What's the ball-park on this one?

motleypixel · Joined: 12 May 2010 Posts: 135 Location: Austin, TX USA

Folks,

Considering selling my most unique lens (of which I've put a lot of work machining a mount to accept EOS bodies along with a Tokina 7-element doubler): http://www.flickr.com/photos/motleypixel/sets/72157625159796808/

Mr. North reviewed my lens here: http://www.rokkorfiles.com/800mm.html

I see the more common black version here for almost $1900 OBO (seems a little high): http://cgi.ebay.com/Minolta-MD-1-8-800-mm-RF-Rokkor-/350474109139?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item5199e280d3

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Roy Niswanger

WolverineX · Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:00 pm Post subject:

depends on the condition of the lens, if it's mint condition it should fetch a hefty sum, especially because of it's rarity in the market

aoleg · Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 1387 Location: Berlin, DE

My guess is around $1200-1500, but it might just go as high as $1800. You never know. I think it's better to auction it on eBay with a reasonably high starting price; the highest bidder will determine the price.

motleypixel · Joined: 12 May 2010 Posts: 135 Location: Austin, TX USA

I think I'll work on the eBay auction and start it at $999 and see what happens. Thanks.

ChromaticAberration · Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 819 Location: Portugal

Or you can always use the "reserve" feature where you set the minimum price you wish to let it go for.

Start very low, set your minimum and let things happen. Even if you don't sell it at first, you will get an idea to what extent the bidders are currently going for for such a lens.

No point setting an auction for a lot of days since I can bet 90% of the bids will happen in the last hours and that is where the interesting bidding wars will happen.

martyn_bannister · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 1151

ChromaticAberration · Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 819 Location: Portugal

Well as far as I know almost everything you do on eBay requires fee paying, I believe only very risky auctions are free of charge until the end and that obviously includes auctions starting at 0.99 hehe

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

I would check the up-front eBay fees as well. As I recall, eBay has changed its fee structures recently, where the emphasis is on back-loading, rather than front-loading the fees. That is, minimal fees to place the ad, then they rake in the dough once the items sells.

Something I've never really understood is the notion of keeping a reserve price secret. I've asked sellers about this before and they haven't been able to articulate a reasonable sounding answer. I used to think it was very important that I kept my reserve prices secret way back when I first started selling on eBay. I don't anymore. If I place a reserve price on an item, I will announce what it is in the auction's text. This has worked well in my auctions where I use reserves nowadays.

And yes, I would be inclined to do the reserve thing with a low opening bid rather than have a high first bid. It's a psychological thing, even if they know what the reserve is.

motleypixel · Joined: 12 May 2010 Posts: 135 Location: Austin, TX USA

You know another thing that's odd is just people Shocked

I'm always shocked to see an item that opens at $1, has no reserve, and they bid, and bid, and bid.

I would really be curious to see what would happen on a 10 day auction with opening bid $1 and no reserve on this lens. See these are the auctions that as a seller are the auctions I like best. I like stirring up pot, getting some attention, it's what I would rather do here.

-Roy

pat donnelly · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:57 am Post subject:

Technically, to make $$ on eBay you need two bidders! Laughing

Therefore, the unsuccessful bidder sets the price ...... Cool

A feeling we all know, only too well!!!

Embarassed

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

I really wouldn't worry. I always start items at pretty much zero and don't set a reserve. There are millions of people out there looking for lenses on ebay, so you'd need to really balls the listing up for it not to attract a very high final selling price.

RioRico · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:28 pm Post subject:

I also start bidding very low, with no reserve. I have been surprised by items that I paid little or nothing for, and that I list with a starting price of US$1, selling for well over US$100. A few lenses did NOT do well and I took painful losses. But my profit margin for the last year is near 100%. This leads me to trust the free market for lenses.

I suspect that many eBay buyers are bottom-feeders, looking for the lowest prices. *I* certainly am! I browse lenses under US$10. And sometime I am lucky. But low starting prices *do* attract attention.

I might not start pricing at near zero if I had to make my living by selling on eBay. It would make sense to set a starting price near what I had paid for it, and not accept losses. It is also possible to end an auction 12+ hours early if the bids seem insufficient. But that is always a risk, both to lost opportunity, and to reputation. And I'll start valuable items very low if I expect that they will be bid up to a price that will make me happy.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Well, even though I mentioned a reserve above, I almost never use one. About the only time I will is if I feel the item won't attract a lot of attention.

And I used to be a solid supporter of setting a low auction price on an item and let bidders take care of the rest. Made a lot of money that way. Until a virtually unused EOS Elan II went for $20 last year. Now, that hurt. And some lenses just don't attract much attention. Like say a mf Vivitar 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5 in Canon FD or Minolta MD mount. Or these little Achiever or Promaster or Nissin flashes that always seem to be at the bottom of a camera bag when you buy an outfit. I have four right now. So I'll pretty much set a price that I hope to get for the item as the opening bid, otherwise somebody will be picking it up for a dollar or so. And even then I might have to relist it several times.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

Michael, it must hurt selling an item you treasure for such a small amount. But film cameras have not held their value (in the main). Most lenses have, and this one will sell for a lot, I'm sure!

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Well, you're probably correct, Graham. It just seems to me that eBay's higher ticket buyers are a lot thinner on the ground than they used to be. I certainly hope things go well for Roy, of course.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Yup, the people willing to pay higher ticker are not using ebay so much now, too many got burned.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

Sellers with decent feedback will still get the best prices on ebay. I've only seen final prices rising in the past two years.

ChromaticAberration · Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 819 Location: Portugal

Starting low is always risky business, with an item like this if bidders wouldn't come out on time one could loose a lot of money.

Keeping a secret reserve price makes perfect sense to me, bidders will loose the chance of sniping in the last seconds to get win over the top bidder in the last breath of the auction. The trick I believe is to get the right reserve price set i order for the item to get sold even with "bottom-feaders" (which I am too!).

If eBay is a bit risky why not advertise it somewhere else where the simple act doesn't require fee payment? Try specialty stores. Try online forums like this. Who knows maybe there is someone very passionate for this type of stuff that will be buying it from you just for adding a new item to his hall of fame hehe