17-40L needs autofocus repair just as I want to sell.. what to do?

I've been wanting to consolidate my lens collection to save a bit of money, so was planning on selling my 17-40L. It's in great condition except I found the autofocus is now dodgy (hunts for ages, rarely settles in the right place). I sent it off to get a quote from an authorised Canon repairer here in the UK and they quoted £200 (£100 parts, rest labour and VAT). However since I was planning to sell (and since a good second hand price on ebay is around £300-£350), I'm not sure what to do!

Would somebody want this as a manual focus only? If so what price would you put on a lens that is still optically solid, but manual focus only?

Thanks!

Try selling it as-is with full disclosure, you might be surprised.

I agree. If it were mine, I'd try selling it "as is" & note what you said about the repair costs, because some people might not need the AF & would prefer the lower price. You can always fix it if it doesn't sell.

I'm a tinkerer, in this case the price that would get me, would be about 175. I'd be out 275 and the effort of replacing, I got a good deal but you didn't have to go 325 - repair cost = 125.

Agreed with the above posters. As-Is with full disclosure. Someone might want manual focus only and some people do their own repairs.

Thanks for the replies! I guess I'll get it back, then put it up for sale and see what happens..

If it typically sells for 300, and you write repair is 200, I doubt anyone will go over 100 if it's an auction with a low starting price

Never underestimate the stupidity of the eBay market for lenses. Ive seen some used low end lenses sell for more than their new price. You may find some newby who never thought they would own an L jump in with both feet.

Since it appears that you want to be up front about the lens' condition, and aren't interested in taking some unsuspecting newbie for a ride, it just comes down to the math. The top price of 350 - 200 repair estimate leaves a best case scenario of 150 net to you if you repair. Put it out there for 175 "as-is" with full disclosure, and then take the best offer you receive and put it behind you.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17610581
Never underestimate the stupidity of the eBay market for lenses. Ive seen some used low end lenses sell for more than their new price. You may find some newby who never thought they would own an L jump in with both feet.

This is what I would do. Ebay buyers can be very silly, just make sure you correctly describe the items condition, so the buyer has no comeback.

I used to do contract design work for a guy who built clay pigeon traps. He would often refurbish old traps that he had taken in PX, and they would pretty much always sell on the bay for more than a new trap. Actually he could put new traps on the longest auctions, and would usually sell three or four off of the "advertising" that the auction provided, with the trap eventually selling for more above retail to comfortably off set the Ebay fees.

Alan

jsgreen89 wrote in post #17610061
I've been wanting to consolidate my lens collection to save a bit of money, so was planning on selling my 17-40L. It's in great condition except I found the autofocus is now dodgy (hunts for ages, rarely settles in the right place). I sent it off to get a quote from an authorised Canon repairer here in the UK and they quoted £200 (£100 parts, rest labour and VAT). However since I was planning to sell (and since a good second hand price on ebay is around £300-£350), I'm not sure what to do!

Would somebody want this as a manual focus only? If so what price would you put on a lens that is still optically solid, but manual focus only?

Thanks!

Heya,

I found sell it as manual only. I'm the kind of person that sees an ultrawide and knows I won't need AF, ever, nor will even use AF (will be set to M all the time) on that kind of lens, as I'm always stopping it down to at least F8, F11, F16, and using hyperfocal distance focusing for landscape and other stuff. Just my own thoughts on that basically. And seeing an optically good lens with good focal range and good flare resistance, like the 17-40L, minus the cost for autofocus, screams "buy me" to someone like me.

I'm sure there are others like this.

So I would sell it as is, with full transparency, and discount it enough to make it an actual deal (if you're doing 300~350 in UK, maybe look to 200~250?).

Very best,