When Selling a Rig

[Tom MaCoy]

So I have a buyer and a price lined up on my trusty old Flyer rig and am eagerly anticipating trading up in a couple weeks, when one question sort of occurred to both of us: When selling a rig, is there any convention for transferring proof of ownership? I bought my LE new near the end of 09, I (am fairly certain I) sent in the warranty card so Tiffen has the serial #'s registered to my name. The original warranty's expired by now, so does any of that registration data really matter any more? Is there any point to calling up Tiffen and getting the name changed, given my current rig's over a year out of factory warranty, or does anyone know of any other ownership documentation to worry about with a fairly small rig like mine?

Thanks,

Tom

[Mark Schlicher]

A couple of thoughts...

 

1. Just call or email your Tiffen rep with the information. I don't see how it could hurt. The Steadicam "corner" of Tiffen is not some vast corporate entity, it's a small group of pretty accessible folks, and there's no "formal" process for that stuff as far as I know.

 

2. As for bookkeeping, taxes, etc.: Your sale is a taxable event, so you should keep an accurate written record. You'll owe tax on the "gain" from your sale. The buyer will be entitled to a depreciation deduction if they are treating it as business property for tax purposes, so they will need a copy of the sale paperwork. But a simple typed receipt listing the pertinent sale information, names, serial number, etc. should be sufficient.

[Tom MaCoy]

Thanks for the tips. Harry over at Tiffen basically says the same thing: since the Flyer's discontinued there's no official change of registration to work out, just a bill of sale drawn up by me should be all we need for tax purposes. Look forward to swapping Zephyr stories with you!

Thanks,

Tom