While looking at alternatives for selling classic cameras on eBay, the timing for XSitePro V2.X couldn’t be better.

XSitePro is a tool for making your own website fast. The strongest feature is that easy to use functions are built in to market your website. This attracts visitors to your website and gives a much better chance to sell your cameras, as an alternative to putting them on eBay. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s some completely different news for those who are selling classic cameras and other stuff.

I’m often asked where to sell and the standard answer is eBay. But eBay is becoming less interesting to sell classic cameras because they and PayPal take a lot of money in exchange for the high exposure and ease of payment. And PayPal is becoming  to be mandatory as a way to accept payments on eBay (in some countries it is mandatory already).

Alternatives are dedicated auctions (which also take their share), classified ads and more. And, many collectors now have their own websites. The issue with having your own website is getting visitors. No visitors, no people buying your stuff.

Getting traffic/visitors to your website involves a lot of know-how. Believe me, I’ve paid a lot of money for knowing how to market websites. However, the trend now is that a lot of expert marketers are giving away a lot of information for f*ree. The thought behind it is they can prove they’re competent so next time they come with a product, you’ll be happy to buy because they’ve gained your trust.

So the art is now to snap up all the good quality information about marketing which is there for grabs. How to build traffic, how to build a site, how to write sales letters, the list goes on and on.

Today I received a mail from Derek Franklin. I bought from him before and know he’s a wizz kid for finding information. What he’s done now is something you don’t need if you’re not selling stuff. But if you do, you need marketing. Anyone can learn marketing. Will you pay a lot for it like I did, or use a dedicated search tool which find tons of how-to-do-marketing information for f*ree?

The tool is called “The Internet Marketing Seeker“.

I’ve shown some tricks how to find information through Google before, but this goes much further. You can check it out at Derek’s site and read what he’s asking for it. After I tried it out I think he’s crazy he’s not asking more.

So go there if you want to market your stuff, or don’t bother - it’s up to you. 

Today bidding has started at Westlicht’s Photographica Auction (requires registration).

 As proof that classic camera collecting is alive and kicking consider this new entry:

First Leica M8 produced (lot 147), estimated auction price 20,000-30,000 Euros ($31,000-$46,000).

851 lots of classic cameras will be auctioned at Westlicht Photografica Auction June 7, 2008. Bidding is also possible online.

 This is Europe’s leading auction house for collector cameras.

 You can get a free CD with all the listings and 4000 hi-res pictures here.

Or else order the catalogs on paper (that’s what I do). Together with the auction results you can build up a great reference library of rare collector’s items which you won’t find much on sites such as eBay.  

Here’s a message I got from Hammer Down Auctions:

I’m trying to get the word out about a great Vintage camera auction that will be coming up Feb.2nd at 1:00 pm central Standard time. Go to my website to see the full catalog. You can pre-bid 1 hour to the start of the auction. Sit back and listen live to the auction while its in progress. Leica, Exackta,Exa and many more.

This is one of the nicest events and the largest in Europe, organized twice a year by The Dutch Society of Photographica Collectors

This year it was ideal for both visitors and sellers. Not too crowded so it was a good opportunity to actually see the items instead of getting lost in the crowd.

Our Japanese friends walked away with massive amounts of Leicas, loads of Canons were bought by our African visitors, Hasselblads and other medium format cameras changed hands many times. Someone selling magic lanterns was sold out before noon.

Westlicht Photografica Auction in Austria has done it again: setting a world record for a collector camera.

Leica number 107 was sold to a private European collector for…..€ 336,000 Euros (that’s US$ 499,000). Proving again the classic camera collector market is alive and kicking.

This camera was part of a series of test cameras made by Leitz in 1923 to test the market. It also is one of the first Leica cameras meant for export, and sent to New York for patenting.

Westlicht has set a world record price in May 2007 also with a Daguerrotype camera.

Their next auction will be in May 2008. Owner Peter Coeln has let me know they’re now also on live eBay auctions, which means bids from all over the world can be accepted in real time through eBay.

Vintage Camera Online website (started 2006):

1. Portal to 500+ websites related to vintage photography and cinematography
2. Forum for exchange of know-how
3. This blog for latest developments
4. Increasing number of visitors

Plenty motivating testimonials (thanks!), but which direction do YOU want Vintage Camera Online to go?

Big questions:

1. What were you looking for when you found Vintage Camera Online?
2. Should Vintage Camera Online become ‘more of the same’ to keep it worth your revisiting in the future?
3. Or what else do you want to see improved  so you’ll keep revisiting Vintage Camera Online?

Please contribute by leaving comments below!

Sandra Wilson:
I inherited a camera from my father. I had no idea of what it was and accessed this site. I was delighted to find that there were just a few others of this kind mentioned and that it was actually worth around £40. I me even get around to selling it

Marjorie Winter:
Peter Kroezen and VCO have proved to be a prompt, reliable, enthusiastic provider of information on old cameras. Whenever I have contacted him, the reply has been swift and valuable.

John:
Hee Peter, vintage cameras is a sideline for me; i wish to have more time for it; maybe in the future/ your site is great, keep going; try to steer it on higher search/ i love every bit of it…and never ever give something up in which you believe, john

Ronald Jones:
An extremely useful site for me as I have a camera collection that covers most makes giving me a diverse interest in comparisons and unusual models and cofigurations, thanks for the site its invaluable.

Hermann J. Poertner:
Dear Peter, by all means, please continue this site. For every Camera Collector it has useful information, details, prices, tips. We need something like this that is independant and objective. And the networking aspect is great. Best regards, Hermann

J.A.:
Looked at the site…well done. I am not someone who is involved with photography on a daily basis…just an amateur/hobby photographer, so my opinion would not be as helpful as someone who is a professional. I appreciate that you have taken the time to put together a site on vintage cameras.

Kees Maaswinkel:
Dag Peter, Dank voor je regelmatige mails. Ik vind je site heel informatief. Zou willen dat ik meer tijd had er door te brengen. Blijf graag je mails ontvangen. Groet. Kees

Frederick J. Dole
Dear Sir: Your Site is great, I had no idea what my collection was worth and what was worthwhile in my collection of cameras I truly appreciate your emails to me. Thank You

Oliver:
My father was a professional photographer from 1936 until 1950. I’ve inherited all his equipment (cameras, darkroom equipment, enlarge, enamel and glass trays, contact printer, you name it………books too. After receiving and reading Peter Kroezen’s, guide to determine vintage camera I’ve learned so much. The guide is very easy to understand, and he’s put a lot of time into it. I applaud Peter for his willingness to share his knowledge with everyone. Thank you a hundred times over.  Ollie
 

Paul Curtis:
Hello Peter. Your website is a valuable tool and rich in information for anyone with an interest in buying of selling old cameras. Cheers Paul

Thanks! It’s really motivating. PK.

Rudolf Hillebrand, the man behind the excellent Photo Deal magazine (see previous post) is very interested in someone able to translate German to English with knowledge of classic photography.

If you want to be one of the cornerstones of an exciting new international classic photography magazine, you’ll find details in the forum.