How to Sell Your Used Camera Gear

If you’re a freelancer or professional photographer/videographer, chances are you’ve collected various gear over the years. Cameras, lenses, tripods, and other accessories can start to take up too much room. At some point, you may not be using all this gear, or you may simply want to upgrade your set up. Either way, you may be wondering how to sell your used camera gear. Here are some tips for getting your gear ready for selling and some places to consider selling.


PREPARE TO SELL YOUR USED CAMERA GEAR:

Before you sell your gear, there are a few things you will want to do. Consider what you would like gear to look like when you buy it. Make sure it is clean. If you have the manuals, CDs, straps and the boxes all the better. Make sure all the power cords are together and wrapped nicely. Check it for memory cards that might still be in it. Now you’ll want to research the gear, write a description of the gear and list it’s specs, make sure it has any info on scratches or damage. Take photos of your gear from different angles. Find a neutral backdrop and surface to take photos of your gear. No one wants to see ugly curtains and other things in the background. The cleaner the background, the more professional it will look and possibly yield a higher sale of the gear.

Make sure your photos have good lighting for the same reason. It’s probably good to see what the gear is selling for online. See what the resell value seems to be. You probably won’t get an offer for what it is selling for because people still need to make a profit, but it will give you a point of reference to work down from when hearing offers. If you don’t have an original box and shipping materials, you may need to get some. Packing peanuts or whatever to make sure the items arrive safely.


ONLINE FILM AND PHOTOGRAPHY GROUPS

There are many online local and national groups for Filmmakers and photographers. Most of these groups have boards to post messages to the group. Many people try to sell their gear to others in the group. Some of these groups also are on Facebook. Have your descriptions, specs, and pics ready. Also, research ahead of time your shipping options if you are going to sell to someone, not near you.

SELL TO A LOCAL CAMERA STORE

Just google your local camera store or photography rental place. They often are looking to expand their inventory. They can look over your gear and give you a quote on the items. It may be worth checking out their reviews online to see if others have done this and how they rate them.

KEH CAMERA

KEH buys and sells used gear. They have good reviews. People overall tend to have a good experience with them. Their process is straight forward you tell them the equipment and the model and condition. They’ll give you a quote. If you accept it, they’ll send you a shipping box. When they get your camera gear, they’ll assess the condition. If what you graded, it matches up with their assessment, then they’ll pay you. If it’s less than the condition that you stated in their opinion, then they’ll give you a new quote. The quotes will likely be a much lower offer than a person to person sale but will be a fairly easy transaction.

B&H

B&H photo is a great site for buying new and used equipment. Fill out their form and they’ll give you a preliminary quote. They’ll check the quality of your gear, and if all is approved, you’ll either get credit with their site or a check.

ADORAMA

Adorama is another popular site for buying and selling used equipment. Their site states selling is 3 easy steps. Get a quote, receive the label, then get paid or credit.

AMAZON

Amazon sells everything and can sell your gear. You will need to sign up for an Amazon seller account to do this. Your items will show up in the buy it used section of a listing. It’s a fairly easy process, and you won’t have to worry about shipping it to the buyer. You’ll have to check with the site to see what the current percentage of sell will be for products listed.  

EBAY

The downside of eBay is you’ll pay a percentage to eBay, and you’re still dealing with individuals who may ask to return products or for refunds. Make sure you list any shipping restrictions on your product. Sometimes selling to people outside the US can be risky. Here you’ll need to list all your product details, the specs, product scratches/dings, and sometimes people want to know the shutter count of the camera.

CRAIGSLIST

The benefit of Craigslist is that there are no listing fees. You keep all the profit from it, and will potentially make the most money on your gear from a person to person sale. The challenge with craigslist is that it is full of so many scammers and fraud post that it may not be worth it. And in some cases, it can be dangerous.


AFTERTHOUGHTS

After you start to think about selling your equipment, you may start to consider things like resell value with your next camera gear investment. If you make the right investments, you may spend less and make more money in the long run. Tony and Chelsea Northrup have a great video talking about this and overall tips for selling used cameras & lenses.


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One Reply to “How to Sell Your Used Camera Gear”

  1. Gear Focus says:

    Need to put Gear Focus at the top of this list with only 3.5% seller fees and dedicated to only camera gear.

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