Oh, I'll share now. It's actually surprisingly simple. The biggest success
has been posting Want To Buy (WTB) notices on the rec.photo.35mm.marketplace
newsgroup. I've had probably 5 or 6 responses to that and bought all but
one. Generally I can offer a reasonably fair price that is still a good
deal for me. Occasionally I pick up a piece on ebay, but not very often any
more as I'm learning prices better and can stop when they get too high. I
also check out the other auction sites, including auctions.excite.com,
auctions.yahoo.com and auctions.amazon.com. Honestly, in all that
searching, I've only found one purchase and that was on yahoo's auction site
(an OM-2S). I thought I'd overpaid for it, but it came with a nice generic
winder that sold on ebay for more than I thought, so the 2S ended up being a
good deal, especially since its perfect (not even brassing on the film box
holder).
I also keep an eye on www.classifieds2000.com. I also watch the
rec.photo.35mm.marketplace newsgroup as occasionally people post that
they're selling OM stuff. A couple of pieces I found at online dealers that
were willing to deal if I bought more than one item (just got a 100 2.8, 85
2 and an F280 in the mail today in just that kind of deal). Dealers don't
get me the perfect deal, just stuff I really wanted.
Lastly, I get an occasional email from a list member offering me something,
sometimes for a trade (with or without cash). That's how I got an OM-3, an
85-250 and a 180 f/2.8 (what a beautiful lens), in three separate deals.
This doesn't get me great deals, but fair ones, on the items I really want.
We seem to be good to each other.
Oh yes. Watch ebay closely. When items don't meet their reserve,
particularly for items where the reserve is way too high (happens often), I
email the seller and see if they want to do a deal. Bought an OM-2n setup
tonight that way.
Bought another very nice set of lenses yesterday, mostly macro lenses with
the 65-116 tube. Nice stuff.
Last hint. Good deals don't come in individual lenses or bodies. Good
deals come in very large collections, multiple bodies, multiple lenses.
Takes a lot of work to sell some of the pieces, but you get to keep the
prizes.
Probably shouldn't share my secrets, but maybe it will be my own little 12
step program to slow me down <grin>
Tom
> Bob,
> I for one believe that, on something as massive as the internet, you
> can use all the help you can get. A prime example of this is a certain
> current list member whom is in the throes of a massive buying spree. I
> (and about 50 others on the list) would like to know where his sources
> are. Maybe, after he is done and satiated (finally!!), he will share
> this information with the rest of us.
> Still Searching,
> Rand E.
>
>
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