Used Telescope Suggestion

[Mr. B]

Hi. I'm looking at a used XT8 and the owner is asking $325. I'm not familiar with used Telescope market. Is it a good price?

[TerryMcK]

Hello. Not familiar with that telescope but it might be the Orion Skyquest XT8 Dobsonian that you are referring to. Have a look how much they have sold for on eBay or Craigslist.

 

[Nightspore]

$325 (£273) seems reasonable although I always say caveat emptor  with anything secondhand. It might be cheaper to buy the Sky-Watcher equivalent. 'Orion Telescopes & Binoculars' are not actually an original equipment manufacturer and the same scopes are marketed by other distributors under different liveries. 

 

 

Sky-Watcher 200P

 

The majority of these telescopes are manufactured by Synta or GSO. 'Sky-Watcher' is Synta's own marketing brand. GSO products are also sold under a variety of names. Prices can vary considerably even though it is essentially the same scope, from the same factory.

 

 

GSO Dobson

 

The world of amateur astronomy equipment is a bit of a jungle. There are many distributors, brands and retail prices. However, there are only so many manufacturers. Most are based in China with several in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. Sky-Watcher is a Taiwanese-Canadian company who manufacture on the Chinese mainland. It's a distinct possibility that you could buy a brand new equivalent 200mm Dob' for only slightly more than the secondhand 'Orion'.

[Mr. B]

11 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

Hello. Not familiar with that telescope but it might be the Orion Skyquest XT8 Dobsonian that you are referring to. Have a look how much they have sold for on eBay or Craigslist.

 

Yes. It's skyquest XT8 only.

[Mr. B]

4 hours ago, Nightspore said:

$325 (£273) seems reasonable although I always say caveat emptor  with anything secondhand. It might be cheaper to buy the Sky-Watcher equivalent. 'Orion Telescopes & Binoculars' are not actually an original equipment manufacturer and the same scopes are marketed by other distributors under different liveries. 

 

 

Sky-Watcher 200P

 

The majority of these telescopes are manufactured by Synta or GSO. 'Sky-Watcher' is Synta's own marketing brand. GSO products are also sold under a variety of names. Prices can vary considerably even though it is essentially the same scope, from the same factory.

 

 

GSO Dobson

 

The world of amateur astronomy equipment is a bit of a jungle. There are many distributors, brands and retail prices. However, there are only so many manufacturers. Most are based in China with several in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. Sky-Watcher is a Taiwanese-Canadian company who manufacture on the Chinese mainland. It's a distinct possibility that you could buy a brand new equivalent 200mm Dob' for only slightly more than the secondhand 'Orion'.

Thank you for your suggestion. I'll look for a Sky-watcher or an Apertura may be.

[Nightspore]

9 minutes ago, Mr. B said:

Thank you for your suggestion. I'll look for a Sky-watcher or an Apertura may be.

 

You're welcome. I believe 'Apertura' is the house name for High Point Scientific in the US. 

 

 

These excellent little FPL-53/lanthanum ED doublets are marketed under a plethora of names. I'm pretty sure they're made by Kunming United Optics. Mine says Altair on it.

 

 

It's the same scope. I have a 150mm Newtonian branded as TS Optics. 

 

 

It's actually a GSO (Guan Sheng Optical). The mount and tripod shown above are Sky-Watcher, although even these can be sold under different names. Altair Astro in the UK and Agena Astro in the US have both marketed these scopes. Agena now sell them branded as GSO. Telescopes branded 'Sky-Watcher' are often cheaper than their equivalents under other names because Sky-Watcher basically is Synta. Many eyepieces, filters, Barlows etc are also sold under a variety of names. Sometimes you're literally paying for the name.