Thoughts on S/H telescopes.

[TJExcalibur]

I will be buying a Celestron Evoloution 9.25 in the near future. After weighing up all the options I believe this is the best for me at my age in regards to simplicity, weight etc. I notice there are a few second hand Evo's advertised with a saving of a few hundred pounds on new, some with extras thus saving more. Is it worth the gamble in buying s/h and due to distance delivery is often the only option. My maximum driving time in one day is 4 hours.f it is faulty on arrival is it the courier or the seller who rectifies the problem. If the Evo is that good as often claimed, why are there several being sold s/h ?  Just my thoughts, any views.

[laudropb]

There is always a risk in buying second hand. You can minimise this by viewing before purchasing, but as you say this is not always possible. The next best thing is to buy from a reputable seller. Speak to the seller and try to find out as much as you can. Also buy from an astronomy site. Not E bay. Unfortunately you do not have enough posts on this site to use the buy and sell forum on here, but the next best thing would be to use Astro buy and sell uk. In the end you have to decide if the risk is worth it. It is an expensive piece of kit you are looking at and often the seller will not be liable for after sales problems.

[Linda]

I wouldn't do it. I was also in doubt about whether to buy a 30-40 year old C8, that originally was made with good optics. I could even drive there to pick it up. But we (the Dutch astronomy forum and I) decided that I don't have enough experience to test the scope when buying it. And there wasn't any place I could have an expert look at it. It was therefore safer to buy new.

My husband once bought a photo telelens from eBay, from a salesperson with a really good reputation. It was an expensive lense and he had to import it from the USA. When testing the lens at home, he found out the quality was way below what was promised. Luckily this salesperson let him send back the product and gave back the money. Maybe because of his good reputation. But is was a lot of hassle. We waited for a while and bought a new lense some time later, when a shop sold it with a 20% discount.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Linda

[Ricochet]

If you know what you're doing then buying second hand is a great way to save some money as most people who buy such high end telescopes tend to look after them. However, for such an expensive scope you really need to go to collect it because buying second hand from an individual is not the same as buying from a business. Firstly, when buying from an individual, goods are essentially sold as seen and as long as the description is accurate you can't go back to them (or to court) for a refund if it doesn't quite match your assumptions. Secondly, no courier will insure a telescope and only a naive seller will agree to ship one to you without first insisting that you agree that to do so is entirely at your own risk. 

Also @laudropb, since the forum upgrade there are no post count restrictions on buying, only selling, but the rules listed in the forum code of conduct have not been updated to match.

[Riemann]

I bought my C11 & mount second hand on ebay.   It was my second telescope, my first being bought from new.

The description said nothing about quality, so I asked if the optics were in good condition and the GOTO worked OK.    The answers were yes.    So went to collect it, gave it a quick look over, saw no dents or significant scratches, apart from on the dovetail which was badly scratched.    Despite the marking to the dovetail I went ahead with the purchase.

When I got it home, when I had more time and better lighting  I found;

- collimation was miles out, much worse than could have been caused by the journey

- the optics were filthy; everything needed cleaning including the primary and the diagonal.   They work well now, so the vendor was technically right, the optics are fine but I am really not sure how he knew given the dirt and poor collimation

- the GOTO does indeed work fine (through tracking could be a bit better IMO, but is quite usable and may be quite normal without guiding)

- there were a few bolts and screws missing, including the main bolt for the dovetail - he had been using the safety bolt as his way of securing the telescope hence the bad scratching on the dovetail.    I quickly replaced all but one of the missing bolts and am still working on making the last one which is really non-standard (for one of the counterweights).

So the vendor didn't lie but on the other hand he did not tell the whole story.

All in all I have ended up with something I am happy with but it is not an experience I would repeat.   I might buy a secondhand scope again but only from a dealer or from a very well established member of a forum such as this - i.e. someone with a reputation to protect.   Secondhand eyepieces are a different matter.

If I had been more experienced I would have asked better questions at the outset and inspected the scope better, but I think it is a moot point as to whether that would have removed the problems entirely - I might still have had a long drive and ended up not paying and/or in dispute.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Riemann

[laudropb]

Thanks for the info Ricochat. I missed that .

[Grotemobile]

 I  bought a s/h C11 & CG-5 mount. Never heard of the problem of bent alt bolts. Soon found out.  Did not realise that C11 & a CG-5 mount  is not

a good combination. Replaced the saddle, & the  bent bolts & it was ok. Sorted out the collimation, & it was ready to go.  after loads of

My next scope was new. Still needed the collimation to be sorted out on the new scope. These things are meant to try us. 

Edited May 4, 2016 by Grotemobile

[TJExcalibur]

Many thanks for your input. I will look on the good buy and sell sites for a few weeks to see what is there. Otherwise I feel it is best if I spend the extra and get new with the 2 year warranty. I notice a business with good reviews is offering a free SySync with the Evo 9.25. 

[Louis D]

For large and expensive scopes, take it to a place that guarantees their packing like The UPS Store in the USA to have it professionally packed.  Too often, SCT correctors get shattered due to a combination of poor packing and poor handling.  Despite shipping insurance, the shipper will usually deny the claim saying the breakage was due to poor packing.  Having a third party do the packing and guaranteeing it absolves the sender of this risk.

[scarp15]

There is a risk of course but there is also plenty of potential savings to be made and more often than not, telescopes are handled with care by their owners. My first scope was a classic C8 from around 1996. I was particularly interested in this scope and I built up a rapport with the seller (which was listed on ebay). On this occasion I was able to make the journey to South Yorkshire to collect and it was an excellent scope. I have since sold this and others whilst two of my current scopes are second hand - one purchased from Astro Buy & Sell the other via ebay. Both of these involved a courier, my 14" dob was transported by an independent courier from the South West. So yes just to conclude where I began, there can be an element of risk, yet build up a rapport with the seller / courier etc, get as much information as you can, do some homework / research and all might be good. 

[TJExcalibur]

As I stated earlier, a business with a good reputation were giving away a free Skysync with the Evo 9.25. FLO have done better and are giving a free Starsense £250 which is even better. Its a no brainer for me now.