2nd hand prices!

[Bennythebrit]

Have been following some scopes on a "major online auction site". They seem to sell for almost the price when new.!! What's that all about?

[Pint Of Stellar]

Like you I have equally been 'surprised" at this as a newcommer to this field. I have found a bit more leeway on the indicative pricing on gumtree and astrobuysell uk. I can only put it down to uninformed buyers on the auction site - this was typical when I was buying and selling from my previous and now dearly departed hobby of drumming.

I suppose the good thing is that one's investment in gear may not depreciate as rapidly and as far as it would in some other areas.

[jnb]

I've seen that happen as well. The only rational explanation is that people bid in comparison to prices that they have seen without shopping around. The more likely explanation is that people are numpties.

[JB80]

A lot of dealers are on ebay too so they are effectively selling new gear which no doubt others look at and price it similarly.

ABS is a much better place or even better once you have the required posts the SGL classifieds are great.

[John]

E.Bay prices can be nuts though there are some bargains to be had if you know exactly what you are looking for and it's a more obscure item. UK Astro Buy & Sell is a much better bet all round:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

Used prices for good condition astro gear seem to hover around 60%-70% of the new price, as a guideline.

[Nigele2]

Bennythebrit my two scopes were between 40% and 60% off new prices but on certain auction sites I did see secondhand sold for higher than new prices occassionally.  Eye Pieces tended to go for between 60% and 70% of RRP.  These were when it was all in good condition of course.  

In general, from what I have seen in my many hours of hunting a bargain, secondhand prices do seem to hold up well which surprises me when you see so many "I was bought this for Christmas, only used twice, just not my thing" and "selling due to upgrading"**.  With such supply I thought the prices would be pressured but doesn't seem to be the case.  But there is a wide range and I've seen some real bargains.  I saw a stock eyepiece being auctioned at different times with a price variation of £5 to £22.50 

** It does seem that star gazing either grabs you by the throat and you are happy to sit outside late at night in freezing conditions to see a small image of something you can see better on the internet, or it leaves you cold when you realise your best view of Saturn will be about 1 cm across and the thing keeps hurtling out of view just as you get it in focus 

[Naemeth]

E.Bay prices can be nuts though there are some bargains to be had if you know exactly what you are looking for and it's a more obscure item. UK Astro Buy & Sell is a much better bet all round:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

Used prices for good condition astro gear seem to hover around 60%-70% of the new price, as a guideline.

Indeed there are, I got my 6" F/6 Astro Systems newtonian from eBay for only £60, it has a very good mirror and was made originally by Vixen I believe. Only cost me about £8 bus fare to pick it up .

[paulastro]

In my view, as long as you know what you are doing and can pick up the item and examine it before handing over your cash, ebay can be a great source for buying and selling astronomy gear.

For buying, as others have said, some of the items may be new and some people just get carried away and bid up the prices.  You must check out the new price of any gear you're after first, and make up your mind how much you are prepared to pay for a used item.  Then, stick to this if you decide to bid!

Selling on ebay also has its advantages.  As long as you aren't expecting a silly price, you can sell anything on ebay.  In my view a reasonable price is around 35% of new - sometimes more if it is a high end or hard to find item.  Also, ebay has the advantage that the auction is time-bound so you don't have to wait for ever for the item to sell.

[Green Ninja]

One retailier in Wales (I believe it was) was selling the Skywatcher Heritage 76 for over £150 last month on Ebay 

Typo or scam?

Hopefully the former