p.1 #1 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
I'm a long time photography hobbyist and I think it might be time to say goodbye (for now).
I started with Canon in my early days and then completely bought into the Leica system. I love everything about it. However, life happens and I'm looking to fund a project. My camera mostly sits in my office unused until I travel, which is about once or twice a year.
For people who have offloaded a lot of gear - I have 1 body and 6 lenses - what did you do? Did you part each out individually here on the forums or did you sell it all in one time somewhere else?
From my POV:
- I can take everything to a local camera shop and get rid of everything at once but get lowballed (by how much, im not sure) - fastest but lowest return
- take a long time to sell everything piece by piece here on the forums to get maximum used value - longest time but highest return
- by some miracle, someone buys everything on the forum so i don't have to piece it out - risky due to insurance and shipping concerns
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #2 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
banky wrote:
I'm a long time photography hobbyist and I think it might be time to say goodbye (for now).
I started with Canon in my early days and then completely bought into the Leica system. I love everything about it. However, life happens and I'm looking to fund a project. My camera mostly sits in my office unused until I travel, which is about once or twice a year.
For people who have offloaded a lot of gear - I have 1 body and 6 lenses - what did you do? Did you part each out individually here on the forums or did you sell it all in one time somewhere else?
From my POV:
- I can take everything to a local camera shop and get rid of everything at once but get lowballed (by how much, im not sure) - fastest but lowest return
- take a long time to sell everything piece by piece here on the forums to get maximum used value - longest time but highest return
- by some miracle, someone buys everything on the forum so i don't have to piece it out - risky due to insurance and shipping concerns
Since you have all Leica gear, rather than a local shop you might sell to a Leica store or a Leica specialty store like Tamarkin in Chicago. That would probably get you more return than your local store, with no increased risk and it would be very quick. You can always get quotes at MPB, KEH, B & H, and Adorama as well. I would simply start by getting quotes at several of these places and then assessing what you think you would get selling it here. I do think you could sell it here on the B & S board and probably get more money, but it will take a month or two. It is up to you to decide if the extra money is worth the hassle and the slightly higher risk.
p.1 #3 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
Steve Spencer wrote:
Since you have all Leica gear, rather than a local shop you might sell to a Leica store or a Leica specialty store like Tamarkin in Chicago. That would probably get you more return than your local store, with no increased risk and it would be very quick. You can always get quotes at MPB, KEH, B & H, and Adorama as well. I would simply start by getting quotes at several of these places and then assessing what you think you would get selling it here. I do think you could sell it here on the B & S board and probably get more money, but it will take a month or two. It is up to you to decide if the extra money is worth the hassle and the slightly higher risk....Show more →
Thanks for the Tamarkin recommendation. I've reached out.
Good thought on MPB and KEH. I've started that process too. Looks like I'll stand to lose a couple thousand total in exchange for selling all at once. However I'm not considering fees, shipping, etc. At the end of the day, the loss may be less than what I'm thinking.
p.1 #4 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
I would focus on the the smaller, Leica-centric stores. As mentioned, Tamarkin is a good thought. You might also look at Leica Store Miami, Camera West, Popflash, etc.
B&H, MPB, KEH, Adorama et al will offer markedly lower prices.
p.1 #5 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
banky wrote:
From my POV:
- I can take everything to a local camera shop and get rid of everything at once but get lowballed (by how much, im not sure) - fastest but lowest return
- take a long time to sell everything piece by piece here on the forums to get maximum used value - longest time but highest return
- by some miracle, someone buys everything on the forum so i don't have to piece it out - risky due to insurance and shipping concerns
Would appreciate some feedback here.
You got it figured out. It basically comes down to convenience and timeliness of sale vs maximum return.
If you go the DIY route, the M11-P, 28, 35, and 50 will sell fairly easily here. But best to offer things individually for sale and also offer a bundle discount.
p.1 #6 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
I would reach out to a few places get an estimate for selling then check out the prices they are reselling them for. The make a listing at about the midway point here, I bet you could sell most of this in a week and make just one trip to the shipping center etc. You might also get lucky and someone local could come by.
p.1 #8 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
You could also try reaching out to someone who sells a ton of Leica like Tim Lei and see if he’s interested in buying or selling on consignment for you and compare that to what quotes you get from MPB, etc if selling it direct on FM doesn’t work out.
p.1 #9 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
it's a great kit for someone who is first wanting to get into Leica. I'd put it all up on FM buy/sell and indicate that you'd entertain a discount to someone buying the entire package.
p.1 #10 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
RustyRus wrote:
Sell it here on the FM buy sell board-
Couldn't be easier and you will get the most money!
If it's time sensitive (or if you just aren't feeling patient), you could list it all here for a set amount of time and after that sell remains to a dealer.
p.1 #11 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
I agree with everything people have suggested so far.
From my experience, the FM buy&sell board is the best place to sell online. Avoid ebay at all cost!
If you have the time, and are willing to deal with a significant amount of unserious people (to put it politely), and live in a larger metropolitan area, facebook marketplace can also work. I have gotten pretty good prices on there, and with cash/venmo only and no shipping, there is less risk than selling it online. Also no shipping hassle. Obviously you have to meet in a safe place.
p.1 #12 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
In my experience selling here vs MPB et all is likely going to be in the thousands of dollars of difference. Look at recent sales of comparable equipment and take at least 20-30% off. That's what you'd likely get from an online reseller. I think your best bet is to list them all together (individually) and indicate how much of a discount you'd be willing to package the lot together. The stuff you have should have a very healthy market and I wouldn't expect it to sit long at a reasonable price. There's almost always someone looking to dip into the M system for the first time and that's a really nice setup so you may just get lucky there.
p.1 #13 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
banky wrote:
I'm a long time photography hobbyist and I think it might be time to say goodbye (for now).
I started with Canon in my early days and then completely bought into the Leica system. I love everything about it. However, life happens and I'm looking to fund a project. My camera mostly sits in my office unused until I travel, which is about once or twice a year.
For people who have offloaded a lot of gear - I have 1 body and 6 lenses - what did you do? Did you part each out individually here on the forums or did you sell it all in one time somewhere else?
From my POV:
- I can take everything to a local camera shop and get rid of everything at once but get lowballed (by how much, im not sure) - fastest but lowest return
- take a long time to sell everything piece by piece here on the forums to get maximum used value - longest time but highest return
- by some miracle, someone buys everything on the forum so i don't have to piece it out - risky due to insurance and shipping concerns
p.1 #14 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
Appreciate the feedback, guys. I have a healthy seller profile here on the FM boards so I know what I'm in for. I think I will stop being lazy and put it up here on the FM boards. Just need to do some research on past selling prices.
p.1 #16 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
carstenw wrote:
I wouldn't personally go MBP, they low-ball gear quite dramatically and haunt you forever.
funny you say that, i started to get quotes from all the online places and they were the 2nd lowest. BH has so far come in at the lowest and never heard from adorama.
p.1 #18 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
Most of my Leica gear was purchased used or demo from Popflash. Whem I upgrade I send the old model to them for a consignment sale. They are good folk to deal with.
p.1 #19 · Leaving the hobby. Need opinions on offloading all my gear
Try FM first. I've sold a bunch of gear here and you'll get way more $$ than going to any store.
A store will give you maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of what you could get for it selling privately.
I just sold a TTA 28 5.6 privately for $220. The best any store would offer me was $30!
I was offered $800 for my M4-2 when I sold it for about $2k.
