Waiting, Watching, Wishing
I’m not sure I’m cut out to sell things on eBay. Sitting around for 7-10 days hoping somebody bids on my stuff, unable to not check it for more than an hour or two… it’s annoying. You’re probably wondering what stuff, and why don’t I need it anymore, so let’s rewind.
I have this fun photography hobby that started about two years ago, when I bought a Digital Rebel XT and started taking pictures of everything. I’ve since upgraded to the XTi, bought 8 additional lenses (sold one, gave one away) and a bunch of other gear like a tripod and monopod and lots of bags to carry it all. I’m definitely not a pro, although I like to think I’ve become reasonably good at this picture-taking-stuff. I’ve reached a point where I do this enough that it makes sense to upgrade to a better body, so either the 40D or the 5D , which are pretty comparable feature wise, with the exception that the 5D has much higher image quality and is full-frame (I’m not buying all new lenses, so switching to Nikon is totally out of the question). Anyways, after a little cost analysis I discovered it’ll cost me roughly the same to get either new body after selling the lenses I would no longer need… so I’ve decided it’s time to upgrade to the Canon EOS 5D.
Now, this brings us back to the selling part. First of all, I don’t have a spare $2000 for a new camera (see the previously mentioned posts about my wisdom teeth). Now I have a lens I never use anymore (Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM) and a lens that won’t physically fit on the 5D (Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM), so selling them to cover some of the cost was a no-brainer. I’m also getting a new lens with the new camera, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, which is superbly sharp and will be a beautiful piece of machinery to work with. That will replace my Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens, which is really my least favorite of all them anyways. Best part is the new lens comes in a package with the new camera, so it saves about $500 over buying them separately.
So having resolved to make the upgrade I got ready to sell my old lenses. I’ll sell my Digital Rebel XTi eventually, but I can’t bear the thought of being without a “real” camera for more than a week or so. I’ve done a little bit of stuff on eBay, mostly buying though – and it’s taken me since 1999 to achieve a whopping feedback score of 10. Anyways, long story short their wizard to sell things is very slick, and it’s really easy to post an auction which I thought was refreshing (and comforting). Having posted them… I was then confronted with the crux of the problem…
Having to wait.
And watch.
And wish.
I’m 2 days into into the auctions… neither of which is at the reserve yet, although one of the lenses is almost 2/3 of the way there. The other is still going for a staggering dollar, which I think makes me want to check it even more often. It’s not like I’m worried that they won’t sell, or that I’ll get scammed… it’s just the anticipation of wanting to always know the status bugs me more often than I’d like. It can’t help that I’m very excited about the new stuff I’ll be replacing it with. 
So anyways, if you’d like to wait, watch, and wish with me, here’s the two auctions I’ve got going. I may end up posting the telephoto lens on eBay as well, but I’m waiting on a lead from an individual on a photography forum I frequent that was interested – frankly the idea of a simple price negotiation seems so much simpler to me.
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