DSLR Photography Forum

Hey all! I walk past a shop every day that displays 2nd hand lenses in the window, and I saw one that caught my eye - a Nikon 55mm f/2.8 AF Micro (predecessor of the 60mm Micro) for $295. I thought it was pretty reasonable, so I went in and inquired if I could trade in my 28mm AF f/2.8 for it.

There was already a 28mm AF f/2.8 sitting next to the 55mm, which had a price of $349, so I thought to myself that I'm giving them something valued more - worst case scenario, I could do a 1 for 1 swap and lose a little bit, or if I was lucky, maybe they would give me $50!

I guess my thinking was flawed, because they said they would only give me $150 for the trade in of the 28mm. Huh?? It's like swapping a BMW for a Fiat (no offense to any Fiat owners ) and paying $10000 on top of it.

Seems like a pretty rotten deal to me - I'll think the best approach would be to put the 28mm on ebay and then buy the 55mm....


What do you think? Any experiences in trading in gear?

I guess the thinking is that the second one would sell for a lower price because they're less likely to find a second buyer...?

I haven't traded anything in, yet, but I have three surplus lenses. Two of them are the same: 80-300 equivalent f3.5-4.5 lenses that come in the kits. That particular lens has been discontinued, replaced with smaller but slower designs to match the new cameras. They're great lenses, but I suspect that I'm stuck with them.

I guess that they think that they will have more chance of selling two different lenses than two the same. I have almost always been frustrated with prices offered by second hand stores on my camera gear.

As you said - better to sell your stuff on ebay and than buy the lens from the store.

You could be right - he said that the price would be lower because they already had one on hand... but still - all they would need do is just hold it until the other one gets sold and then sell it for the same price..

It would depend on how long they have had the other one in the window.

Anything on display is not earning profit until it is sold. And taking up room for something that may be hot for another customer.
I am not sticking up for them but like wedding photographers for example it depends on which side of the lens/counter you are.

This is why I hung on to my D70. It was worth far more to me as a spare than I would ever had got as a trade-in.