My experience:

I have bought OVER 375 brilliant, telescopes from eBay over the years that have been very good value for money and excellent quality. It might also be prudent to mention that I have never bought a bad telescope from an eBay seller.

It's true that some of them have needed some tidying up and parts bought, but the optics and basic telescope have always been good value and there have been very very few, maybe four, that have arrived damaged. (1%)

It is silly to say, 'ALL telescopes on eBay are poor.' 

They're NOT!

 Picture: All of these telescopes were eBay buys,

and all were exceptionally good optically and complete.

Minimizing the risk:

What you have to do, when buying anything from eBay, is to look very carefully at the item and the seller. This information is easy to find and takes a few minutes to assess. If the item is brand new in box, you can be reasonably sure it will be very good (As long as the manufacturer is good and the specification is what you need).

You can check on the seller's performance quite easily and avoid sellers who have had problems delivering their promises in the past. If the item is second hand, you have to do a bit of research...  more on that later.

Picture: This Kepler Optik, 160mm f8 Parabolic Newtonian was a beautiful telescope. This scope was ex-display from a local binocular supplier who decided not to branch out into telescopes after they had ordered this one... It was absolutely as new when collected from the shop and complete, with three eyepieces, a 2xBarlow, tools, manual and original boxes and packing materials... In other words, NEW. 

The Kepler Optik 160 gave superb images and was just £80 sourced from eBay. (They also let me have a Kepler Optik 110mm Newtonian for £30.)

What to look out for:

Second hand telescopes are usually just as good as new ones, only at a much lower price. For the beginner this can be crucial and an opportunity not to be missed (Far from the opportunity to be avoided, according to the doom-sayers on-line!)

Suppose you have saved up £150 to spend on a telescope... It may be that you can afford a brand new 114mm spherically figured National Geographic Newtonian from Amazon, which is a very so-so instrument if you're a serious about the hobby. But, you can easily afford this 160mm Kepler Optik telescope listed on eBay. The Kepler Optik would be a fantastic start in the hobby much better than the awful 114mm telescope. Remember, do your homework on the telescope specification and the seller's reputation.

Reaserch Your Prospective Buys:

If you're interested in a telescope you have seen on eBay, have a look at the manufacturer's website and read their information on the particular model. Don't worry if the telescope is not a current design - Quite often (annoyingly often!) they 'improve' a telescope or replace it, and the one they replace it with is not as good. This happens all too frequently, particularly with Celestron (Who used to be one of the top quality suppliers. They are now one of the top volume suppliers).  If it is Newtonian in design, make sure it is parabolic and not spherically figured or a Bird-Jones design (See Newtonian Mirrors) page.

Read the eBay listing very carefully and see if the seller seems to be an experienced telescope user or if they're waffling and trying to sound scientific. If they don't know what they're talking about, there's a good chance the auction will finish at quite a low amount! If they reasonably follow the manufacturer's information in their description, talk about the capabilities and know all about the telescope, then you could also be onto a good deal, but pay a little more. You can easily get a feel for whether the seller is trying it on, or if they're honestly selling a telescope that will perform as it should.

Try to spot missing parts or damage when you are looking at the auction pictures. Look for important missing parts. This is your chance to avoid telescopes that will cost a lot to refurbish.  A lens cap, eyepiece or even a finder-scope missing shouldn't be much of a problem, but a counterweight and bar, flexy control knobs, or a tripod spreader missing is very costly!

Condition of second-hand buys:

If you're looking for an 'as new' telescope in the box with everything present, you will have to be more patient. However, they do come up on sale regularly, and you will save money on the new price (Unless it's near Xmas when good salesmen, like me, can get more than the new price for a decent telescope!)

Many telescopes offered on ebay are being sold by people who have no idea about them. There are usually missing eyepieces or missing finders. Or indeed, they claim the scope has "extra lenses" when, in fact it has the exact number of eyepieces it came with from the manufacturer! I think it would be safe to say that you can expect at the very least to have to clean the telescope. At the other end of the scale, you might have to buy several parts, respray the tube, and clean the thing!  The saddest statement is, "Bought and assembled, but never used!" - What a shame.

The possible poor condition of telescopes being sold by people who don't know anything about them is why looking carefully at the auction description and photographs prior to your purchase is so important.

Quick Story: I had one scope arrive with no packing at all. It was just taped together with 'gaffer tape'. Safe to say, it was in a pretty poor state and needed plenty of TLC to get it useable again.  It took half an hour with petrol (I know no fear!)  to get the 'gaffer tape' glue off the telescope tube and tripod!  Luckily, and despite never having seen a bit of bubblewrap, it didn't sustain any damage at all!  Refractors really are bombproof!

Getting Your Item:
Make sure that the seller is willing to post your item to you at a reasonable cost. This is easily available on each auction. The postage cost is payed by the buyer and is added on to the auction finish price before you pay. When you are looking, the auction will say 'Postage £x' or maybe 'Collection only'!  If the item is close to you, it could be very good for you. Collection only auctions always finish with a relatively low price. (See section below)

Don't buy on a whim or in a rush!  Take your time to make sure of the quality of the equipment and of the seller. It doesn't take long but click and buy before you check out the basics and you're asking for trouble whether it be eBay, Amazon or Victoria's Secret!

Some sellers don't make it clear that they are selling just the telescope and that there's no mounting. This is call the OTA = Optical Tube Assembly.*  

Some mention it but the beginner might not realise they're only buying the telescope because the scope is shown mounted in the pictures. Sorting this out just takes a little reading and looking at the pictures carefully. Maybe ask the seller a question. If you don't get a satisfactory answer, move on. No harm done.

*If you see someone mentioning the OTA in their auction, it DOES NOT necessarily mean that that is all they're selling!  The OTA is part of any telescope sale. It is just that you have to be sure that it is not just the OTA they're selling! 

Don't panic if you see 'OTA' in the description - check it out. 

Pic: the OTA... This one is a SkyWatcher 130P  A brilliant telescope!

Eg:1

"130mm f5 Newtonian OTA" : If you're buying from an auction that states "OTA only!" that's what you'll get! (See pic)

Eg:2

" What you get: OTA, Accessories & Eyepieces, EQ2 & Tripod" : If you're buying a mounted telescope, the OTA is a part of that package!

Human Nature: (Poor sellers)

Some sellers don't add a reserve price and, when the item sells for less that they wanted, they claim the item is no longer for sale. If they had added a reserve price then they would be happy to sell the telescope. This is unavoidable, you're up against human nature and there's not a lot we can do about that but cross our fingers when we win that 305mm telescope for £150.

Direct Buys:

Many items on eBay are NEW. Direct from the dealer or outlet. These are cast-iron good buys (As long as the telescope is of good specification – I'm not going to say that every new telescope is a great telescope!) You still have to do your homework – You're not stupid, right? So – Check out the seller and make sure of the specification of the telescope.

Pic: Reliable Seller.

Note the seller information in the red oval.

He's sold lots of things (1011 stars)

He's 100% reliable.

You can see that this auction has a good starting price for a £350 telescope. (About 30% of new)

You can trust this man.

 (Name changed)

Pic: Unreliable Seller.  (Name changed). See the info in the red oval:  What's wrong with buying from this seller?

He's not sold very many things (95 stars)

He's only 69.6% reliable (Anything less than 99% should be avoided for your own safety)

He's asking the over three times the NEW price for a second hand instrument (He won't sell!)

These are not WP binoculars, they are Observation bins available NEW from manufacturer for £119 (Feb 2023)

I would suggest this guy is a scammer! - I don't think it could be a genuine error, as he'd know how much he paid!  He's got a "Buy It Now ONLY" listing. This means he's not looking for true market value, but his own inflated idea of what it's worth. (Look at the feedback and stay away!)  

PS: That doesn't mean that all 'Buy It Now' listings should be avoided. It depends on the telescope and the price, of course. If it's a bargain in good condition and they'll deliver cheaply enough - Buy it by all means (Once you have checked out the seller and the scope).

Note:  You can use 'advanced' search in eBay (on the right of the 'search' button) to see what other instruments like this one have sold for in the past and gauge your highest bid accordingly.  You can research the 'sold at auction prices' which shows you the true market value.

The Buy it Now (BIN) is more effectively used in conjunction with an auction to cut out the bidding process. If someone is willing to pay the price, they click the buy it now and get an immediate sale.  In this case it is used with the option to bid as well.  This results in a true market value being paid if the BIN isn't clicked. (The BIN disappears once a bid is placed).  

However, some listings have a BIN ONLY.  That means that they aren't interested in what people might pay, only what they want.  If the BIN is a bargain, go for it, but if the price is too high, there's nothing you can do, except hope the item is relisted at a cheaper price when it doesn't sell!

One thing to  note is that some major charity outlets and pawnbrokers move a lot of stuff and their operatives might not care about the feedback the company recieve, as a private seller would.

Consequently, the goods might not be packaged very well and suffer damage during transit.

Have a look at their feedback and see why they have so many negative stars. You may decide to steer clear!

Note: This telescope is too small and has a spherically figured mirror - I used it as an example of poor feedback.

WHEN TO BUY?

Planning is good for buying a scope for your own use and particularly when giving a telescope as a present.  As a telescope trader I can tell you that the market is very depressed in the summer months. That's when you get your best deals from your local supplier and second hand trader alike. It might seem strange that the second hand prices change, but they are subject to market demand, just as new items are.

Telescopes selling in late autumn as the evenings start getting dark earlier increase in price until near the holidays they sell for more than the recommended new price!  (Both new and second hand telescopes!)

If you decide to buy a telescope as a present, for example for Christmas, you need to be shopping in July and August really to get the best value, otherwise, you'll be spending up to three times the money you could be spending for the same instrument.

Telescopes it seems are more subject to seasonal fluctuations and the laws of supply and demand than any other product on the market. At least that's how it will feel when you see telescopes in December selling for twice the price you saw in September!

True Examples: 

Second hand SkyWatcher 130Ps auctioned scopes have sold as follows:  July £90 / October £175 / December £295  (New price £260)

Prices remain bouyant all through the winter months and don't fall off significantly until April / May when the evenings become lighter again.

The craziest example of this was my potential buyers for the SkyWatcher StarTravel150. I bought it for £150 and after a good refurb and adding a few eyepieces to the deal, I decided that a Buy It Now price of £400 wouldn't be unreasonable. The bidding war started and, after a week, the telescope finished at £676, being bought by a new bidder in the last few seconds.  That new bidder could have done the BIN and saved £276.

The Scenario: In my auctions I watch these escallations between bidders, that start on the second or third day, of a seven day auction.  Someone puts in a bid and it is topped by someone else. The first bidder feels that they have to be top, so they add to their bid. The second bidder doesn't like this and bids again, until they're on the top again. This goes on for a few days.  With maybe two days (DAYS) to go, someone else joins the gang and adds another top bid. The other two start off again and the price rises steadily.  Meanwhile, a clever bidder is watching the action and cringing every time it gets another increment. On the last day there's usually a couple of bids in the last hour. (Silly) and finally the auction comes to an end. In the last five seconds our patient bidder pops up and adds his bid and wins the telescope.

Pic: This is a prime example from one of my sales.

This auction was for a good, used Celestron Powerseeker80 EQ2 Refractor:

See the numbers next to the names? That is their buyer star rating. It represents "Experience"...  You'll notice that the same few are bidding way before the end, and then 'Here's Johnny!' and wins it with five seconds to go - Perfect.  He may have had £200 as his maximum bid, (There's no way of knowing), but the auction finishes at one bid increment above the highest rival bid (In this case £5).  By the way, my BIN was £135.

(Note: Where there are consecutive bids from the same person, it shows they're chasing an earlier, higher bid - see the dates when the bid was placed. Our winner #743, didn't know if bidder #495 had put on more than £200. It was unlikely, because #495 was adding a fiver at a time. To win he just bid his highest amount... And won.)

This auction would have ended at a far lower price if those fools hadn't had the bidding war!  Neither of them won it, and all they did was raise the price for those that were in it to win it! 

The patient bidder, who just sat and watched, had his absolute maximum bid in mind as the price was rising. He waited until the last possible moment before bidding his highest amount.  As long as noone else had a higher bid, he will win.  (Always bid your highest amount - Regardless of where the current bidding is!). He knows he's probably going to beat the other two at least, because they're messing about putting a single five pound bid at a time on. He's just going to bid ONCE - At the end - With his highest bid.  This strategy wins most of the time - You can't win all of the time - But MOST of the time.

If you bid, even ONE MINUTE before the end of the auction, other bidders will have time to react, recalculate and bid again!  DON'T GIVE THEM CHANCE - BID WITH FIVE SECONDS TO GO! You can't pick how cheaply you'll win, but, using this strategy, you will probably win!
(You can set up your bid with plenty of time to go, then press 'confirm' at the correct second).

Note: If you bid less than you maximum and you are beaten by someone else, you'll agonise about that last little bit you could have bid!  Always bid your highest amount (But, NEVER just put in a huge figure, because someone else might also put in £10,000... Then you're liable!)

OTA - Optical Tube Assembly - (Mentioned before, but worth repeating).

Some eBay sellers don't make it clear that they are selling just the telescope and that there's no mounting. This is call the OTA = Optical Tube Assembly. Some mention it but the beginner might not realise they're only buying the telescope. Sorting this out just takes a little reading and looking at the pictures carefully. Maybe ask the seller a question. If you don't get a satisfactory answer, move on. No harm done.

Pic:  This seller pictured the mounted telescope. This 120mm refractor looks like a real bargain "Buy It Now" (BIN), but was for the telescope only!  He wasn't even including the finder, diagonal or even one eyepiece!

NOTE: Buying 'just the mounting' can cost just as much as a mounted telescope - So, please, only buy an OTA if you already have a mounting it will fit on to!

Some sellers refuse to send items by courrier because they mistakenly beieve that it might get damaged. I've sent more than three hundred telescopes, of all types, by courrier and just three of them have ever suffered any damage at all.

This is good for you if you're just around the corner.  I was willing to pay £200 for the 140mm Orion Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope (pic) and wrote and told the seller that, if he would post it, I would pay for the Scope + Postage + Insurance! 

The reply I got was as above - "It Might Get Broken"... He ended up selling this fantastic instrument for £125.

If you're just a round the corner from such a twit you can cash in and grab a bargain! If you're selling a scope, always offer postage!  You will get a higher price.

Left:  This telescope was another such instrument. 

The chap listed the telescope 'for collection only'. He lived in rural Yorkshire and, luckily for me, just twenty or so miles away.  I bought this telescope for £120. (New price Aug 2019 = £450)

It is a Celestron OMNI 120XLT On EQ3

For the money: It had hand figured, diffraction limited, optics, 2" draw tube, 50mm finder, 70mm guide scope and was of superb construction and optical quality.

Click here for my Flickr review of this telescope. (But remember to come back here!)

Another one: The Mitsuka 3" Refractor on EQ2 (Boxed)

This is a fantastic scope. 76.2mm diameter (3") and f16.4 (1,250mm focal length).

I have also seen this exact model branded "Prinz" and "Panorama".

A very impressive classic telescope on a huge tripod to allow for the tube length. This instrument certainly doesn't disappoint when you look through it!

The stars are tiny pinpoints with no obvious chromatic abberation. The planets are beautifully detailed.  A most impressive 3" refractor!

Mars showed some markings, Jupiter (although quite bland in late 2020) showed three bands. Saturn's ring system was nicely seen too.

This telescope came in a specially made wooden transport box with fully fitted compartments.

Magnifications from the six eyepieces (4mm, 6mm, 12.5mm, 18mm, 20mm & 25mm) cover the 50x to 312x spread, which is a nice range and useful on the best nights. There is also an achromatic 2xBarlow... Ok for use with eyepieces down to 9mm focal length (278x).  The equipment was absolutely complete as supplied in the 70s.

Beautifully made and in very good condition, this scope was a superb Japanese classic refractor from the 1960s and is well recommended for superb planetary views.

Of course (according to the seller) it was 'too big' to send via courier, and 'might get damaged', so I ended up being the only one interested... 

I got the whole shebang for £31... Good grief! 

It gets better, folks! Almost exactly a year later I bought another (A Panorama model), in the exact same, perfect conditon and complete in the wooden box, for £50.

The bargains are out there if you stick at it and act in a timely manner!

Allow me to give you a little addendum:

When I got the superb Mitsuka telescope home and found out how complete it was, how well preserved it was and what amazingly good images it gave, I felt I had to write to the chap I bought it off to thank him for letting me have such a wonderful instrument.  I included this picture which is a stacked image taken through the Mitsuka 76mm.

The gentleman answered, "That's not a bad picture for a basic telescope."

I have to say that if this is only a basic scope I cannot imagine what he thinks a more advanced scope would show!  This is, quite simply, the best 3" telescope I have ever had the pleasure of using in fifty plus years of astronomical observation!

And I got it for £31 off eBay.

Pic:  Moon, shot with the Mitsuka 76mm (Basic indeed!)

One final "Collection Only" telescope to consider:

I bought this Meade LightBridge 12" 305mm x 1,500mm f5.0 truss-tube parabolic Newtonian off eBay on "local pick-up only" for just £150.  

The new price is well over £1,100 - Another 'Local Pick Up Only' bargain!

I don't think there's much more to say about that, except it was in perfect condition and came with three eyepieces, an achromatic 2xbarlow and a 9x50mm finder... Perfect!

DIRTY or DEFECTIVE LENS?


If you receive a refractor with a dirty Object Glass (Main lens) as happens from time to time with second-hand instruments, Please see the section on Cleaning your OG or Rectifying a suspected assembly error, in the 'Focusing' page of this site.

Pic: A 150mm SkyWatcher ST150 doublet as recieved from eBay seller.  Apparently a SkyWatcher ST150 can be a 'barn find'.  But a couple of days cleaning and refurbing the £150 scope had it sell on eBay for £676.

I found this bargain 100ED-PRO in Cash Converters:

Pic:

As I have mentioned before, refractors are pretty much bombproof.  I bought this one immediately I saw it, without even looking through it!  The assistant said, "Someone was in earlier, umming and ah-ing".  It's a 100mm ED refractor! The 50mm finder alone is worth £50 second-hand! And so is the 2" diagonal... There's more than the price I paid in the value of two included parts!

I picked up this SkyWatcher 100 ED-PRO refractor, for less than £90. 

It came with an excellent 50mm finder and good quality 2" diagonal as mentioned and two excellent quality Plossl-PRO eyepieces.  Hardly a mark on the tube and complete with lens caps, mounting rings and dovetail bar.

It was an OTA, which fits onto my current mounting. (The counterweight was in the perfect place for both instruments!) I looked this scope up on my favourite telescope supplier's site and found that the OTA was £720 new (at time of buying - 2019) - So, another bargain for me!

Have a look around the second-hand market, and the pleased owner in the photo could be you!

Don't worry if it's too cheap to believe!

When you buy a bargain from someone who just wants to get rid of it to raise some cash, it doesn't mean that the item is actually only worth the pittance you pay!  The 100ED, for example, was easily worth four times the money I paid for it!

FaceBook Marketplace

is a good source of people who just want a few pounds for their hardly used telescopes. The prices can be very low.  They are usually collection only. It's easy to set up the search so that you only see items close to your loaction.

There are many unsatisfactory telescopes in these pages, though. Watch out for the good ones!  Getting a response from the seller can be a challenge and very frustrating at times. It's like they're not interested in making much money, so they're not really interested in selling the item either. You can wait for a week for a reply and then it's "Sorry, the telescope is sold." Stick with it, though, and you can get a real bargain! There is no rating for sellers so they can be as poor as they wish, without recrimination!
 

Note: See the SkyWatcher Explorer - 130P top left for £95? That's a BANGING BARGAIN! (I've sold second-hand 130Ps on eBay for £290+ in the past.)  There are three good telescopes in this pic, but one of them is a 'SKYLUX' (not a Stylus!) for £100, when I usually buy them for £35-40...  Look around before buying to get an idea of the market prices!  Prices have risen since the lockdowns in the UK.

I got these four different type telescopes together to demonstrate the different optical systems available to the beginner when I gave a talk on starting astronomy.  I got all four of them for less than £100.

Pic: Cheap Ebay buys...

Left to right:

76mm Tansutzu Catadioptric-Newtonian £26

80mm Helios AZ refractor £22

76mm SkyWatcher Spherical Newtonian £19

65mm Celestron Maksutov-Cassegrain £30