CalevPhoto

How to buy and sell used equipment

I suspect a great deal of this blog will already be known to many of you, but for those who are just starting out in photography you may want to know what the best ways to pick up used equipment are.  Also, some of this info may be helpful for those who have equipment they no longer use or are upgrading.

For buyers

Buyers have a multitude of places to buy used camera equipment these days.  The following are the major options.

• Buy it at your local camera store.  Most larger camera stores sell used equipment.  Typically the inspect it before putting it up for sale and will price it according to its condition.  In general most of these stores are honest, though you’ll pay a bit more for the item than you would elsewhere.
• KEH.com.  This is the most reliable place on the Net to buy used equipment.  They have a wide variety of equipment and their prices are fair, though a bit higher than if you purchase the item directly from the seller.
• EBay.  EBay can be a great source for used equipment, particularly if the item you are purchasing is hard to come by.  However, you won’t know the true condition of the item until you receive it, so there is a fair amount of risk involved.
• Craigslist.  The variety of items is not high, though the more common items (such as newer camera models) are readily available there.  Prices are all over the place, but you can usually negotiate.  Always have common sense when meeting someone you don’t know.  I have never had issues with meeting anyone through Craigslist to sell gear, but if you are a single woman I would meet in a public place.
• Groups and clubs.  If you are a member of a group or club, this is a great way to buy equipment.  Usually these are people you know and trust, and their reputation is on the line when they say the equipment is in good shape.

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Beware Craiglist scams from Malaysia

This weekend I decided to put my Canon 5D up for sale, so I naturally placed it on Craiglist.  We sell almost everything now on Craigslist, as Ebay isn’t worth the effort.  People are much cheaper on EBay and the few items I have tried to sell there didn’t sell.  I was in no huge hurry to sell it, so I put it up at a rather high price.

Within a day we receive an e-mail from a woman in Minnesota.  She explains that she is very busy but would like to buy the camera.  She does not try to negotiate the price down.  She also asks if we have a Paypal account to organize payment.

I’m slightly skeptical, but agree to it.  I do a search on the individual and find that there is someone by that name who lives in Minnesota – though I could find no reference of her photographic work.  Still, Paypal is generally trustworthy – so I agreed.  We also offer to include the shipping in the cost.

The next day we receive an e-mail that ‘the person who the camera is for has left town’.  The person is now in Malaysia.  The woman apologizes for this and offers to pay the full shipping costs to Malyasia, plus the 3% Paypal fee.  This immediately sounds fishy, so I do some investigation.

I find out that there are a number of Paypal scams (many of which occur with addresses to Malaysia) where they send you a fake e-mail saying the money was deposited in your Paypal account.  You then send them the item and they get it for free – as the money was never deposited.

There were other things fishy about the e-mails as well.

1. She (though most likely a ‘he’) went into detail about her business and how busy she is.  Most buyers send very short e-mails.
2. She never mentions the item by name, calling it “the item”.
3. She never negotiated on the price
4. The name in Malaysia was not a Malay name but an English one

Curious to have some fun, I said – “sure, send the money”.  In the meantime I sold the camera to someone else.  Sure enough, the next day I receive a fake e-mail stating that the money is in my account.  I forward the mail to Yahoo’s phishing department.

So beware this scam in case you run into it.  Craigslist and Paypal are both reputable companies, but like anywhere skepticism and caution are good traits to have.