Hey y’all! Happy Thursday! Today I wanted to write a blog post about how to find cheap camera equipment! When starting out in photography, finding equipment you can actually afford is hard! Most professional equipment actually costs thousands of dollars, so when you’re starting out, spending that kind of money is hard. Even I had a hard time with finding good equipment cheap! That’s why todays blog post is giving you some of my favorite hidden secrets in finding cheap, reliable camera equipment!
Favorite places to look
- Check websites like B&H, Adorama and KEH. These websites are reliable camera stores on the East Coast. They sell refurbished, used and brand new equipment, and will even accept trade-ins for cash or points towards more equipment!
- Facebook Marketplace. Yes, check facebook or facebook groups! I bought my first full frame DSLR off of marketplace from another photographer! They were selling their unused equipment and I got a great deal on it.
- Ebay. Yes, you can get great equipment off of Ebay! Most of my equipment is used, I’ve never bought a lens brand new. And yes, I’ve bought off of ebay before! You want to look at sellers ratings carefully – only buy from people with ratings over 92% positive. You also want to look at where the camera is coming from. I don’t buy from sellers who are selling from California, Texas, New York or Florida. Those are the major ports in the US and could easily be gray market gear. Gray market meaning it’s coming from China, but NOT actual Canon backed equipment. So be careful when you’re looking! If you’re looking at a camera body from the middle of Idaho? You’re probably safe!
- Check third market selling places and apps like Mercari or Poshmark! They have rock solid return policies if you don’t get what you paid for and I actually just purchased my 5d Mark iii off of Mercari! I only paid $600 and it was in amazing shape! Make sure when you’re looking you ask for additional photos if they don’t post a lot, shutter count (on camera bodies) and if possible, pictures of the equipment on! It’s a risk buying from a website like this but it’s definitely worth it if you find the right gear.
- Craigslist. This is kind of like a facebook marketplace deal. People will post their equipment on here and usually are negotiable with costs.
- Instagram. Believe it or not, instagram has camera equipment sellers! My favorite is The Lens Guru. He refurbishes, cleans and fixes broken camera equipment and resells it at a super fair price. If you’re cruising the gram, make sure you check him out!
That’s it! I hope you found one new exciting place to check out when you’re looking for camera gear the next time you go shopping! One more tip, is to make sure you have the money before you go and buy. Looking before you have the money is a terrible idea – because you’ll find all these great deals but won’t be able to buy them. But don’t worry, if you find a good deal and it’s gone before you get to it, just keep waiting!
Happy hunting!
