When buying second hand gear, do you want it serviced before you buy?

[Jasonb]

Hi all,

I haven't dived in a few years and haven't been here in a few years either!

I'm considering selling some of my gear. This is not an Ad for the gear, rather I'm looking for people's preferences. Some of the gear (Tank, Regs, BCD) hasn't been used in 5 years, and will need to be serviced before use. Should I pay the money to get all the gear serviced and then sell it (and ask for more money to cover the cost of the servicing) or should I sell it as is and let the buyer know it needs to be serviced? What do people think? Which would you prefer if you were buying?

Personally, even as I'm writing this, I'm thinking that if it's all serviced first then at least the buyer knows the gear works. But it does mean me spending money before I hopefully make money!

Anyhow, I'd appreciate your thoughts...

Tanks...

 

[Mr. Sunday]

I would sell it as is and let the buyer know it needs servicing.

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

Tanks, i prefere they are in recent hydro, but thats all up to the price.

Other things, No, i prefer to do service myself, so I don't need to rely on the word of someone i don't know. I don't see service as a bad thing, but i don't like to pay more than if it's not serviced as I assume i have to do it anyway.

 

[runsongas]

a good number of used gear buyers are looking for a low price and plan to service it themselves. faster, easier sale that way as long as your pricing is good. more difficult to recoup LDS service cost. buyers who would prefer not to self service can always just buy the gear and take it to their lds of choice.

drain the tanks if you don't get them re-hydroed as buyers will likely want to take the valves off and inspect.

 

[JackD342]

I would NOT service, and price accordingly. If you do have it serviced, retain the records of the service so a buyer doesn't have to decide whether or not to trust your word.

 

[Bob DBF]

As a purchacer of used gear, it makes no difference to me. What does make a difference, is whether it is a reasonable price for what is being sold.

With the possible exception of some tanks, there is no financial advantage to the seller in having gear professionally serviced before sale. Spending money on gear you going to sell is heading in the wrong direction.


Bob

 

[Jasonb]

Thanks for all the quick replies, I appreciate it! Good to see you're all in agreement. I think I might look at the price of getting the Tank Hydro done, but leave the rest as it.

Thanks again...

 

[Diver0001]

Hi all,

I haven't dived in a few years and haven't been here in a few years either!

I'm considering selling some of my gear. This is not an Ad for the gear, rather I'm looking for people's preferences. Some of the gear (Tank, Regs, BCD) hasn't been used in 5 years, and will need to be serviced before use. Should I pay the money to get all the gear serviced and then sell it (and ask for more money to cover the cost of the servicing) or should I sell it as is and let the buyer know it needs to be serviced? What do people think? Which would you prefer if you were buying?

Personally, even as I'm writing this, I'm thinking that if it's all serviced first then at least the buyer knows the gear works. But it does mean me spending money before I hopefully make money!

Anyhow, I'd appreciate your thoughts...

Tanks...

From my perspective there are two parts to this answer:

1) Even if it were serviced the day before I would tell the buyer that it needed servicing. If you say, "I had it serviced" and then something happens then you'll hang for it at worst or you could get in a conflict with the buyer who wants you to pay the bill for a repair if one is needed. If you say, "sold as is and it will need servicing" and then if something happens then the buyer is on the hook for the consequences.

There are some exceptions. I recently sold a computer only a short time after putting a new battery in it. I mentioned this. However for things like regulators and BCD's I sell it "as is" with the disclaimer that the buyer is responsible for service, not me.

and

2) There is a very good market for used gear. There is a lot of it out there. You may be able to recuperate some of your costs if you get it serviced before you sell it, but frankly, once you decide to sell then the last thing you want to do is sink more money into that gear. Especially money that you will have a hard time getting out of it despite your best intentions. For this reason, getting your gear serviced before you sell is really just money that you burned and time that you spent for no net benefit to you. The only exception to this is if the piece needs an obvious repair before it's in a condition to sell.

 

[northernone]

I want it un-serviced.

I like to know the condition it is in after storage without being cleaned up at all ideally.

The one exception would be buying from of the skilled technicians up thread where I can trust their labour of love they put into restoring gear.

Cameron

 

[johndiver999]

I think people will tend to "dis-believe" that you really had the gear serviced, so they are going to be hesitant to pay you the full cost for the service itself. Unless you can do it yourself or have some kind of discount service, it is better to say that: XYZ appears to currently work, but it is due for servicing. That is fair and honest.