About Us
Welcome to ASTROSPARES!
Astrospares is the place for Used, Reconditioned and occasionally new telescopes and accessories!
Astrospares has been formed as a new division of Outsideology Limited, renowned as a supplier of high-quality astronomical observatories. Our clients have often asked us to help with selling on unwanted, or unused equipment bought for their observatories... so after spending some time building up a significant stock of items we launched our website in late 2020. Here's what you can expect:
Used Equipment
Second-hand equipment forms the backbone of the site - but this isn't like buying from amateurs! Each item is meticulously checked, tested and cleaned before we photograph it (in our own studio, hence the pictures are very high quality) and list it on the website. Anything that doesn't meet our standards is listed as 'Astrojumble' - see below. If it's marked "Used", you can guarantee it will be in excellent condition, and it qualifies for our in-house one-year warranty.
Reconditioned
Though we have our own workshop with more than a decade's experience in completing optical repairs in clean, dust-managed conditions, we also work with a number of other expert repairers with specialist skills. We love bringing new life to equipment that might need a clean, new parts or a minor repair. If we can bring it up to as-new condition you'll see it listed on our website as 'Reconditioned'. Reconditioned items qualify for our one-year in-house warranty of course.
Brand New
Occasionally we buy items that have never been opened or used, for all kinds of reasons. For example, some of our items were purchased by people who never managed to use them because ill health got in the way. For others, it was a rash purchase that they never quite found a use for. These items are only listed as 'Brand New' if they are clearly unused and still in their original packaging. If the packaging has been opened, they are clearly marked 'Box Opened'. So you can be confident that if we say it's new, its never seen the light of night (see what we did there?!). Naturally, our one-year in-house warranty applies.
New from Manufacturer
Sometimes we will buy items from manufacturers or other dealers who are looking to sell off end-of-line, surplus or unwanted stock. In these cases, the manufacturer's warranty will apply rather than ours. This will be clearly marked on the item as "Manufacturer's warranty applies". In all other cases, we provide our own one-year warranty of course.
Spares
We have a number of telescope parts for sale, which mainly come from equipment that is beyond repair or in an overall poor condition. We break these items down and any parts that meet our stringent quality standards (they are 'like new') are listed as spare parts on our website. Our standard one-year warranty applies to these of course.
Astrojumble
We'd hate to deprive you of bargains, just because they have a scratch here or a ding there! So anything that can't be classed as in 'excellent condition' will be listed clearly as Astrojumble. Importantly, we don't sell anything that doesn't work - so expect any imperfections to be purely cosmetic (and any imperfections will be described in the product listing). As a result, our standard warranty even applies to these items!
Of course, we're not new to this. We were actually responsible for Telescope Outlet, the second-hand website that ran alongside Astronomia prior to its closure. We're building on that reputation now and look forward to helping more customers get the best out of astronomy!
Don't forget - if you have any queries at all you can always contact us (during business hours of course) on 01483 901183 or by email at mail@astrospares.co.uk.