Above: Succulents fine art photograph by Edward M. Fielding.
Got some old cameras or lenses around that you aren’t using anymore? Trade them in for cash. Unlike a lot of other electronic gear that becomes obsolete within a few years, camera gear tends to hold on to some of its value for a longer period.
They say that camera bodies have a life of five years while lenses are good for 30. Cheaper equipment will lose it’s value faster than pro level equipment as there is always someone out there looking to get into a pro level system but doesn’t necessarily have the cash to invest in new cameras or lenses.
Point and shoot type cameras in which the camera and lens are permanently connected with drop in value the quickest as the camera lens is stuck to the aging camera body technology.
DSLR camera bodies also decline in value as new models came out and also manufacturers start to offer discounts and refurbished models on the older bodies. Also after a few years, new models come out and used bodies of the older versions flood the market as people upgrade. This is a great time for buyers but not so much for sellers.
Good quality DSLR camera lenses on the other hand tend to keep their value at about 70% of the list price for the more popular lenses. The cheaper “kit” or beginner lenses, not so much, as these lenses often bundled with camera bodies are not something any one aspires to acquire as one moves up to better quality lenses. Often the market is flooded with these low end lenses so expect the used price to be closer to 50% of the purchase price.
Always keep your boxes and paperwork for your cameras and lenses as there is a robust market for used equipment. Myself I’ve purchased a couple of used lenses recently and have gotten some great deals. There is always some photographer out there who either ends up buying too much gear, has some lens they don’t use very often or some photographer whose business goes belly up and they need to sell off there equipment.
For each of these people, there is someone else just getting into the hobby or business. So at least for lenses, every purchase will have retain some value if you take care of your equipment.
Where To Sell Your Used Photography Equipment
I’ve sold some of my used photography equipment on
Ebay has the potential of bringing in more cash for your used camera equipment. But there is a few catches. One you are competing with a lot of other people trying to sell their equipment. So it might take a while to find a buyer and you might have to settle for a lower price than you wanted. You also have to deal with individual buyers who could become problematic. For example I had one guy bid on a camera body and then say he made a mistake and “sorry” – so I have to deal with Ebay to void the sale which set me back another week.
Places like KEF and BuyBackWorld are easier to deal with. You basically go on their website, enter in your equipment and they give you an estimate. Then you send in your equipment and its is evaluated for quality. And then they send you the cash.
Expect something more like 50% of the value than 70% because they need to resell the equipment and make money. So for the seller you get less money but an faster and guaranteed sale.
I found that KEF downgraded my equipment from what I thought the quality level was but they were “fast” – took a couple weeks to complete the entire transaction. BuyBackWorld seemed to pay a bit more but took longer to complete the entire sale. I got the feeling they resell the item before they pay you because it took about three weeks to complete the entire process.
One note I’ll make on purchasing camera equipment. Buying a equipment from the less popular brands might save you money on the front end, but it might be harder to sell your equipment later. For example BuyBackWorld seemed to only handle Canon EOS cameras and lenses. Something to consider, the installed base of Canon lenses is such much larger than say Pentax, so when it comes time to sell, there are more buyers out there.