Secondhand lens prices are a mystery to me. I keep seeing people selling lenses 2nd hand for more than they can be obtained for BRAND NEW. How they ever sell them I'll never know! Even lenses that are years old get sold for silly money. The funniest one is lens hire companies that sell their ex-hire stock - why the hell would anyone ever buy a lens that's been sent through the post numerous times to people who have no interest in looking after it??!!
There's lots of interesting language used too. I've worked out what some of the common phrases mean:
'just over a year old' - it's out of warranty
'filter on it from day 1' - owner doesn't know how to clean lenses, and the other end will be full of dust
'costs £999.99 from Wex' - you can find it much cheaper elsewhere, but Wex makes my price look good
'immaculate box' - it's been in the cupboard whilst the lens got run over by a bus
'hardly used' - I dropped it in the first week, and it hasn't worked since
'payment by paypal' - because I don't trust you
'reason for sale' - I need to tell you why I'm selling it so you don't spot the real reason - the huge scratch on the front element
'small scuff on the front element that doesn't affect picture quality' - not unless you're dumb enough to actually take a picture with it
'Tamron' - I should have bought something better
'Sigma' - I used to have a Tamron - now seen the light and want something with 'Canon' written on it
'Tokina' - I shouldn't be allowed to own a camera
'kit lens' - I'm hoping someone is stupid enough to buy this chunk of plastic
'upgrading' - this one is crap, there's a better version out there
'Gumtree' - A 5D MkII for £500??? someone is going to get mugged in a very dark alley
There's more, but it's late and I'm tired. Hope this has helped anyone trying to navigate this minefield.
Steve
There's lots of interesting language used too. I've worked out what some of the common phrases mean:
'just over a year old' - it's out of warranty
'filter on it from day 1' - owner doesn't know how to clean lenses, and the other end will be full of dust
'costs £999.99 from Wex' - you can find it much cheaper elsewhere, but Wex makes my price look good
'immaculate box' - it's been in the cupboard whilst the lens got run over by a bus
'hardly used' - I dropped it in the first week, and it hasn't worked since
'payment by paypal' - because I don't trust you
'reason for sale' - I need to tell you why I'm selling it so you don't spot the real reason - the huge scratch on the front element
'small scuff on the front element that doesn't affect picture quality' - not unless you're dumb enough to actually take a picture with it
'Tamron' - I should have bought something better
'Sigma' - I used to have a Tamron - now seen the light and want something with 'Canon' written on it
'Tokina' - I shouldn't be allowed to own a camera
'kit lens' - I'm hoping someone is stupid enough to buy this chunk of plastic
'upgrading' - this one is crap, there's a better version out there
'Gumtree' - A 5D MkII for £500??? someone is going to get mugged in a very dark alley
There's more, but it's late and I'm tired. Hope this has helped anyone trying to navigate this minefield.
Steve
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