebay, I get tired of the ones that try to scam me so this weekend I put a camcorder on my local craigslist and sure enough ...someone wanted me to give them my paypal address and they would send me a mailing label for their relative that lives out of state. So, even craigslist isn

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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    If you

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    Senior Member neuroanatomist's Avatar
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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    Quote Originally Posted by ddt0725
    Maybe in the short term you lose it but in the long term it holds it's value better.

    Exactly. Sort of like the stock market - more of a long term investment (although the reasons are different). With the better lenses, they continue to be produced for years, and prices rise with inflation. In fact, Canon is hitting us with another increase right now. Simple - you buy a lens, and the longer you have it, the higher the retail price goes.


    Here's one example - EF 24-70 f/2.8L,which is selling new for $1300 and has been for several months. Used copiesseem to go for around $1000 right now.So, if you bought it last year, you be looking at a loss of 23%. But, say you'd bought it exactly three years ago. In Jan, 2008 there was an $80 rebate on the lens, bringing the cost for a brand new copy down to around $1050. Selling it today for the going rate, you'd take a $50 loss after getting three years use from the lens.

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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    Don't forget to consider fred miranda for selling the lens. They have a huge buying pool and a lens like that will most likely sell in just a couple hours, assuming you list it at a comparable value to similar lenses. I would imagine $850-890. The website doesn't charge any fees for the sale and it is somewhat common for the sellers to list items for sale and have buyers add 3% for paypal if that is how they pay. So you would get 100% of what you sell it for. I'm pretty sure there is a membership fee to be able to post items for sale (though not to purchase items as this is all I have done so far), but I don't think the fee is too much.


    I hope this helps some. If the day comes that I want to sell a several hundred dollar camera item I will most likely use them. I have used them a few times for buying stuff already.


    Braden

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    Senior Member freelanceshots's Avatar
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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    I sold my 17-55 IS lens on ebay 2 years ago and netted 700 something after the ebay fee and paypal fee. I had the lens hood with it as well. I was just glad to get rid of it but I lost a good chunk of change in the sale. Bought the 16-35II where I will own this lens for my entire lifetime. Popular, must have vocal length L-lenses will have a higher demands advertised on the bigger forums say like photo.net


    I try and never use Ebay anymore as their fees have gotten so high and then there is paypal.


    When the economies good and people have extra money to spend then used lens prices are higher. Since the economies been in the pooper not a good time to sell.

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    Re: Lenses hold their value? I'm beginning to wonder!



    Denise, I want to add one more thing ----- the price you purchased ------- is in the higher range, I have seen the price was at least $100 lesser.( that was just 3-4 months ago)


    for those who bought 70-200 2.8 II for $2500, most likely they will lose money when they sell it no matter what. but usually those people don

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