price of cams

Now im no expert in this department but recently I've been buying cams off this place and I thought $35 a cam is a solid deal for most cams maybe 45 for the bigger ones. Can someone explain to me why people charge 200 for just #2,3,4 when they're like 240 new and then i get an email saying they're like 250 new at to that i said when they WERE new not anymore. People get butthurt over that.

So heres the million dollar question what do y'all expect to pay for USED cams. I think im missing something here....

Yeah, 35, 45 bucks for bd’s, wc’s, dmm, metolious, aliens. Maybe 65 if it’s a black totem. $50 for the rest of totem. $15 for rigid stems and flex cams. $4 a nut. $20-$25 for older model camalots

You're not missing anything, Alec. Many posters on MP with completely unrealistic prices with the seller bumping their thread 10-20 times. It's delusional, your gear isn't worth half what you're asking!

It's almost as bad as Craigslist!

One thing to keep in mind is that Black Diamond has been rearranging their cam lineup the last couple of years.  First the 3 cam units went away.  The old style C4 Camalots went for unprecedented prices.  Now they are changing out the X4 for the Z4.  We'll see if the adorable cam craze stays after the X4 inventory sells.  

I think some sellers set their pricing based on “full price” for new stuff, ignoring how easy it is to find discounts on pretty much anything other than Totems. I got a set of WC Friends from Campsaver a few weeks ago for $50/cam, and I see the same cams listed for $50-$55 each used pretty regularly. 

I've seen people (not so much on here, but on local FB marketplace pages) price out U-Stem camalots based on new C4 pricing....

40% off for "like new" used cams of a recent generation gets my interest. Must higher than that and I'd rather pay 25% for "actually new."

For me personally ive been trying to buy cams for a while now... Like honestly the sole reason why i dont have new cams is because im still in school and climbing trad is expensive. I got on mp and this guy wanted to sell me a number 2,3,4 granted the number 4 did look like it wasn't placed he wanted 170 for the 3 cams. I sent him a dm saying 110 for the 3 which i genuinely thought was a good price. 35 a cam is solid.....I then get an email saying these are 240 new.

All in all like I understand its your gear you want to sell but understand this is a buyers market. Ifyou dont make your stuff marketable enough or worth you're while then no one is gonna buy it from you... I dont care how mint it is but like new is still used and isn't solidifying tye face that yea you coukd get most this shit for 25% off somewhere new. So might as well account for it when its used.

Honestly in my personal opinion which you dont have to listen to btw.... It doesn't help new trad climbers get used gear it hurts them.

Jeff Luton wrote: Yeah, 35, 45 bucks for bd’s, metolious, aliens. Wc’s, dmm - free. Maybe 65 if it’s a black totem. $50 for the rest of totem. $15 for rigid stems and flex cams. $4 a nut. $20-$25 for older model camalots

FTFY

Crag Hag wrote:

FTFY

Lol yeah I’ve never bought one either

Colin Porter wrote: You're not missing anything, Alec. Many posters on MP with completely unrealistic prices with the seller bumping their thread 10-20 times. It's delusional, your gear isn't worth half what you're asking!

Yup, I guess some people are unfamiliar with the concept of supply and demand. 

Good advice above about fair used prices being lower than the 20-25% off retail sales that happen quite often for new gear. New sales often include free shipping, so take that into account too. So figure at least 30-35% off retail for a never placed cam. 35-45% off for almost new. etc. And that's for desirable/modern gear.

Camalot C4s were updated in 2019. 10% lighter, etc. So older ones should cost less.

Cams that get top dollar (based on the above percent off retail): totems. C3s. Latest C4s. Maybe some other new designs like maybe Z4s or Alien Revolutions.

The older / more outdated the gear the more you have to discount.

The bigger the bundle the more you have to discount.

It cracks me up when someone wants to sell a big rack of old gear for like $2000 and say "I don't want to split it up". I guess because they think they paid $3000 for it over that last couple decades it's still worth anything related to what they paid for it. If you want to make top dollar you have to sell each piece individually because no one wants the exact same pile of gear that you have, so they won't pay full price. If you want to unload everything easily you have to discount enough to make it worth it for people to either not care about getting gear they don't want, or they can turn around and sell some gear to recoup their costs, or simply sell everything individually at higher per pieces prices if it's worth their time.

60-65% of retail for stuff in good condition.