Selling Gear

[purepursuit]

50-60% depends on the gear. Lots of fins/jacket BCD, regs, and masks end up not garnering any buyers at all. Love buying used gear on CL, deals are out there.

 

[diverjen]

Two cents....

I did a lot of research on this as well before buying equipment. I would have to say if I would have had Christmas money on black friday, I would have gottne a HOG or EPIC and if I hadn't bought something at Christmas yet, I would be going for the MK25/S600 for $399 a bit ago. So yes, if there is a great deal new at the time and you have the money I assume most people would go that way....

Anyway, especially since you will need to have gear such as a reg serviced, you have to think about that. For gear in good shape that is workable and relatively recent, I heard someone on this board say 1/3-1/2 of original new price you actually paid new is a decent deal and 1/4 to 1/3 is a really good deal. Anything less than 1/4 is considered to be stealing... Of course this depends on age, condition, availability and the time of year ( I saw things go way high on ebay the two weeks before Christmas). I was not sure that I could find these deals, but I have and have seen others steal them out from under me too! I hope this helps, I have spent a lot of time researching this topic and on ebay, craigslist, etc. Usually you will get more if you go ebay than local (if you live in a non diving destination like me) because you have a bigger amount of people to fight over it, but then you have to deal with ebay and paypal fees and you have to take it to the post office.

 

[eelnoraa]

It is very brand dependent. Some brand retain value much better than others. And some brands are worse than average. Personally, I have experienced this: brand A's top of the line regulator with MSRP of $499, most retaillers are selling at $429. Fair deal right?? So you bought one. 6 or 9 monthes down the road, there is a year end sale of this brand, the same regulator is going for $250. I had hard time selling mine with 25 dives, look spanking new reg at $200. Finally, I let it go for $175. I told myself, I will never buy reg of that brand. PM me if you want to know what that brand is.

So my lesson learned is do research on brands that you are interested in. If that brand has historical trend to run deep discount at product cycle, do NOT buy it at non-deep discount price.

 

[Bopper]

The depreciation is huge the minute you walk away from the retailer's doorway.

Better said, it's a devaluation. The psyche of the SCUBA shopper, at least 99.99% of people who are first-time-buyers, is that the gear must be new in box with the warranty card. These days, fewer and fewer people are stating this expensive sport.

When you are reselling gear in the used market, your audience of potential buyers is a mere fraction of the already small universe of new-gear-buyers as above. Again, most all will buy new, most of those will drop out fairly quickly and resell their gear on Craig's List (immediately or in 18 years). The used buyer type? Now you're dealing with habitual lifelong divers. A swarthy lot.

Looking at the majority of asking prices on Craig's List can give you the idea that somebody- either you or them- doesn't know what an out-of-hydro steel 72 with webbing straps is worth or maybe what that Healthways tunic top will fetch. I think it's the seller who has overestimated, but I could be wrong.

On eBay, I see a fair market for very recent models of regulators, the tech leaning BC's, tech gear in general. Computers and dive watches can do well.

There is no market for low-med end consumer fins or masks... not much on even high end masks, maybe it's the ick factor. Snorkels? Take a guess... that and most wetsuits- if they're not likely dry rotted, there is the lingering size issue and the inability to try it on, return it... and again- the ick factor because of the warhammer becoming common parlance what with the Googles and all.

I sell all sorts of things on e-auction sites. I write a good header- that's where the search engine hits- lots of photos and descriptions, i don't hurt people on shipping- and I start everything at 99¢ and select 10 day durations that end the auction at 7pm Pacific time. ebay (and auction sites) will tell you what something is really worth.

Great post. Lots of good points.

My 2 cents: I have to say that I've bought and sold A LOT of scuba gear on Craigslist and Ebay and I've noticed that the market for scuba gear has seemed to take a very noticeable turn for the worse in the past I'd say year and a half in my area. Just not nearly as many good deals to be had (as a buyer). It seems Ebay has also gotten worse but not to the same degree. Just my personal anecdotal observation.

 

[Colliam7]

Assuming you paid average retail prices for gear you were selling in very good to excellent condition, how much depreciation do you expect?

The 50% figure that many have suggested is a fair one to set your expectations. But, I will echo the comment that it is also brand-specific, and add model-specific as well. If you were selling something like an Oxycheq Mach V wing on eBay, you would probably get 75% of the retail value easily, because those wings very rarely show up for sale, used. If you are selling an aluminum 80, you might get 50%, if you were selling a PST 3442psi HP100, it might be higher. A Zeagle Express Tech will bring a higher percentage than a Seaquest jacket BCD.

For 'sized' items, there is also variability, and extreme sizes (XS, S, XXL, XXXL) will usually bring lower return than more common sizes (L) simply because of the relative number of potential buyers.

I will also echo one other comment - in the past year, on eBay, I have seen the market take a turn for the worse (for the buyer) or for the better (for the seller). Final auction prices seem to be higher - but I cannot discern a pattern.