Tips for Selling Camera Gear Online
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If you’re selling camera gear online in order to make some extra income during the pandemic, you definitely aren’t alone. In fact, more people are selling camera gear online right now than ever before, so you actually have more competition than you ever had.
As such, it’s pretty important that you understand how to sell your camera while getting the most amount of money you can for it. That’s why we compiled a list of tips for selling photography gear. I’m no stranger to selling camera gear online, and neither are my coworkers, which means that there are a few of us who have been scammed while selling camera gear online, and nearly all of us have sold gear for less than we should have.
We don’t want you to put yourself in any of the situations we’ve been in before.
How To Prep Your Camera Gear Before the Sale
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Selling camera gear online has a ton of pros, but it also has some cons and one of the biggest ones is that your photos of your product need to be pristine or else your buyer will simply click and purchase from the next seller.
Plus, if you’re a photographer selling camera gear online and you don’t take at least a little pride in the photos you’re taking of your equipment, everyone is silently judging you.
The first step to taking excellent photos of your used camera gear is to clean it thoroughly.
The second is to take a ton of pictures. I can’t tell you the amount of times I come across used camera gear where the seller only took 2-3 pictures of the camera. 2-3 photos either tells me that there is a problem the seller is trying to hide or that the seller was simply just really lazy. Either way, I won’t want to work with that person.
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You should take a minimum of 6 photos, but if you can get closer to 8 without being redundant than you should. Take photos of your camera from every angle. Take photos of any scratches or dents your camera has. Make sure that when you’re taking photos, your camera is well lit and stands out very clearly against the background. If you think you’re going to be selling a lot of old camera equipment in the future, then it may be worth it to purchase a simple white background off of Amazon to do so. You’ll make up the money in no time.
But, of all these tips for selling photography equipment, the most important one is to make sure your camera works EXACTLY how you say it will. Triple check the condition or you’re going to have an unhappy customer on your hands.
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Where Should You Sell Your Gear?
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If you’re okay going through all of the steps I outlined above before selling camera gear online, then there are a ton of options for different websites you can use. One of the most popular, obviously, is Amazon. Another is eBay.
If you live in a large city, you can also try your luck on Craigslist. My one problem with all of these methods, though, is that your chances of being scammed on either eBay or Craigslist are really pretty high, and your chance of Amazon listening to what you have to say over what an Amazon buyer has to say are very, very slim. They have a great business model if you’re a buyer, not so much if you’re a seller.
So, what other options are there for selling camera gear online?
One of my favorites is MPB because it means you can skip all of those steps I talked about for prepping your camera.
Selling camera gear online with MPB is literally as easy as the click of a button. You simply need to tell them the model and condition of the camera or lens you’re selling, and you’ll get an instant quote.
They then send you a box with a shipping label for you to pack your camera gear in. If they receive your camera or your lens and they don’t agree with your approximation about the condition of your equipment, they’ll give you another quote and you can either agree with it and sell it or disagree with it and receive your equipment back.
photo by Pofuduk Images via iStock
While selling camera gear online yourself may ensure you receive the absolute most money for your sale, it also requires a lot more work for you. I personally think that my hourly rate is a lot higher than the money I may save by selling my equipment myself. Plus, to be honest, I’m an awful negotiator and I know that if I meet with someone in person, they’re going to be able to talk me down from the price I wanted for my equipment.
MPB takes all of these worries away from me and, frequently, I turn around and buy other used equipment from MPB via their credit program which just allows me to trade in my old gear for new gear.
Selling camera gear online doesn’t have to be stressful!