Vortex has no value.

[Mikido]

Retail is for suckers…….arrivaderci my fellow 40 short

 

[Szwampdonkey]

I own three different Vortex products with zero issues on any of them. They are a great value and plenty good enough to hunt. All i need to see is if it’s an animal i want to shoot and Vortex has never failed me. Swaros get a lot of love here but you certainly don’t need Swaros to know an animal is the caliber you’re looking for. Just get out there and get after it with what ya got.

 

[cuttingedge]

I bought a fancy (to me) Diamondback FFP 4-16×44 MOA and got a discount because it was the display model. After a few weeks tinkering with it I decided to sell it, and I lost maybe $20 off what I had in it. I sold it with rings for basically new retail of the scope only. It was truly like new, but I was surprised and pretty happy to almost break even. Never done that with any other scope I have owned.

 

[Researcher]

you are correct. I value something based of reselling value. That's my trade, that's what I thought I was good at ..before getting the Vortex.

The coach recommended only Vortex. I believe he was getting kickbacks from them. Most likely he was , seeing how other coaches told me they can get it for 50% brand new and I made my purchase through the coach. I did receive a brand new product but the transaction was through a middle man.
Yes, I'm replacing the coach as well

I doubt he was getting kickbacks other than super cheap prices on vortex stuff. My brother sold optics at Cabelas like 10 years ago and every manufacturer has their “pro” discount system. At that time vortex was 60% of their msrp. Most places sell vortex below their MSRP. So while its still a sweet discount its not as much as you think.

The other brands didnt discount as much so all the workers at these places bought vortex for themselves so it was what they were familiar with and therefore could sell easier cause they knew more about their $800 razor spotting scope then a $3000 ATX they had never used. Excellent sales strategy for Vortex.

Swaro had some convoluted point system. You had to sell lots of swaro build points then cash them in to get swaro deals. My brother never sold enough to really get any swaro deals.

50% a browning product once a year if you took some sale class they had.

50% berreta, kimber once a year.

I dont know why anyone buys vortex new when the no fault warranty is transferrable.

Best spotting scope is the kowa btw.

 

[Pdzoller]

I don’t care for their rifle scopes. I do have a pair of diamondback HD 10x42, a ranger rangefinder and a couple Razor spotters that I got for over half off that have served me well for over three years. I will use them until they fail and then upgrade.

 

[Rudymissouri]

I have a couple vortex scopes, I feel you get what you pay for. A cheaper scope is just not the same to look through as a high end scope. Both work just fine, just better clarity in my opinion

 

[5MilesBack]

I do feel silly paying so much on a glass that fogs up when I couldve had a Swarovski ATS 65 HD + eye piece for the same price

When Swaro and Vortex are the same price and those are your two choices, you buy Swaro.

I tried a Vortex Viper HSLR 4-16 scope some years ago. On lower power is was just ok, but on higher power it was like putting on dirty sun glasses to look through it. A pair of 15x50 Vipers were very similar to the rifle scope. Also tried a Razor spotter. On high power it got real grainy instead of staying clear throughout the power range. My eyes do not like Vortex glass.

 

[EdP]

"No value" is just wrong. It's your bad for paying too much because you didn't shop around and unfair to bash Vortex (or any mfg) for your mistake.

I have a couple of Diamondback HPs and a couple of Vipers and I am happy with all of them. They are on rifles that I was not going to put alpha glass on but that I like to use at times. The Vortex products were a good match of features and cost.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

It sounds like your “coach” ****** you and you didn’t do any research to make sure you were getting a decent deal. Vortex has MAP and MSRP. Pro deals are a percentage off of MSRP, MAP is what retailers list them for, most will do 15-20% off MAP too which puts them very close the vortex pro discounts and mil/LE pricing. There’s a ton of markup in Vortex, probably the highest in the industry.

If you get the right deal they hold their value well. Pay over MAP for it like a sucker and no, nobody is going to buy your used stuff for more than they can get new from a retailer for.

 

[JGRaider]

When considering optics with electronics, Vortex should be top of the list. My Fury AB's at $1100 are a superb value.

 

[BinoDino]

It sounds like your “coach” ****** you and you didn’t do any research to make sure you were getting a decent deal. Vortex has MAP and MSRP. Pro deals are a percentage off of MSRP, MAP is what retailers list them for, most will do 15-20% off MAP too which puts them very close the vortex pro discounts and mil/LE pricing. There’s a ton of markup in Vortex, probably the highest in the industry.

If you get the right deal they hold their value well. Pay over MAP for it like a sucker and no, nobody is going to buy your used stuff for more than they can get new from a retailer for.

ohh well their pricing sucks then. Not everyone in the market is a member of this forum to know msrp is inflated and you can easily can get Vortex products at 50% off. There's no other manufacturer that has this. Just to show you how overpriced their products are. And @5MilesBack is correct. Swaro is sharper and if you never tried it please do.
Dont fault the consumer for deceiving pricing techniques. If Vortex wouldve cared of MAP they wouldnt have sold to everyone with a pulse discounted optics. Look up ebay to see established manufacturer selling the products with at a deep discount.
I feel bad for all these ppl in classifieds that keep posting their Vortex. Nobody wants it

 

[redneckbmxer24]

ohh well their pricing sucks then. Not everyone in the market is a member of this forum to know msrp is inflated and you can easily can get Vortex products at 50% off. There's no other manufacturer that has this. Just to show you how overpriced their products are. And @5MilesBack is correct. Swaro is sharper and if you never tried it please do.
Dont fault the consumer for deceiving pricing techniques. If Vortex wouldve cared of MAP they wouldnt have sold to everyone with a pulse discounted optics. Look up ebay to see established manufacturer selling the products with at a deep discount.
I feel bad for all these ppl in classifieds that keep posting their Vortex. Nobody wants it

It's common practice in the retail industry to have MAP and MSRP, it's not just vortex, most firearm manufacturers are the same way and many optics manufacturers as well. You don't have to be a member of this forum to not get screwed, it's called shopping around and doing research like you should do with any purchase. So stop blaming vortex for your poor decisions, you decided to buy Vortex and you decided that price was acceptable to you at the time.

It doesn't matter what brand it is though, your used stuff is going to lose value the second you take it out of the box. Paying full retail you're going to lose more, getting a good deal you'll lose a little less. You don't think your Swaros will lose value? Yes, they do. I got a deal on my NL 12's and saved about $300 off MAP OTD after tax, I could never sell them for that because they go used for $400 less than what I paid. My EL 8.5's are the same thing, I got a good deal at about $2100 OTD with tax and if I were to sell them I'd be lucky to get $1700 out of them.

Moral of the story, shop around and don't buy shit that sucks that you'll want to sell.

 

[CMP70306]

I'll start this thread by saying I know nothing of optics. Hence the reason when I was asked to buy a Vortex scope for target archery I went for a pricier one thinking it's a solid investment in a quality glass ( lol) . Everything became reality when I tried to sell my 2 months old scope. Brand new units at 50% off everywhere ( Ebay, Offerup, CL, here) with lightly used items being 60% off made me realize I was a fool paying full price. I started asking how come Vortex products are so discounted. Someone on archerytalk told me 1st responders get 40% off and archery coaches and not only can get them at 50% with no tax. No wonder the market is flooded and everyone and their mom is selling a Vortex product.
I eventually sold mine but it was not easy. Of course I took a 50% hit but I got rid of it.
I do feel silly paying so much on a glass that fogs up when I couldve had a Swarovski ATS 65 HD + eye piece for the same price

What Vortex did you pay over $2,500 for? The only ones I can think that even hit that high are the Gen 3 razors and Gen 2 razor both of which are solid rifle scopes.

 

[Fatcamp]

I have a Razor 65mm spotter that I think holds plenty of value. It's not Kowa but I like it well enough.

 

[BinoDino]

What Vortex did you pay over $2,500 for? The only ones I can think that even hit that high are the Gen 3 razors and Gen 2 razor both of which are solid rifle scopes.

you see I smartened up and and started researching prices...I found brand new swarovski ats 65HD with 20-60x eyepiece for $1800 to my door

 

[redneckbmxer24]

you see I smartened up and and started researching prices...I found brand new swarovski ats 65HD with 20-60x eyepiece for $1800 to my door

You didn't answer his question, what Vortex model did you pay that for?

Also what dealer are you finding such charity at, because $1800 is $17 above dealer cost on that item. They've got more than $1800 in it getting it shipped to their warehouse. By time they pay a 2-3% CC processing fee and $30-$50 to ship it out to you they're losing a good bit of $$ at that price.

 

[BinoDino]

You didn't answer his question, what Vortex model did you pay that for?

Also what dealer are you finding such charity at, because $1800 is $17 above dealer cost on that item. They've got more than $1800 in it getting it shipped to their warehouse. By time they pay a 2-3% CC processing fee and $30-$50 to ship it out to you they're losing a good bit of $$ at that price.

Vortex Optics Razor HD 22-48x65 Angled Spotting Scope​

and the dealer also has Swarovski 80HD ATS scope for 2300 including the eye piece with no tax

 

[nobody]

Agree with everyone else above. Vortex holds tremendous value in the market and has a large market share, but the value holds differently than Swaro (which, after several years in the industry, I could argue that Swaro is disgustingly OVER valued in the marketplace, but that's a different conversation and you didn't ask that question). The Alpha's NEVER go on sale, so people are forced to pay full retail for them, so buying used is the only equivalent to purchasing an alpha class optic on sale that a guy can get. All the other brands go on periodic sale throughout the year for every major holiday, so because of that, it's easy to get 20-ish percent off on Vortex optics if you have the patience of a petulant toddler. The same goes for Leupold, Maven, Bushnell, Burris, I could go on and on.

As an example, let's say you want a pair of 10x42 Razor HD binos. They're about a grand full retail. During June or July, can't remember which month, Sportsman's Warehouse has their "Vortex Month," where you can get a gift card with every Vortex optic purchase. It all depends on the retail price, but the Razor HD's typically come with a $150 gift card if I remember correctly. So essentially, you're getting those razor's for $850 on that sale. You could use them for a year and sell them for about $750-$800. So while you've lost $250 relative to full retail price, you've only lost about $100 on that year of ownership. That's about 12.5% investment loss over the course of ownership.

Just checked our local classifieds, there's a pair of SLC's for sale right now for $900.00 in the original box and strap and the winged eyecups as a bonus. Mathematically, it looks like those lost a greater percentage of their retail value when compared with the Razor HD's above.

Then there's the issue of the Birdie Tax with Swaro too. Swaro discontinued the SLC's a few years ago, and when they left the market, the SLC's retailed for about $1600.00. Now Swaro sells the EXACT SAME binos in their Kahles Helia line of binos, and you could buy them brand new in box right now for $950.00 from a dealer. So are guys just paying a premium to be able to have the green binos hanging around their neck? Because according to what Swaro did with the SLC's, they seem to have been overcharging people and people are happy to mindlessly pay the premium.

Used market for optics and gear is a crap shoot, and gear is only worth what guys are willing to pay for it. At the end of the day, everything we buy is a status symbol and a flex of some kind. If you don't like what Vortex has to offer, don't buy it. But If you really wanna get microscopic, it's pretty easy to poke holes in every company's business practices and pricing strategies.

 

[nobody]

Vortex Optics Razor HD 22-48x65 Angled Spotting Scope​

Vortex Razor HD 22-48x65 Straight Spotting Scope

SCHEELS.com

www.scheels.com

Even their own website doesn't have the darn thing for that much money. Something isn't adding up in your story.

 

[JGRaider]

I'd be really interested in those SLC's for $950. Can you PM me a link to that please?

I'm kind of wondering why this redneckbmx guy cares so much about what someone else buys, how much he pays, etc. I know I could care less.