John S. writes:
<< If this lens were on ebay, it would be a Mint or near mint and would
have
cost nearly twice as much! [vs. the $110 you paid] >>
Oh, really? Brad's Ex+:
"Exc+ (9) May have minor marks or scratches on metal and very minute
brassing or tiny chips of paint missing. Lenses may have minute
particles of dust that are hard to see."
KEH's Ex:
"EX "Excellent" 80-890f the original condition. Shows moderate wear.
May have small dings, pecks and slight finish wear. Glass may have some
dust, but no marks.
versus KEH's Ex+:
EX+ "Excellent Plus" 90-990f the original condition. Exceptionally
nice. May have slight marks on finish. Glass very clean.
Sounds like Brad's Ex+ is in between KEH=Ex and Ex+, which makes sense
when you see that Brad has to also fit in a Ex++ and a Mint- into his
scheme.
As for prices, Brad knows what he's doing. A KEH=Ex 35-70mm f/3.5~4.5 S
Zuiko averages $118.00 on eBay. Subtract the eBay fees and the seller
nets $111.43 Within $1.43 of Brad's price! Bump it up to KEH=Ex+ and
the average is $142 (net $135). Bump it up again to KEH=LN- and you are
looking at nearly 14% more on eBay. It's not eBay where you would pay
"twice as much," it's more like KEH. Try $179 for Ex and $199 for Ex+.
(I've not seen a LN- in KEH price lists). And that is a drop from $215
and $235 over the KEH prices of 16 months ago! Imagine that - a very hot
Olympus OM market and KEH is having to drop their prices. I wonder why?
eBay? :-)
Word on the street is that KEH is hurting. They have really slashed
prices on some of their inventory, esp. generic lenses. Notice how they
had to revamp their WWW site to include pictures and descriptions?
Perhaps the concept of a WWW site where you have to attract shopper's
eyeballs is now passé? Seems to me there are too many sites on the WWW
competing for attention. I sure get a kick out of camera stores that
think they are getting the Internet religion and going on-line with a
shopping cart approach. A little late, perhaps? Who are they trying to
attract? Sarcastically, they had better drop their prices a penny below
the competition because the shopping bots won't list their goods to the
top of the heap if they don't.
FWIW: Michael McBroom now says for this lens (with rough equivalents to
KEH):
KEH=LN $160
KEH=LN- and Ex+ $100
KEH=Ex $80
It's a jungle out there, but you did good, John - don't get me wrong
here. I'll support your assertion that Brad is and has been fair. But,
please don't take pot shots at eBay - it is too diverse a group of
sellers to make any kind of blanket statement. And perhaps, it is those
sellers and their buyers who are defining today's market price. Just ask
any retail store camera salesperson (pricing according to KEH) who is up
to his/her eyeballs in "but I can get it on eBay for $XXX" statements by
customers.
Gary Reese
Las Vegas, NV
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