At one time or another we are all buyers and sellers. Most pros have the safety net of the DB having payed for itself (in terms of capture fees etc.) when they come to sell, so they don’t sweat it. Enthusiasts and some pros (depending on how they bill) naturally fixate on what they paid for the DB when it comes time to move it, and completely lose sight of what’s happened to the market in the meantime.
Obviously not all gear is created equal. Good lenses retain value. Cameras like Ebony, Alpa etc. retain value. But … pretty much any piece of electronic gear is going to zero. And that depreciation is accelerated when servicing comes to an end. Fixing a field camera yourself is doable. A digital back ? Forget it.
Before I go and lie down in a darkened room, my advice to anyone selling a DB is:
1) Recognize that it’s a buyers market, and will stay that way. It’s not going to change. Ever. No matter how long you hold out. No, really, it isn’t.
2) Do your research and ask a realistic price. What you paid back in the day is irrelevant. I know, it was a lot. It hurts. Take it on the chin.
3) Be prepared to move on price, ‘A bird in the hand…’ etc.
Beyond the natural price free fall of anything with a microchip in it, the deck is loaded against sellers because it’s never been easier for buyers to find out what gear is selling for on a user-to-user basis. When I started out you were limited to the small ads in the back of the popular photography magazines to find out the (user-to-user) asking price. Then you would look at the dealer ads for their selling price. Then you would phone the dealer and find out what their buying price was. Then, armed with all that, it was down to you to figure out what your bottom line should be. Today, you have dealer websites, internet archives, eBay, and of course … a forum like this.
Look at an IQ180 as a final example. A P1 dealer (who you are on good terms with) - might - on a good day - offer ~$10k trade-in. A non-P1 dealer, less. Note this is 'trade-in', neither really wants to buy it from you. They'll probably offer to sell it on commission at a push rather than part with the cash. The dealer is ultimately the seller’s buyer of last resort, and sadly for the seller, both the (private) buyer and the dealer know this. Add into the mix the fact that buyers for this kit are few and far between, and it would just be plain stupid for the seller to turn down any good private offer in the low ‘teens. That’s why these are selling for $14k right now. And that's probably too high. Soon that figure will be $12k. Within 6 months that will be $10k. Lamenting this fact, or resenting those who air these things in public, is just a waste of time and energy. Don’t shoot the messenger. Move on. It is what it is.
Jim
P.S. Yashima - having looked back at my posts, I think ‘unkindness’ is a bit, er, unkind. I never just pluck a figure out of thin air; on the rare occasion I mention a $ amount, there is always a source. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
