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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Realistic pricing?

Steve Phillipps

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I know I probably shouldn't post this here, maybe the mods will move it to Discussion? I'm just wondering if anything actually sells here, after spending half an hour looking at what's on offer and finding stuff for sale that had a brand new price of $2000 and the seller asking $1800! does anybody really buy used just to save that amount? I certainly wouldn't.
Maybe I'm way off the Mark but it seems to me a lot of sellers might think about being a bit more realistic?
Sorry, don't mean to offend anyone.
Steve
 
Not sure how to answer your question. If you are asking if anything sells on the forum, I'm pretty that most times than not, the item for sale finds a new home. Saving $200 is still saving $200.
 
Yep, both fair points, and I know everyone has their own valid opinion and ideas about value for money, to me 25 to 30% off is worth considering, but even finding that seems hard!
Just my thoughts broadcast.
Steve
 
I think a for a lot of people on this forum this is their first foray into pro level gear and they think things retain an unrealistic resale value. If you look at things being sold by rental houses, and people in the industry a little longer, you see prices come down a bit. Also people ask a lot at first and then they tend to drop prices slowly as the thing doesn't sell.

I've got stuff I can't give away. Make me an offer on a red CF reader or my 5" red monitor ;-) I have a clean out after a couple of years when the stuff starts to pile up. It is sad when you sell something you paid a couple of grand for for a couple hundred, but that's why we charge full rates for our gear ;-) I guess if you rent your entire package out for the price of a decent tripod, you have to charge 90% of retail when you sell it to come out even ;-)

Nick
 
Thanks Nick, that's pretty much my thoughts. When you buy used you're buying often from someone who you don't know at all, have much less comeback if something's wrong and less of a warranty-to me at least I'd want to be saving a fair bit to rake the chance.
Steve
 
I think a for a lot of people on this forum this is their first foray into pro level gear and they think things retain an unrealistic resale value. If you look at things being sold by rental houses, and people in the industry a little longer, you see prices come down a bit. Also people ask a lot at first and then they tend to drop prices slowly as the thing doesn't sell.
....
Nick

I think Nick hit the nail on the head ... I would tweak what Nick said as I think for many people it's their first foray into OWNING professional cinematography gear(i.e. old days 95% of things were rented, and/or hired out via subcontracts). It's for sure mosts peoples first time in owning professional digital cine gear. With that said, their is also a bit of Ferrari type purchases ... where people buy something fairly "cluelessly" and don't put much mileage on it compared to the high use that old school rental houses have on their gear. For example, I bought a woodencamera A box before I clued in that i need a professional sound guy (which requires gear like 744t and timecode stuff) ... so I have a A BOX that has never even been connected to a camera. If I sold that - which I don't even feel like going through the hassle of unless I know a local bay area red user that needs it - I probably would be expecting more then a used rental sale. I do worry about about independents who rent having unrealistic expectations on the rental & used sales business, but reduser is such a great place to learn the business that I think this is just part of the process. I mean where was digital cinematography 7 years ago ... no where (aside from setups like the space telescope).
 
A lot of people buy stuff because they think they will need it. Its not till you actually mount it that many realise ....no I actually don't need it. So your basically have something sitting on shelf or you offload it to someone who knows they need it for a lot less. Either way you loose money...the choice is yours.

As more people buy into RED the more this will increase....would anyone buy a quad battery module right now? Having said that I would only buy "mechanical pieces" 2nd hand....not sure I could or would put my hand into my pocket for Tech.

I guess the moral, buy new very carefully......sell or buy 2nd hand on a whim.
 
btw ... super hot tip is the battle tested gear ... super value with no worries (i love my battle tested gear. I once had a slight issue with a BT purchase, Red dealt with it immediately... which your never so sure on in a reduser purchase). I also think people that are selling should look at the BT prices that have gone up, as a reference of a max sales point.
 
I personally wouldn't pay very much for second hand RED gear, as RED says their warranty only applies to the original purchaser. Here in Finland, if I buy something second hand that's been in use for a year and had a 2 year warranty, what's left of the warranty transfers to me (as long as I also get the original receipt).

However, just look at the price of quad modules on the forums to see that not everything is going at crazy prices.
 
Anyone want to buy a Scarlet brain only for $9600? It's on here. That's a massive saving of $100 - I'm very tempted. I just can't understand what some people are thinking.
Steve
 
While I agree, Steve, that some sellers here are more than a bit optimistic in their pricing (I do get very tired of seeing the same items advertised and bumped week after week) there are many good deals to be had here on REDUser, especially for those of us looking for RED One accessories. I've been lucky enough to get some fantastic deals from REDUser, and I thank those sellers very much for them!

I think that some people value their used items based on what they paid for them, while others value them based on what they've earned with them...a very different outlook. If your kit has made you back it's initial cost many times over in jobs or rentals, than getting a few hundred bucks out of an item, instead of having sit in the back of a closet is easy to justify. Putting that money back into circulation in your inventory makes more sense than letting it gather dust.
 
For the most part I have bought great gear at great prices! I did buy a Red arm that was blown out and ended up eating it. So, there is no doubt that I must be motivated to buy used... Saving 10% does not do it for me on anything unless I really need it. For marginal savings I always prefer to buy new. On Mint condition gear that is from a trusted source or friend of a trusted source i expect an average of 25%-30% off.
 
I would never buy anything second hand for more than 60% of new price, even if it was brand sparkling new - unless it's an extremely rare item.
 
Funny how the used market fluctuates too. I sold a Red 18-50 lens on here for $2100 after a couple months. Same with my Red Rocket... someone finally bought it for $2700. But two years ago I sold Red Drives at a premium. I made about $25k profit between a new Epic-X brain and a used R1MX. And I sold the R1 after I had already made my money back a couple times over on it.
 
There is a disparity in thinking a rental house gear, used, is valued at or near an independent filmakkers gear. Here on Red user you know who is who. As a Red owner I buy and sell according to shoots, we all have to. One job you need different gear from another. The gear I sell or buy I know has very little mileage!

This is a very interesting fact, does it matter how many miles a handle has versus a SSD card!

As an independent filmmaker, we do not, or can not, recover the expense as commercial camerpeople! Therefore we try to be fair with value.

So far with Red specific products, I have not had warranty issues, knock on wood!

Therefore buying used is a necessity for me to meet clients needs, at their competitive contracts. Then reselling when the contract ends, recovering some profit. Even at 25-50 percent of the value.

The difficulty is when you buy a SSD card at $950.00 plus shipping and tax, and the value for a new one changes and it is worth $725.00 and you never used it!

I for one look at who is selling, that is the difference here on Reduser vs EBay or Craig's list!

Kennan
 
Supply and demand and URGENCY determine used values first - then condition etc

People not wanting to wait the 3-5 processing days from Red plus shipping time may want think 10% is awesome
If they can get it next day

I will say this is the best for sale board on earth for most used gear - I find most everybody (except people's who on,y real purpose here is to pedal gear) are easy to work with and have integrity which is PRICELESS
 
I have sold a fair amount of Red gear on this forum, but there is a flip side to your comment. Buyers are often unrealistic as well. I've had buyers offer me 25% of the value of an item that is "New in the box". So, there are plenty of buyers who are trying to take advantage of sellers who may have hit hard times and need to sell.

My pet peeve is that many buyers will not negotiate by making an offer. I always provide an asking price for whatever I list. Often, I get emails expressing interest, but no counter offer. Instead they ask "What's the lowest price you are willing to take for the item." IMO the buyers should have the courage to make an offer that they think is fair.

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.

Rob Powell
 
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