The Second Hand Camera Blog

Like my posting on Tips on buying a Second Hand Camera, the rules are very similar. But in the case of selling, a little simpler.

It makes sense to sell your cameras once a year if not every six months. The reason, of course, is technology. We all know it is improving so fast. A year to six months after you have bought your camera it will begin to decline in value. The quicker you sell it the better. This not only reduces how much money you lose, but increases how much money you can spend on your next camera.

Buy second hand, sell in a year, buy second hand again.

You can still stay in the zone of current technology by operating this way. You can show up to a shoot with a year old camera and still compete with the guy who just bought the newest, greatest, untested gadget.

So how to sell:

1) Know the price of the item new. (Now, not when you paid for it) Know the price of the item selling second hand in your area. Beat that price. Not by much. Either throw in some accesories, or just list it as $50-$100 less than the other guy. If you list it and get flooded with responses, you went to low. Readjust. if your inbox gets cobwebs, it’s too high. Readjust.

2) Be straightforward. Did your camera get a little abused on your last documentary? Adjust the price and let the buyer know. People still want those cameras for all types of reasons. Crash cams, back-ups, doner cams. You name it. An honest seller with a good price will bring results.

3) Take lots of pictures. Especially of any blemishes to the camera. Anything you would want to know about it, document it with your listing. Even if your camera is mint, INCLUDE QUALITY PICTURES. Isn’t it our business anyway? We’re all visual artists. Everyone wants to see pictures, and it makes the difference between selling and keeping.

3) Expect cash only. Or, if you and the buyer are in two different places set up a PayPal account. No checks. Ever. If the buyer doesn’t want to carry a couple grand around and would rather do a cashier’s check, then they get to accompany you to the bank while you deposit it. Then they get their gear. No one has to be rude about it, it’s just business. And if someone DOES get annoyed, expect shadyness.

4) Always speak to the buyer. Like, on the phone. Get a $10 calling card, email them the number and speak to each other. Spending $10 is better than losing a couple thousand.

5) Learn to recognize scams. Like this common one on eBay. But scams are easy to recognize. Remember in grade school when you traded your milk for someone’s desert? Remember how you would both have the item in each of your hands and quickly switch at the exact same time? It’s the same thing here. Except it’s cash and cameras.

Determine how both parites can get the other parties goods as close to the same time as possible, and it will work out fine.

It’s really quite simple as long as humans are involved. Get phone numbers, call them. Have a little bit of a relationship with the buyer. They will trust you and you will know everything is on the up and up.

 

 

Posted under Tips on selling a second hand camera