Adorama exchange/program

[KTHXBAI]

I was thinking of purchasing the a 55-300mm lens from Nikon via adorma. I recently purchased a Sigma 10-20mm and love it and got it at a good price. I saw that they had a "sell your used equipment section" and I was thinking of selling my 55-200mm nikon as I clearly won't use it after I get the 300mm. Has anyone had any experience with selling used equipment to Adorama or others?

Thanks.

Mike

[rpcrowe]

There are advantages and disadvantages to selling gear to a commercial organization instead of selling it directly to a private buyer...

IMO, the advantages are that it can be quicker, easier and perhaps safer. You don't have to advertise your gear on a used photo equipment site, on eBay or on craigslist.com. When you get a quote from the company to which you will sell, you either accept or don't accept their price, ship the piece of gear off to them and that is it. You don't have to worry about finding a buyer or if, especially on craigslist.com, the buyer is honest. We have recently experienced a terrible incident in San Diego in which a seller of a piece of gear was robbed and killed. I personally would never advertise an expensive piece of gear on craigslist.com because of the inherent danger.

IMO, the major disadvantage of selling to a commercial outlet is that they have to turn around your gear to make a profit. That usually means that you will get a lower price for the gear than if you sold it privately to an individual.

[bmedia]

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Do business with Adorama at your own risk!

I just used this program and they completely ripped me off.

I sent them a Canon Rebel XL ($325), Canon 17-85mm USM lens ($550+), Canon 100-400mm USM lens ($1600+), 2 Canon HV20 camcorders ($1100+ x2), all the cables, extra batteries, hdmi cables, cleaning kit, all sorts of accessories ($200), a Canon Gear Bag ($50) and a Lowe Pro backpack ($75+).
We're talking over $4000 retail worth of gear.

They quoted me $2100 if everything was in good condition, which my gear was kept in pristine condition. I was hesitant but I had a shoot coming up and didn't have time to sell it privately, so I accepted the offer and shipped them my gear

As soon as they received my gear the bulls#it started and I knew they were playing me...

First I started to get handed around through the usual lame a$$ process of this guy has to review this, then this guy has to do this, etc., etc. It's the same thing they do at used car lots...shuffle you around, wasting your time to make you feel rushed, then they start playing with your head about value and whether you "qualify."

Adorama did the same horse s#it here.

Next thing I knew I was being offer $1500 for my gear - thats $700 less than what they told me in the quote!

The guy said that I was only eligible to receive up to a max of 70% of my quote.
Well first off they never mentioned that ONCE during the process of getting my gear.

And I knew what was going on when this pushy hard lined jern got on the phone and started with all his "closing" tactics. Im a marketer by trade - I knew exactly what the hell he was doing.

But I was in a rush, I had a shoot that week and they had already wasted 5 days with their lame "processing." They wouldn't even cut me a break after I offered to order everything I needed from them! Which their prices were at least 10%+ more than Amazon.

They had my gear and was in a pinch, so I took the money and had to cut my planned purchase by $700.

Did they break the law?... No.
Do I think it's a scam? ... Hell Yes!

I WILL NEVER do business with them again and I will make it a personal mission to steer as many people away from them as I can. I HATE businesses that pray on consumers like this using these tactics.

~RB
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