BUYER'S DREAM- SELLER'S NIGHTMARE!!

[mike bacanin]

What has happened to the UK used astro gear market? for a while now it seems the only way to sell quality equipment is to give it away!

it used to be the accepted typical price for items in excellent condition to be around 60-70% of new. now it's more like 40-50% max.

whilst great for buyers, it's eroding the sensible value of nice gear, and it's becoming a bit silly.

the situation to me appears much better balanced in the US on astromart and CN.

kind of makes it a bad idea to buy brand new as the loss on resale is,pardon the pun, astronomical!

[supernova]

What has happend to The UK full stop ???????????????????

[MartinB]

Market forces I'm afraid Mike. The thing is some astronomers seem to have a very high turnover of gear, this means a ready supply of good second hand kit. Instead of jumping in as soon as something comes available people are getting smarter and waiting for the right price. The other thing is falling prices and rising quality of some new items. Just look at the EQ6 pro and HEQ5.

I had to sell my Great Polaris and GPDX for a song. On the other hand I've benefitted from some superb buys!

[barkis]

Trouble for me is, no one seems to want to sell their WO ZS66. I has been a looking and a looking, but a cain't find a second hand one nowheres. Looks like Flo. is going to get a call afore Xmas. Unless there really is a Santa Clause in second hand land.

Ron.

[mike bacanin]

Martin, that's a fair comment, but it is a shame when the losses are huge.

Ron, it's like a two edged sword! when you want something it's never there, only there when you don't have the money!

regards

mike

[Jamie]

Trouble for me is, no one seems to want to sell their WO ZS66. I has been a looking and a looking, but a cain't find a second hand one nowheres. Looks like Flo. is going to get a call afore Xmas. Unless there really is a Santa Clause in second hand land.

Ron.

Try here Ron http://astro.forumup.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3589&mforum=astro

[John]

After getting my fingers burned with a Megrez 90 - superb scope but it lost 25% of its value the moment I unwrapped it - I've stuck to 2nd hand equipment in the main.

Maybe the internet astro buy and sell sites have contributed to the issue in some ways - it's now so easy to buy and sell stuff and the prices that things go for are pretty transparent wheras when it was a case of exchange and mart or Astronomy Now classifieds the whole business was slower and more private.

It's certainly a fickle market - one minute you are bidding against 10 people to buy a Tele Vue plossl and a few weeks later you can't give it away

John

[jcm]

I must admit when I got my 130mm APO I took extreme care to get the specification I wanted. I will never sell this scope and intend to keep it a long time , as its a refractor there should be no deterioration in the views it gives. I was planing to buy a new C9.25 or similar but I have decided second hand might be the best option.

John

[tom.yates]

I Know for sure i wont be buying anything new from know on only good second hand kit .

[Andrew*]

I'm definitely gonna start selling things new...

Seriously though, I pretty much only buy second hand. I can count on one hand every time I've bought new. Sorry, Steve.

Andrew

[mike bacanin]

After getting my fingers burned with a Megrez 90 - superb scope but it lost 25% of its value the moment I unwrapped it - I've stuck to 2nd hand equipment in the main.

Maybe the internet astro buy and sell sites have contributed to the issue in some ways - it's now so easy to buy and sell stuff and the prices that things go for are pretty transparent wheras when it was a case of exchange and mart or Astronomy Now classifieds the whole business was slower and more private.

It's certainly a fickle market - one minute you are bidding against 10 people to buy a Tele Vue plossl and a few weeks later you can't give it away

John

That's a pretty realistic comment john, reminds me of my TMB 130 last year, paid £3500 and struggled to realise £2300 after 6 months.

mike

[saturn5]

I dont think this is just an a problem with astro equipment,drive a new car out of the garage and how much has the value of your car just dropped.

Buy a new computer and in a couple of weeks there's a newer gizmo on the market which pushes the value of the one you just bought rapidly downwards.

I have an Orion Europa 150mm Reflector and tripod, cost around £550 quite a few years back,is in excellant nick,i think you can get the same scope for about £400 now so expecting to get anything more than 50% of initial outlay would be wishfull thinking,maybe some are expecting to get too much for their second hand gear.

Having said that you only need too idiots after the same item and you can make a killing on e.bay

[Theinvoker]

It's market forces, and can be quite drastic in a niche market. Everyone will be buying up all the cheap gear and buying second hand rather while theres lots of gear out there, then as less people are buying new, the supply will dry up/get outdated and become a sellers market with everyone trying to get kit while still in a second hand frame of mind, till the price goes to a point where they may as well buy new and the cycle starts over

Doesn't tend to be as drastic on a large scale but something like astronomy where most selling is on forums / specialist sites and everyone could do with that little extra bit to make their perfect scope, its can change rather rapidly.

[Whippy]

The worst ones have to be the poor people that have bought TAL1's from new. £160 out of the shop and on average £30 on Ebay. One went for £15 last week! Great scope, shocking resale value. I've just picked one up for £21 (L'missus' Christmas present, honest!) and it's immaculate.

Tony..

[AndyH]

Did you see that £15 Tal 1 too? Poor s*d. £15, blumming hell. :shock: Great scopes, terrible resale value. A while back I had considered selling it. I'd be better off stripping, it down and selling the individual items off singly. Not that I will.

Andy.