Problem selling gear to Adorama

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David W. Richardson

Chapelgrove Films
Okay, so Adorama has this big ad in the current issue of Videomaker magazine, advertising "CASH" for your used photo and video equipment.

I requested a quote on my Panasonic DVX100b. Told them the condition was 'good to very good'. Sent them photos of the camera, including the LCD showing the camera has 177 hours on it. Included an extra battery and a hard aluminum case.

The quote they gave me? "Approx $450."

Looking on their site, I see their lowest priced used DVX100b for sale is listed at $912. It has nearly 400 hours on it, and doesn't come with any extras -- at least, none that are mentioned. (They probably sell the extras separately to maximize profit.)

I'm sorry. I know they have to make a profit. But that's a 100% markup, assuming they would sell my camera for $912. Most likely it would sell for a bit more. So I feel like I'm being lowballed here.

Anyone have any experience selling gear to Adorama?
 
I sold some used medium format still camera equipment to KEH years ago. Similar scenario. I'm afraid that's the way they operate. They're not into giving "fair market value". They want to make a profit and they prefer it to be big and fat.
 
How do you think their able to run big full page ads in videomaker? 100% profit is how, lol

i'm joking, but this is how music stores do it to, I bought a marshall amp, I tried to return it a couple weeks later, but they would only give me around half the price I paid, even though it was from the same store. It's a bit insulting, but the other option is to sell it elsewhere for more. They know a good amount of the time people are hard up for cash, so they take advantage of it.
 
You have to remember they are competing with sellers that are selling their own gear. The only time you might do better is if you are trading in for something new and they can work the margins.
 
David W. Richardson said:
Okay, so Adorama has this big ad in the current issue of Videomaker magazine, advertising "CASH" for your used photo and video equipment......I know they have to make a profit. But that's a 100% markup, assuming they would sell my camera for $912. Most likely it would sell for a bit more. So I feel like I'm being lowballed here.
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Adorama used department generally pays out 70% of the expected resale value. Now, it may well appear that the price of a unit we have for sale indicates we are making considerably more than 30% profit, and this is why….

We have over 25,000 used items in the warehouse. Some of these are recent acquisitions; others have been with us for a while.
A unit that we purchased, say, 6 months ago but which hasn’t yet been sold on, is costing us to store. We cover the cost of customers shipping units in for appraisal – and if you don’t want to sell to us after all, we ship your gear back, fully insured.
We provide a 6-month warranty on all items graded D, V, E+, E & E- (which includes a 30-day returns period), and a 90-day warranty on anything graded lower.
During the returns period we cover the cost of bringing an item back for repair or refund.
We have servicing and cleaning costs, advertising costs, staffing costs – and the boss expects us to turn a profit!

There is a further complication; we can buy in an item and pay out 70% of what we hope will be the resale value, but if it is still on our shelves 6 months later, we will have to be looking at reducing the price we are paying to purchase similar units – as these will understandably fall in price as new models come onto the market.

I hope this is helpful, but you are most welcome to email me directly for additional information – or after-sales support – at any time: Helen@adorama.com
 
David W. Richardson said:
I don't think so Helen. If $450 is the ballpark, I really can't afford to go that low. But thanks!
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It won't cost you anything to send it in (we email you a pre-paid label to send it in) - and if you don't like the quote we will cover the cost of shipping it back, fully insured. Remember, the ';phone reps need to err on the side of caution when giving a 'phone quote, sight unseen....
 
If the phone quote isn't a firm commitment, and the true quote must wait for the equipment to be seen (which is the only sensible way to do things), then I don't see why the phone quote would need to 'err' on the side of anything, caution or not. I would expect the phone quote would give a price range for "comparable equipment in the condition described", and then the visual inspection would set the firm quote, which would most often fall within that price range. In which case I would expect that the firm quote would hardly ever be significantly higher than the top end of the phone quoted range.

I appreciate all your efforts Helen. But there is no sense in wasting both of our time and energies. Thank you!
 
Pookie said:
Take your car into any dealer..... you expect a deal?

Nothing new, nothing to see here....
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This is so very true, nothing new here.

However what the OP fails to see is they will give you guaranteed cash as soon as they can get ahold of it and assess it. And they are easy to deal with, and when you buy from them you get a wtty. They then have to cover your piece failure or not when they sell it again. There is a lot of overhead in that model. Heck, they even have a B&M store! KEH doesn't even have that and yet I bet the money-offered would be near same.

Also as most business folks know your eq. gets depreciated over time in the tax-game and essentially anything you sell it for is considered profit: profit! (this depending on Corp vs. SP).

So no. Nothing new here!
 
tom_wise said:
This is so very true, nothing new here.

However what the OP fails to see is they will give you guaranteed cash as soon as they can get ahold of it and assess it. And they are easy to deal with, and when you buy from them you get a wtty. They then have to cover your piece failure or not when they sell it again. There is a lot of overhead in that model. Heck, they even have a B&M store! KEH doesn't even have that and yet I bet the money-offered would be near same.

Also as most business folks know your eq. gets depreciated over time in the tax-game and essentially anything you sell it for is considered profit: profit! (this depending on Corp vs. SP).

So no. Nothing new here!
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I don't fail to see any of that.

First, I doubt the cash they would offer me would be much more than the $450 quote, which is much too low for me to accept.

Being easy to deal with is fine, but the quote is too low for my taste.

I understand the overhead situation. But used equipment is more of a sideline than their main business. Having worked for a number of years in a retail photographer store, I do know how it works.

As for the tax depreciation, that's not really relevant. The gear is worth what it's worth, regardless of how much money I may or may not have tied up in it at the moment.

I could box it up, send it to them, wait for their quote, turn it down (because it's not likely to be more than $550 tops), then wait for them to send my gear back to me -- all of which could take a month or more. Yes, it would cost me nothing. But I could have sold it to someone else one-on-one during that time, instead of just waiting in futility.

I'm not slamming Adorama. This is their business arrangement, and that's fine. I just don't want to sell my stuff for such a small price. Not if I can get more for it on the open market.
 
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