photo by jacoblund via iStock
Looking for a new camera or lens? You might be able to trade in old camera gear that you have in order to help finance the transaction.
Trading in your current equipment has other benefits, too. Instead of keeping things you don’t use anymore in a box in the closet, trading in or selling it off is a great option for what to do with old camera gear.
Here are a few ideas on how to make money from old camera gear and it can actually have benefits that go beyond us.
Trade-Ins Save Us Money
photo by coffeekai via iStock
A huge reason, the primary one for many photographers, for trading in old camera gear is because it helps save us money.
Let’s be honest, the higher up you go in types of photographic equipment, the more expensive it is. Case in point, I just upgraded to a new, special lens that cost more money than my first car did!
The better a camera or lens is, it will probably cost more. A prosumer camera body often costs more than an entry-level kit of camera and lens. A full-fledged professional camera can be several times more expensive than a prosumer camera.
Same with lenses and other photographic accessories. A fast zoom lens or high-quality prime lens is more expensive than a lens designed to be cost-friendly for beginners and professional lighting equipment and tripod prices can be shocking at first glance before we learn how vital these items are for serious photography and videography.
So, being able to diminish the final ticket price of any piece of photography equipment feels good. Many camera stores have had trade in policies for years. My first serious camera was purchased used from a local camera store that sold new gear of all of the major brands.
Trade-Ins Create a Used Market
photo by U.Ozel.Images via iStock
The decades-long policies of camera stores allowing trade-ins has made available a large cache of equipment that still has usability but simply isn’t wanted or needed anymore by the original owner.
Cameras and lenses are pretty special. They are often somewhat complex in order to create the simple methods of use that photographers need. Imagine trying to time a shutter speed yourself of minute fractions of a second! And lenses perform their functions by bending light and controlling the intensity of it.
Which makes it almost a given that just because a camera or lens isn't needed by me any more than it is nowhere near the end of its useful life. So much so that a whole industry of stores catering only to used photographic equipment also exists. Just like stores selling new stuff can be a locally operated small store all the way to multinational superstores, there are that many different types of stores for old camera gear.
One of my favorite sources of old camera gear is an online store that operates in North America and the European Union called MPB. As a major store, they have access to all sorts of used camera gear and they have the ability to offer returns and a six-month warranty on their used gear.
Learn More:
- New vs Used Camera Gear: Which Should You Buy?
- What to Look for In a Used Lens
- Should I Still Buy a DSLR?
You Can Outright Sell, Too
photo by Anna Kim via iStock
A superstore like MPB has the ability to also buy your old camera gear outright because they are looking for good quality items and they have standards and policies of what makes a piece of old camera gear worthy of being resold with a warranty backing it up.
You may not be in need of buying anything else for your gear bag of photography and videography gear but you have something you’re not using at all anymore taking up space. You’re not even using it as a backup. So, you may as well sell it and realize some profit from it.
Easy Upgrades
photo by izzetugutmen via iStock
As we noted in our MPB Review article and other articles about used and old camera gear, buying used and trading in your old camera gear is an easy way to upgrade to newer or better equipment.
Upgrades you might think of are moving up from entry-level cameras and lenses to prosumer models, moving up to full-fledged professional gear from whatever you’re using now, or changinging from a cropped format like APS-C and MFT to Full Frame format.
Keeps It Going
photo by belife2007 via iStock
An aspect of trading in old camera gear that has benefits beyond our own pocketbook or gear bag is that the cameras and lenses are still usable for someone, so you might as well give it the opportunity of being used by someone else.
Plus, you give someone else the chance of obtaining quality photographic gear that they may not have been able to easily afford as brand new. So it comes full circle from when I first got a serious camera as a used camera.
If you were wondering what to do with old camera gear that you have that you’re either not using or want to upgrade, head over to our friends at MPB and sell or trade it.