Adorama???

Hi Helen,

First of all, although I've never tried to communicate with you directly before, I have seen over the years that you have done a great job helping people get the best out of their interactions with Adorama, so thanks for that. I've been an Adorama customer for a long time, and am quite happy with them.

I do have a question about their used stuff, specifically this item: https://www.adorama.co​m/us%20%20%20%20935561​.html (Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm F2 Aspherical Macro Lens for Sony E Mount Cameras). There are 3 of them available used for $40 less than retail. This seems odd to me although I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation... why so little off for a used item? If one was available for, say $900, I'd snap one up!

Thanks.

philodelphi wrote in post #18550994
Hi Helen,

First of all, although I've never tried to communicate with you directly before, I have seen over the years that you have done a great job helping people get the best out of their interactions with Adorama, so thanks for that. I've been an Adorama customer for a long time, and am quite happy with them.

I do have a question about their used stuff, specifically this item: https://www.adorama.co​m/us%20%20%20%20935561​.html (Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm F2 Aspherical Macro Lens for Sony E Mount Cameras). There are 3 of them available used for $40 less than retail. This seems odd to me although I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation... why so little off for a used item? If one was available for, say $900, I'd snap one up!

Thanks.

If rated D, most often it means it was opened up in the store to show a customer, or returned as a 'change-of-mind', and is literally unused.

If you email me, though, with your contact details: Helen@adorama.com I can have someone who knows the piece talk to you about it

philodelphi wrote in post #18550994
I do have a question about their used stuff, specifically this item: https://www.adorama.co​m/us%20%20%20%20935561​.html (Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm F2 Aspherical Macro Lens for Sony E Mount Cameras). There are 3 of them available used for $40 less than retail. This seems odd to me although I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation... why so little off for a used item? If one was available for, say $900, I'd snap one up!

I am also curious about this used listing. . It says that the item rating is a "D". . Yet I did not see anywhere on the item listing an explanation of the grading system.

And when I tried to click on the text: USED - RATING D, nothing happened because this is not a clickable button like it should be.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18551005
I am also curious about this used listing. . It says that the item rating is a "D". . Yet I did not see anywhere on the item listing an explanation of the grading system.

And when I tried to click on the text: USED - RATING D, nothing happened because this is not a clickable button like it should be.

Hosted photo: posted by Tom Reichner in
./showthread.php?p=185​51005&i=i72018405
forum: Market Watch

I am also surprised at the complete lack of any information about this particular lens. . All I see is general info about this model of lens.

But no info at all about THIS lens. While a photo of a used item is usually useless, a written description that details the item's history and condition is invaluable.

Looks like a web glitch - you should have seen: "D Little or no signs of wear". Thanks for the heads up - I reported it to the web team

I buy a lot from them used when I can, never had an issue and the return policy is pretty generous.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18551005
I am also surprised at the complete lack of any information about this particular lens. . All I see is general info about this model of lens. . But no info at all about THIS lens. . While a photo of a used item is usually useless, a written description that details the item's history and condition is invaluable. . I do not understand why no one at Adorama entered any of this information

On the "Spec" tab

Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm F2 Aspherical Macro Lens for Sony E Mount Cameras Features
Designed for full-frame E-mount cameras, and is s also compatible with APS-C format systems (equivalent focal length of 97.5mm)
Apochromatic design reduces the longitudinal chromatic aberrations of the three primary colors (RGB) of light to practically zero
One aspherical element to control spherical aberrations
Manual focus for precise focusing
The manual aperture ring
Ten-blade diaphragm contributes to a smooth quality of bokeh.
Contacts transfer all Exif data between the camera and lens in order to permit full use of camera functions, including focus magnification, image stabilization, and lens corrections.
Extremely solid and durable all-metal barrel

John from PA wrote in post #18551314
On the "Spec" tab

Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm F2 Aspherical Macro Lens for Sony E Mount Cameras Features
Designed for full-frame E-mount cameras, and is s also compatible with APS-C format systems (equivalent focal length of 97.5mm)
Apochromatic design reduces the longitudinal chromatic aberrations of the three primary colors (RGB) of light to practically zero
One aspherical element to control spherical aberrations
Manual focus for precise focusing
The manual aperture ring
Ten-blade diaphragm contributes to a smooth quality of bokeh.
Contacts transfer all Exif data between the camera and lens in order to permit full use of camera functions, including focus magnification, image stabilization, and lens corrections.
Extremely solid and durable all-metal barrel

Yes, of course.

That is all info about this particular lens model, as I said clearly in my post.

What is missing from the listing is specific information about this one individual copy of the lens.

I thought that I worded my post (post #18) in a way that made this point extremely clear, yet it seems to have still been misinterpreted.


.

Tom, I cordially disagree with you that images of an used item are useless. They do show some history of the lens by how well or not well it was maintained.

As to your last question on post 18, what kind of history would you like to see?

I've bought used from Adorama (and B&H) and have never been disappointed with their descriptions. Due to the volume of sales I can understand if they don't always have time to photograph, edit and publish used gear on their sites. It'd be a nightmare IMO.

As for the Voightlander 65mm Lanthar. Not sure it needs anything but "buy me" in the description. Just grabbed one and am over-joyed with it on my a7RII. Amazing lens!

Buckeye1 wrote in post #18551355
As to your last question on post 18, what kind of history would you like to see?

Something such as:

"Overstock return; lens was never sold retail and is in it's original unopened box. . The only reason it is not being sold as "NEW" is because we did not receive this lens directly from the manufacturer, and the agreements we have with lens manufacturers do not permit us to sell any lens as "NEW" unless we are the original retailer. . This is one of 4 such lenses acquired from another retailer last month"

or

"This lens was originally sold by us in November of 2017, and returned to us in perfect condition within our 14 day return period. . The packaging was opened by the purchaser, but there are no signs of use or wear on the lens"

Basically, I would just want to know the story behind the lens and how it is that it came to be getting sold as used goods, despite the fact that it may actually be a new lens. . The fact that there are 4 such lenses available at precisely the same time would make me curious as to the source of the lot and the backstory.

In sales, generally speaking, the more information that one can provide about an item, the easier it will be to sell the item, all else being equal.


.

That's fair, Tom.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18551407
Something such as:

"Overstock return; lens was never sold retail and is in it's original unopened box. . The only reason it is not being sold as "NEW" is because we did not receive this lens directly from the manufacturer, and the agreements we have with lens manufacturers do not permit us to sell any lens as "NEW" unless we are the original retailer. . This is one of 4 such lenses acquired from another retailer last month"

or

"This lens was originally sold by us in November of 2017, and returned to us in perfect condition within our 14 day return period. . The packaging was opened by the purchaser, but there are no signs of use or wear on the lens"

Basically, I would just want to know the story behind the lens and how it is that it came to be getting sold as used goods, despite the fact that it may actually be a new lens. . The fact that there are 4 such lenses available at precisely the same time would make me curious as to the source of the lot and the backstory.

In sales, generally speaking, the more information that one can provide about an item, the easier it will be to sell the item, all else being equal.

.

Sounds great, but it can't be done - not without increasing the costs of used items significantly.

We have maybe 50,000 used items in the warehouse; for each unit, there could be a dozen or 20 copies; some of them will be rated exactly the same. To record the history of each piece would be.........

AND, we would be reliant upon a seller giving Adorama an accurate history! Imagine, we tell the buyer that item X was owned by a dear, sweet little old lady who only took pics of her grandchildren, and somehow or another it turned out to have been strapped underneath a Lear Jet ..... http://pizzainmotion.b​oardingarea.com …ap-camera-bottom-learjet/

eth3rton wrote in post #18551387
I've bought used from Adorama (and B&H) and have never been disappointed with their descriptions. Due to the volume of sales I can understand if they don't always have time to photograph, edit and publish used gear on their sites. It'd be a nightmare IMO.

As for the Voightlander 65mm Lanthar. Not sure it needs anything but "buy me" in the description. Just grabbed one and am over-joyed with it on my a7RII. Amazing lens!

Not publishing actual images isn't so much to do with volume of sales, but that our website isn't built like, for example, eBay. All the camera images you see are sent to us by the manufacturers as a series of codes. Which is why you may well not see any image at all for a really old piece .

I've bought used from adorama before .

Most times worked out.. once a lens felt "greasy" and had green "dust " .. in all the creases
Not sure what that was about , but thansk to the hassle free return policy it was easily resolved
If I recall correctly it had a " -E " rating .

Anything else ive gotten with an E+ Or D has always been in excellent condition.

Sure as the buyer id like to see pics and a history of who owned and how many owners .."owned by an elderly non smoker with no pets , only used once every other month"
That would be awesome!!
But as things are with how they do it , it's worked out for me

Hadn't checked while busy doing other stuff but see the thread took off while I've been away. First off, Helen has been very helpful in moving things along with my request for photos of the cameras. Second, I don't believe it is unreasonable to request photos of items in the $2000 and up price range. I understand not every item can be individually photographed, especially when dealing in the tens of thousands of items that a business such as Adorama carries but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a pricing cut off point where items are at least shown 1 or 2 pics of for potential buyers.

With that being said I am often involved with customer service where I am employed. I manage a rather large optical lab and when dealing with thousands of customers every day there are always some accounts or individual jobs marked as hot, meaning they get walked through from station to station until they are shipped to the customer. It doesn't matter how well we as a group did the day before, it only matters how well we do each day and for each customer. I let every employee know that I don't see jobs at their stations but instead customers that trust us with their products and if we fail to provide excellent service and a quality product they will move on to a new lab that will. With competition coming from every conceivable direction in today's marketplace every customer counts.