Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics selling used scope pricing advice sought

I've accumulated several scopes that I should sell a few.

Whats the rule on pricing them?
See what EBAY is doing?
A percentage of new?

What if they are not made anymore so how do you do pricing?
Best venue to sell - Craigslist, FB Marketplace, Forum classifieds?

Any finally, any marketing advice? how to stage the add, data to put in, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Just list them out right here in this thread. You’ll get pricing feedback fairly quick

See what a comparable scope is going for on Ebay, deducting the fees and shipping. That would be a good benchmark.
Checking the sold listings helps see what they got bid up to.

Forum listings are pretty simple. You can always text or email pictures to serious buyers if you don't want to deal with posting pictures.

Main thing is to describe the condition accurately.

I wouldn't even mess with Craigslist or FB Marketplace for scope listings. You will just get a bunch of tire kickers and scammers.

Some brands bring a premium, often selling for more than they sold for when new.

Some brands are hardly worth the time time it takes to pack and ship them.

Ebay moves a lot of product, so there is probably enough sales data there to give you a good idea what scopes like you are selling are actually going for.

There are also geography variables, in that some brands and models are more popular in some areas than in others.

Whatcha got?

For scopes, I always check ebay. I always have ones I think I may run across, or have in my collection, on my watch list. When they sell, I go back and see how much they sold for. If you have a few of those in your watch list, that gives you a great average. Some guys here may not like that, and I don't sell here, if I want top dollar. These guys want a $350.00 gloss or silver Leupold for $149.00. Be prepared to lower your price substantially if you are selling scopes in the classifieds here. Sounds like you don't sell on ebay, since you are asking this type of question.

I don't sell on ebay and rarley buy on it. I'm getting to the point I'm thinning down my stuff because I've gone through my second estate cleaning and its painful...

I used to sell stuff here on the classified when I had a UPS station at my workplace. I may try ebay on some of these.

I will get the list together on the weekend and put some here.

Good photos are mandatory if you want to sell them quickly and get top dollar. Show the scope itself, the condition of the glass, and the reticle. Just posting "...it's X manufacturer's 5$Lb-N reticle..." is not enough because accurate depictions of reticles can be hard to find.

Beyond that, I'd look through the threads selling scopes here and make sure you answer the most common questions: tube diameter, weight, finish, and other specifications. Describe any nicks, dings, ring marks, or other flaws, and have pictures of them specifically.

State where it was made if you know. There can be big differences in the value of scopes made in Country A vs. Country B.

Describe the eye box. You can list a figure in inches but it helps to say, "The eye box on this one is large/small/whatever."

I also describe the rifle(s) on which that the scope has been used. The fact that it's been on a 308 or 270 with no problem is very different the fact that it's been on a lightweight 416.


Okie John