Accepting camera gear instead of payment

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum for this question, since I couldn't decide where to put it as its a biz and gear related question. I'm more thinking out loud than anything, as I definitely have a need for a 300 F2.8

So I have client I've shot for that owes me quite a bit of $$ due to lots of stuff that went on over at their company over the last year while I was shooting for them. So I am a Nikon shooter, got myself plenty of Nikon gear and don't plan on switching to the dark side :p . To help pay me off, they've offered to give me a semi-well used 1D Mark II body, a well used 300 F2.8, and a 1.4TC.

I'm debating whether to take them up on the deal, write off the current value of the camera/lens, then sell it in a couple months & pick up the Nikon 300 F2.8 (used)

I would think it would be highly dependent on how much *credit* they're expecting. Adorama currently has a couple 1D mkII used and in the condition you describe listing for $1,299. How much debt do they expect to be forgiven when they turn over the body - $800, $1,100, $1,500? If the answer is $800, then it's a great deal even if you have to resell later. If they expect it to cover $1,500 worth of expenses, politely suggest they list it on ebay and send you the proceeds toward paying down their current bill.

If this is money that they have owed you over the past year and you have not collected then this may be one of those "A Bird in the hand might be worth two in the bush" type of things. The money would be the preferred option so you can get exactly what you want but if you wait for that you may end up with nothing, Jeff

Well I contacted the company before I drove up there to pick up the gear and they mentioned over the phone "Just to clarify we're talking about the 1N (film body), correct?" :mad2: So at that point they were offering me a camera useless to me to go with some older equipment. BTW this is a sports company that I have worked for, and I've seen/used the equipment for a long time. They were expecting to have the debt worth the equipment forgiven. Looks like now I'll be threatening to goto the labor board instead. :rolleyes: