Hi,

Prompted by an answer to another Q, here is a guide:

Hiya,

Up until three years ago I spent much time selling & buying on fleabay, I sold about 600-800 lenses in that time. I almost always got far higher prices than others selling the same items. This is how...

My own rules for getting the max price possible via ebay:

1. A photo item, particularly a more 'desirable' one MUST have excellent photos on the listing (90% do not...including photo items on ebay) even many serious amateur photographers have little idea how to shoot small studio work.

Here is a link to how I shoot small studio items (for free) scroll down the thread to my posts which explain how to do it, with a later post by me to show a photo of my small free daylight 'studio' set up.

link: http://photo.net/canon-fd-camera-forum/00OVKc

2. When selling lenses, have four shots on the listing: Show a full view from the side of the lens, a shot of the front & rear glass and a fourth shot showing the full package on auction...ie with box, paperwork, caps, hood etc.

3. Always have a low start price, 95% of my auctions had a 99p start with no reserve. The others had low start with reserve.

4. Never have higher start prices, never do BIN's. Avoid reserves IF possible.

5. Always have a full, honest & detailed description. If the listing description clearly shows you know what you are talking about, buyers will trust to buy from you. Do not though, go overboard.

List all the items included in the sale, list caps, hoods, box, manual etc, and say if any items are non branded, OEM or 3rd party items.

6. Always sell worldwide. I always did, I got anywhere from 20-100% more than UK listings.

7. Always have a full, simple and VERY clear list of p+p prices to all destinations. I had a small table with UK, EU & worldwide prices.

8. Have a hard thought about how buyers will search for your item, think of all the potential words and combinations of words they may use...then make sure your title line reflects these possible searches...this is critical and 90% of ebay sellers fail to do this. They simply have a title which describes the item simply and do not think how buyers may search.

For example, you may put 'Minolta 24mm lens' or 'Minolta 24/2.8' or 'Minolta 24mm f2.8 for MD & MC mount' or 'Minolta 24/2.8 MD & MC mount - Near MINT & Scarce'

9. Always highlight a MINT or Nr MINT item. In the title line and the description. Be very honest here though. The proper meaning of 'mint' is 100% as new. Some lens sellers say 'mint lens' if it just is somewhere near, or if just the optics are mint. Be clear of the condition of the barrel, the optics both front & rear, of the inside of the lens (any haze, dust etc) be clear about any oil on the blades etc etc.

10. NEVER, NEVER USE CAPS ON ALL THE TIME...Not for description or title....it makes it far harder to read and says you are lazy. Also use proper paragraphs, use caps where correct. People notice correct grammar and correct layout of text.

11. Use the full characters available in the title box. If a lens is now scarce or boxed etc the say so! I always paid a little extra and used the extra title line ebay allow you, it used to cost 35p...I always used it with scarce/boxed items and it always paid off.

12. Make it clear exactly what mount the lens is and which system it is fully compatible with. Many buyers will just expect any Minolta lens to work on any Minolta camera. Specify it will not work fully with AF mount minolta's etc.

If it is likely/possible to use with adaptors say so and describe any functions lost....ie A/F metering etc. Many buyers are clueless about this. Be clear it does not however come with an adaptor. (many lenses are now used on other cameras & mounts, so your listing should take account of this)

Good luck, cheers Steve.M. (Bongonut on fleabay)

Hiya,

Up until three years ago I spent much time selling & buying on fleabay, I sold about 600-800 lenses in that time. I almost always got far higher prices than others selling the same items. This is how...

My own rules for getting the max price possible via ebay:

1. A photo item, particularly a more 'desirable' one MUST have excellent photos on the listing (90% do not...including photo items on ebay) even many serious amateur photographers have little idea how to shoot small studio work.

Here is a link to how I shoot small studio items (for free) scroll down the thread to my posts which explain how to do it, with a later post by me to show a photo of my small free daylight 'studio' set up.

link: http://photo.net/canon-fd-camera-forum/00OVKc

2. When selling lenses, have four shots on the listing: Show a full view from the side of the lens, a shot of the front & rear glass and a fourth shot showing the full package on auction...ie with box, paperwork, caps, hood etc.

3. Always have a low start price, 95% of my auctions had a 99p start with no reserve. The others had low start with reserve.

4. Never have higher start prices, never do BIN's. Avoid reserves IF possible.

5. Always have a full, honest & detailed description. If the listing description clearly shows you know what you are talking about, buyers will trust to buy from you. Do not though, go overboard.

List all the items included in the sale, list caps, hoods, box, manual etc, and say if any items are non branded, OEM or 3rd party items.

6. Always sell worldwide. I always did, I got anywhere from 20-100% more than UK listings.

7. Always have a full, simple and VERY clear list of p+p prices to all destinations. I had a small table with UK, EU & worldwide prices.

8. Have a hard thought about how buyers will search for your item, think of all the potential words and combinations of words they may use...then make sure your title line reflects these possible searches...this is critical and 90% of ebay sellers fail to do this. They simply have a title which describes the item simply and do not think how buyers may search.

For example, you may put 'Minolta 24mm lens' or 'Minolta 24/2.8' or 'Minolta 24mm f2.8 for MD & MC mount' or 'Minolta 24/2.8 MD & MC mount - Near MINT & Scarce'

9. Always highlight a MINT or Nr MINT item. In the title line and the description. Be very honest here though. The proper meaning of 'mint' is 100% as new. Some lens sellers say 'mint lens' if it just is somewhere near, or if just the optics are mint. Be clear of the condition of the barrel, the optics both front & rear, of the inside of the lens (any haze, dust etc) be clear about any oil on the blades etc etc.

10. NEVER, NEVER USE CAPS ON ALL THE TIME...Not for description or title....it makes it far harder to read and says you are lazy. Also use proper paragraphs, use caps where correct. People notice correct grammar and correct layout of text.

11. Use the full characters available in the title box. If a lens is now scarce or boxed etc the say so! I always paid a little extra and used the extra title line ebay allow you, it used to cost 35p...I always used it with scarce/boxed items and it always paid off.

12. Make it clear exactly what mount the lens is and which system it is fully compatible with. Many buyers will just expect any Minolta lens to work on any Minolta camera. Specify it will not work fully with AF mount minolta's etc.

If it is likely/possible to use with adaptors say so and describe any functions lost....ie A/F metering etc. Many buyers are clueless about this. Be clear it does not however come with an adaptor. (many lenses are now used on other cameras & mounts, so your listing should take account of this)

Good luck, cheers Steve.M. (Bongonut on fleabay)

Camera World (London) who have very competitive prices to start with usually have even cheaper prices at the show. Cecil Jacobs usually have prices lower than their normal ones and often cheaper than anywhere else (including SRS) and I have seen several well prices Pentax items each time I have been, but you really need to get there on the first day.

Two years ago I got a near mint & boxed DA 21mm for just over £200. Last year the K7 was available far below the then best UK prices. There are often many very cheap deals on tripods & especially bags.

Several of my best buys have been at the Focus show. Some large dealers do deals which ARE cheaper than even the 'cheap' internet prices. I have also bought very good priced used gear at the show.

Canon UK say: "'We are currently reviewing our marketing strategy"

....so what does that mean? Have they run out of 'marketing' money for financial year 2010-2011?...which bear in mind, ends soon.

I fly often to Spain and take a Think Tank bag, which is great.

Womble...about seven or so years back when I traded lots on fleabay even back then, I had an SMC-A 100/2.8 near mint which I sold for about £160, so the £200+ current price seems to follow inflation.

Hi,

I did a full time photography course for two years a very long time ago when I was 21 in the early 1980's, well before digital came along, after which I achieved my aim of becomimg a full time professional studio photographer.

I would try local colleges, and evening courses, but be warned, there are many part time and evening courses that call themselves 'photography' courses...but are not! most are just digital software courses run by people who often know about PC's and photoshop, but know almost nothing about the mechanics of photography itself.

Learning by being self taught has many pitfalls, although digital helps a lot in that respect. People who are self taught often fail to really understand the basic technicalities of photography and often take round about ways of doing things which are not the best route to take.

You can take many 1000's of shots (which is good) but still fail to understand exactly how you are doing things and why. I would try some general books and the WWW, but being taught one to one (which I had) by professionals cannot be beaten IMO.

cheers Steve.M.

Go to the Focus on imaging show, soon at the NEC Birmingham, not only will almost every tripod available in the UK be there to play with, but you will find show offers, which will probably mean that the saving you make on the tripod will pay for the trip.

"I did sell it for the K-5 as I was looking for better AF and in that respect I am not completely convinced its that much better than the K-7"

...which If true, means you spent hundreds of pounds for AF which is not any obvious improvement and also means that Pentax AF STILL lags behind Nikon & Canon by some margin...