Why is KEH offering so low for a 400 2.8

Hi
I got an online quote from KEH on a Nikon Lens I own, practically new, (3years old) Its a Nikon 400 2.8 top of the line, I paid like $12,000 for it.
Yet, on their site they are saying its worth only around $1700 at most.  
Any thoughts?
thanks
James

Talk to Amazon

This page shows higher prices than you state:

https://www.keh.com/sell/catalogsearch/ ... 00+f2.8+AF

I will take a look.. Even the prices I see now still seem rather low for such a beautiful piece of glass

After good experiences I have had over the years, my recent offers from them have been lowball insults and they even tried to convince me that there is such a thing as a AF-S 500 f/4G VR2 - there isn't, never was. Their reasoning for a lowball offer was that it wasn't the VR2 - no such designated lens was ever produced by Nikon. It looks like they are now looking for around a 100 to 200% resale markup compared to the 50% they used to do. You are still going to get the most money on eBay but it is a major pain...

my recent experience with them has me looking for other sales avenues

James,

Call Brandon at Allen's Camera and tell him you're a friend of mine. See what they can offer you. I think they'd give more in trade than a straight sale but perhaps not.

+1 for Brandon but he likes to offer store credit rather than cash

Other than perhaps needing money in a hurry, why would anyone sell their gear to a store or business? You will never get the full value of an item since they need to turn around and sell it for a profit. Typically you will get somewhere between 50% to 65% of the actual street value. Why wouldn't you just place it in your local classifieds and sell it yourself privately. I have sold tons of items (both camera and non-camera) through our local online classifieds and always get a fairly quick and fair sale. And I am in a much smaller market than you are.

I have had decent success selling things through Artie Morris/Birds As Art. He takes a cut but not that much and his market of course is serious bird photographers who use big glass.

Tim, what online classifieds do you recommend? You mean like the online classified from the local newspaper? Or do you mean things like kijiji and craigslist?

Roberta Olenick
www.neverspook.com

neverspook wrote:Tim, what online classifieds do you recommend? You mean like the online classified from the local newspaper? Or do you mean things like kijiji and craigslist?

Roberta Olenick
http://www.neverspook.com

Over here Used Victoria is very popular and extremely busy. I always put items I am selling on both Used Victoria and Craigslist. Most of my sales have been through Used Victoria, but Craigslist offers a larger audience. I have sold hundreds of items that way and never had any issues. There are no shipping hassles and you get paid cash

Thanks, Tim.

"I have had decent success selling things through Artie Morris/Birds As Art."

This is surprising as that forum is rather stagnent.

dougc wrote:"I have had decent success selling things through Artie Morris/Birds As Art."

This is surprising as that forum is rather stagnent.

Looks like most of the original folks are gone; Artie is the only one left looks like.

I sold my camera not through his forum but through his blog.

Roberta Olenick
www.neverspook.com

Too funny! I got this in an e-mail from KEH today:

And how can they prove you get 10% more unless they gave you an estimate for the same piece of gear yesterday... That's complete BS marketing in my opinion.

E.J. Peiker wrote:And how can they prove you get 10% more unless they gave you an estimate for the same piece of gear yesterday...  That's complete BS marketing in my opinion.

It took me a little while to understand this "generous" offer. The key is "up to 10%". Underneath that is explained how those 10% are composed: 5% more than what you never knew you would get before, and another 5% on top of that if you intend to turn that money right back to KEH for a purchase.

I recently did buy a used Sony 28-70 for my idle sitting a7 from them for a little under $300 and must say that it was a good deal. It's in mint condition although the description said it has minor scratches; I didn't find any. I just feel bad for that poor seller who dished out almost $500 for it and got $100 or $150 for it not long - judging from it's condition - after the purchase.

dougc wrote:"I have had decent success selling things through Artie Morris/Birds As Art."

This is surprising as that forum is rather stagnent.

I wonder how accurate these website traffic stats are?  Comparing traffic to 2 sites.

https://www.similarweb.com/website/naturescapes.net?competitors=birdphotographers.net#

I used to hear about people selling a lot of equipment on Fred Miranda.  Is that still the case?  What about the DPR buy and sell forum?  Here in Ottawa, we have Kijiji. I have a hard time letting things go as someone kept insisting on buying my 100-400L IS original but I keep hesitating

I wonder how much the Canon 500 f4 II will be worth in another 5 to 8 years.  The good news is that I paid much less a few years ago brand new than it is selling for new now.