Scuba Gear Resale Values

[jcm]

So I got my girlfriend certified not to long ago and have been checking online for used gear to find a nice setup for her but not brake the bank. One thing I thought when looking around is how good scuba equipment seems to hold its value. I would think there would be a lot of people that get in to the sport buy all the gear life gets in way never use it and want to sell the stuff. Like every other hobby. I looked at the equipment I bought new in 06 to see what it is going for on eBay and Craigslist and I bet I could get2/3 of what I payed for it new. It just surprised me on what the resale market is like on scuba gear.

 

[Damselfish]

Prices will be all over the place. You'll occasionally find a great deal, but you'll also find many qsking prices that are way too high, posted by someone who thinks the gear they paid too much for new and haven't used much is worth nearly the same, and occasionally someone might bite.

2/3 seems high, often people give 1/2 as a rule of thumb to start for used gear. Are you looking at postings for stuff that has actually sold?

 

[Nemrod]

You can ask for the moon, you might only get a piece of cheese.

N

 

[gcarter]

I will very rarely pay more than 50% of retail (for anything used, not just scuba gear). I really don't care what it cost new and have no way of verifying how many times it was used, nor do I care. If it is worth so much to the seller, they should probably keep it Particularly with gear that needs regular servicing, paying more than 50% + servicing costs will often put you squarely in the realm of new cost. I would not buy exposure gear used for myself at all regardless of cost.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I would agree with Damselfish, there are tons of people that way overprice their gear for sale. Asking prices are not selling price. The worst case is someone who purchased at MSRP from their LDS, not only is their gear used but they are competing against the internet sites like LP that sell new at significant discounts (grey market, whatever).

There are some exceptions, steel tanks hold their value well for example. Regulators from top tier manufacturers are not too bad either. Both of these last a really long time with proper care. On the other hand, I purchased my DUI dry suite with fins, bags, boots, spare seals and all the other goodies for 1/3 the price new. It had 10 dives on it.

 

[ams511]

The eBay market is very wide but not very deep. Look at an auction for scuba gear and you generally see only a handful of bidders. So selling prices on eBay is a crap shoot at best. Usually the highest prices are when a few people bid against each other to get something. What I find is that auctions I bid on go expensive and those I don't go cheap. The reason is that my bids are making the price increase for other bidders.

 

[WB2GLP]

Resale value by brand varies just like the auto industry. You will find the Honda's that hold value longer like Scubapro and you will find those that don't. Im not going to name names, well, maybe just one: Dacor.

Nothing wrong with Dacor regs. I own a few myself. They were the Chevy of the industry for many years, but now...they're a Saturn. Excellent in their day, but have fun getting parts and service in the future. Not that you can't get basic service parts because you can. But that doesn't change perception and attitude toward the brand.

It's not unusual to see a clean set of SP 109's with an MK5 or 10 sell for more than other brands of similar vintage and later.

 

[Angry Turtle]

The eBay market is very wide but not very deep. Look at an auction for scuba gear and you generally see only a handful of bidders. So selling prices on eBay is a crap shoot at best. Usually the highest prices are when a few people bid against each other to get something. What I find is that auctions I bid on go expensive and those I don't go cheap. The reason is that my bids are making the price increase for other bidders.

you are doing it wrong :cool2:

 

[herbdb]

As mentioned above you need to be careful buying items that require servicing. I have purchased used regs here. They service them before resale so you know the total cost of a reg yhats ready to use before you buy. Northeast Scuba Supply - Northeast Scuba Supply

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

The eBay market is very wide but not very deep. Look at an auction for scuba gear and you generally see only a handful of bidders. So selling prices on eBay is a crap shoot at best. Usually the highest prices are when a few people bid against each other to get something. What I find is that auctions I bid on go expensive and those I don't go cheap. The reason is that my bids are making the price increase for other bidders.

Just to add to that a bit. If an item is listed as buy-now from an individual, you are most likely running into people how are essentially fishing for a sucker. Some are aggressive sellers, others are just inexperienced and don't know the real value of their goods, only what they paid for them. They loose most of the time (hence the high number of items not sold), but there are enough suckers to make it worthwhile. Companies on the other hand tend to have a more accurate view of the value of the goods and if you find one really trying to dispose of un-needed goods, you may get a deal. You have to know your prices to tell the difference.

If it is a true auction, which are designed to maximize the selling price, its very simple. Their effectiveness depends on the size of the pool of the people bidding. Ebay is very large and the pool so big its hard to get a good deal. One way to do this is to use one of the tools that will bid for you in the last few seconds of the auction, much faster than a human. If you avail yourself of these tools, then the pool of people you are effectively bidding against is smaller (only those using similar tools) and you have a better change of winning an item.