Mask price information

Hi
Some of you may remember that several months ago I asked for suggestions for my cousin who was a very reluctant CPAP newbie. Unfortunately, he never really accepted that he had OSA and so was not motivated to make xpap work for him. Sadly, other health issues prevailed and he passed away in July. I am visiting his wife, and want to help her sell his masks. The masks all look new, but he probably used them all for at least one night. The non-smoking home has 2 well-groomed poodles. What I want to know is what price would be reasonable for the following masks:
Quatro - medium, with headgear and 2 Pad-a-cheek pads.
Liberty - small, with headgear and case
Liberty - large, with headgear and case
Comfortful 2 - medium with headgear
Hybrid with all sizes, case and box.
There are also a couple Resmed chinstraps.

He had returned at least a couple other masks to the DME. The total blower hours on his bipap machine were 549, so it is hard to tell how long he might have used any one mask.

When I looked on cpapauction, most of the masks were listed as never used. That is what made me puzzled as to an appropriate price for these gently used ones.

I thought that since I am known here people would be willing to suggest reasonable prices and maybe even want to buy from me instead of the auction if that is still legal. I can start an auction account if that is necessary, but I will be a newbie seller.

At some point we will sell the machine too.

Catnapper - Joanie

The easiest way to establish a fair price is to put them up on cpapauction and let the market set the price. I wouldn't expect any of them to get more than $20-30 ea. Used masks--especially if the amount of use is unknown--lose quite a bit of their value, unfortunately. But it just depends on demand for that particular mask.

(For the record, according to the User Agreement for this forum, it's not "legal" to advertise anything here. And, IMHO, it's not fair to our host to sell here instead of using his for-profit sister site. That's not to say it hasn't been done...)

Catnapper wrote:I thought that since I am known here people would be willing to suggest reasonable prices and maybe even want to buy from me instead of the auction if that is still legal.
Catnapper - Joanie

I think it's perfectly all right for you to list the masks here in a post, just like you did, Joanie. People can PM you for more info or to offer to buy them.

LinkC wrote:(For the record, according to the User Agreement for this forum, it's not "legal" to advertise anything here. And, IMHO, it's not fair to our host to sell here instead of using his for-profit sister site. That's not to say it hasn't been done...)

I understand what you're saying, and I understand why you (and many) would feel that way about the "not fair" part. I personally think an occasional offering due to an unusual circumstance by someone who is an regular poster on this board is perfectly all right. Just tossing in my humble opinion, too.

rested gal wrote

I personally think an occasional offering due to an unusual circumstance by someone who is an regular poster on this board is perfectly all right.

So Do I. A one-of-a-kind "for sale" offering, posted by a frequent contributor and trusted member of this site trying to assist a grieving relative, doesn't bother my "mid-western" values one bit.

And, for all I know, Johnny may well agree with you. As far as I know, no one's ever asked him. It's all assumption. And, in the end, it really doesn't matter what any of US think.

I would never presume to speak for Johnny either way. All I am comfortable recommending is what's clearly stated in the UA.

I did not mean to offend anyone, and certainly not our hosts. I was not sure if you set a price as a sort of reserve before putting a mask in the auction either. If the mask would only sell by auction for a tiny amount, it would not be worth the bother of selling and shipping it. That was why I asked what a reasonable price would be so she could decide if she wanted to sell them.

I read the user agreement over 3 years ago, and didn't remember all of it. Through the years I have seen many members sell masks here in the forum although I have never done so myself. I didn't realize it might be an egregious error. I apologize to anyone who was offended by my thread.

As for the usage of the masks, I did not list any that looked other than new. i had no intention of saying they had only been used one night if I did not know for sure. Would anyone else care to discuss what a reasonable price would be? If it is wrong to even discuss prices in a thread, perhaps someone would PM me. I am trying to help a woman who is 78 years old and has no familiarity with xpap equipment.

Catnapper - Joanie

Oh well, why not make up a little formula... If a new mask of a certain type sells for e.g. $150. online, I think, considering how honest you plan to be in describing it, that you'd be within reason to ask $75-100. for it. After all, it will be a bargain for whoever gets it, and you should feel no obligation to give it away.

I purchased a many a mask off from cpapauction when trying to find my perfect mask. My going price for one in like new condition was $50.00 or less. I figured if I was going higher, might as well by new online. Remember DME prices are higher than online prices and should be priced accordingly (use the online price as a factor since inflated DME prices are ridiculous).

Joanie-- You haven't offended anyone, that I know of. You asked a couple of good questions. People DO sell CPAP items via this forum fairly regularly. Whether that's OK is a matter of common practice vs. what the UA says. Some people run stop signs, others don't. But let's put all that aside.

I have bought (and sold) several items via cpapauction. In fact I have a FullLife on there right now (current bid only $55...but I'm not advertising! lol)

Putting your cousin's stuff on cpapauction has a couple of advantages. You don't have to worry about pricing; the bidders set that. You'll reach a larger number of potential buyers there--here you'd have to hope someone who happens to be in the market for that particular mask happens to stumble across your post...AND wants to pay your "guesstimated" price.

Actual sale price for "used more than 1 night" ComfortFull 2 masks sold at auction: $5-30 (recent auctions)
Liberty: $20-25 (if you throw out the auctions from 2008 when it was a new design...they were going for ~$60 back then.
Hybrid: $10-30 ($50-60 a year ago...same reason)
Quattro: $30-50

I know they weren't your figures, but expecting to get 50-75% of the NEW retail price for a used mask a bit unrealistic.

I have also bought many masks from forum members. I too spend $50 or less depending on the usage of the mask. You could post that you were hoping for $50 each but will consider all offers. Then you do your dealing through PMs.

Brenda
Edited to say that Joanie has been here for some time and I feel she will be more than fair with her assessment of each masks approximate usage.

I tried to help my cousin quite a lot. For example, I felt the Hybrid would be a good mask for him. His DME didn't want to special order one for him so I sent him mine. He liked it, used it, and finally insisted that the DME order one. When it finally came, he used it 1 night and the next day he went to the hospital for his other illness. After that visit in the hospital, he chose not to bother with xpap again. I believe that most of his hours on xpap were with my mask. His DME was good about getting more masks for him, unlike many we hear about. Another example of that was when he had a Liberty small, he used it a night or 2, complained that he wanted a larger one and wouldn't use it until the DME brought out the large size. Then he wanted a chin strap to try with it, and would not use it until the chin strap was delivered. He got the Quattro but it bothered his nose so he wouldn't use it. I suggested the Pad-a-cheek pad, so he waited for them. He showed those to the DME who told him they wouldn't work, so he wouldn't try the mask with them.

As you can see, he really was resistant to the whole idea.

I wasn't here to check his machine when he received it, so some of those hours could have been on there already. Not that a DME would ever sell a slightly used machine as new, but mistakes could happen, you know.

His wife wants me to tell you he was a stubborn Irishman. If something was not his idea, there was little chance it would be tried, much less work.

He was a delightful person, even if stubborn, and everyone loved him. We all miss him so much.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I did not want to have unrealistic expectations, and that was why I asked the question.

bdp522 wrote:I have also bought many masks from forum members. I too spend $50 or less depending on the usage of the mask. You could post that you were hoping for $50 each but will consider all offers. Then you do your dealing through PMs.

I think that sounds like a good idea. Try for $50 each as Brenda suggests. Sounds reasonable to me for a good mask that was so lightly used it looks like new. I'd trust your assessment of "how it looks", Joanie.

OK, then, I will sell the masks each for $50 plus shipping costs. Please send me a PM if you are interested.

My cousin's wife says she believes that some of the masks were never used, just opened when the DME delivered them and tried to fit them for him. She doesn't know which ones so it is simpler just to say they are not new.

If I can''t sell them I will try the auction.

Thanks everyone.

Catnapper - Joanie