Advice on fair pricing on used binoculars

[benG]

Hello everyone, is that an established guide on what would be considered a fair percentage off original selling price for a pair of used binoculars?
I know it is dependent on condition and if the seller still has all the accessories that come with the purchased box. I have monitered the optics classified and see that the sellers' asking price varied between 40% to 90% of the original selling price.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Depends on the brand, model, warranty, whether or not that company offers MIL/LEO discounts etc. what are you selling?

 

[roosiebull]

Hello everyone, is that an established guide on what would be considered a fair percentage off original selling price for a pair of used binoculars?
I know it is dependent on condition and if the seller still has all the accessories that come with the purchased box. I have monitered the optics classified and see that the sellers' asking price varied between 40% to 90% of the original selling price.

I would say brand is the biggest driving factor of optics resale… alpha glass holds value well, most others don’t

 

[gr8fuldoug]

What people are asking and what things sell for can be worlds apart. For a reasonable base of value for used look at sold product on ebay

 

[11boo]

I recently paid 50% of retail for used Vortex binos.

 

[Team4LongGun]

I use 60% as a starting point on all used items. This takes into account that item is usually not returnable, no warranty, unknown seller and let’s not forget, used.
This also is right around the price where it can be worth the risk to buy used as sales, MIL/LEO pricing is very close.
For me, I would not pay 75% or higher on any used item. The savings don’t justify the risks. Warranty and being able to return are huge for me. Plus, did you just buy someone else’s problem?

You can see several items for sale daily that are used, and asking price is 90% of new. These same threads are usually sitting there for weeks on end getting bumped daily.

 

[OspreyZB]

I would say brand is the biggest driving factor of optics resale… alpha glass holds value well, most others don’t

Idk... There's no shortage of used "alpha" glass for 20-50+ percent off retail here in the optics classifieds. Just took a quick look, and right now there's a Swarovski EL 8.5x42 for $1475 Zeiss SF 8x42 for $1250, a 10x42 SF just sold for $1500. Buying brand new in box optics is almost never a good investment.

 

[WRO]

Idk... There's no shortage of used "alpha" glass for 20-50+ percent off retail here in the optics classifieds. Just took a quick look, and right now there's a Swarovski EL 8.5x42 for $1475 Zeiss SF 8x42 for $1250, a 10x42 SF just sold for $1500. Buying brand new in box optics is almost never a good investment.

The Swarovski's listed are 12 years old as an fyi.

Zeiss typically has pretty low resale value.

Bigger difference is the desirability of the model. 8x typically sell for less than 10x etc.

Old models with long run times like SLC 15hd's tend to sell for less percentage wise than newer models like NL's etc.

 

[Blockcaver]

Quite a difference in optical quality of our non-Swaro Vision 10 x 42 ELs vs our newer SV 10 x 42 ELs. 12 year-old version noted in the post above are likely non-SV would be my guess but would have to see close up photos to know for sure.

The above example is certainly one of the pitfalls of buying used unless you really know the product line of what you are buying, plus can judge wear and tear.

And there was the young man who "bought" the Swaro NL Pure binos a few days ago from a scammer and is out two summers wages. Sometimes just getting ahold of Doug at Cameraland and buying new is a better deal!

 

[OspreyZB]

The Swarovski ELs I referenced are indeed SVs.

 

[Thinkingman]

Resale is more complicated than branding.
As pointed out above, the version of the glass is important to a critical consumer.
Nikon has been putting out very desirable binoculars for many years.
There is an active market for 20 year old Nikons....Not so much for the early Vortex and Leupolds.
I believe Alpha glass will always have buyers...not so much for the Betas.

There is an absolute cult following for old Nikon Premier SE nocs...they're old porros from 20 years ago and a pair in great condition will sell for 100% of MSRP.

 

[roosiebull]

Resale is more complicated than branding.
As pointed out above, the version of the glass is important to a critical consumer.
Nikon has been putting out very desirable binoculars for many years.
There is an active market for 20 year old Nikons....Not so much for the early Vortex and Leupolds.
I believe Alpha glass will always have buyers...not so much for the Betas.

There is an absolute cult following for old Nikon Premier SE nocs...they're old porros from 20 years ago and a pair in great condition will sell for 100% of MSRP.

Leupold gold rings too, I had some a few years ago I was going to sell, and I sold them instantly for too much money, I was going to sell them for what I thought they were worth, I think wro convinced me to price them high, I did and they sold right away with others in line, haha… weird random optics to have the following they do.

I was going to keep them for my pickup but just didn’t care for them after getting my first swaros

 

[benG]

excellent points everybody have raised thus far that expanded my thoughts. Thank you thus far for all the advices provided.

 

[pacoalcracker]

The closer you get to hunting season, the faster the bino's sell and the higher the ask price. Don't wait.