Why to buy used photo equipment? Few basic reasons…

Good reasons to buy second hand cameras

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Lower cost.

Photography equipment can be very expensive so the first and the most obvious reason to buy used camera equipment is to save money. The moment the camera is purchased as new its value drops the minute you take it out of the box. Many people think they should buy new to get the manufacturer’s warranty, but in many cases you can buy a used item with an optional Mack “2 Year Warranty” (which in most cases is longer than the manufacturer warranty) and still save money. A used digital camera is typically 20% to 60% cheaper than a new one.

Lower defective rate (?!)

Second surprising fact is lower defective rate for second hand cameras bought from reliable sources, such as KEH. You might be asking yourself ‘won’t used equipment have a higher defective rate than new equipment? That seems like a very logical assessment. The facts may surprise you though. The average defective rate for New, out of the box, straight from the manufacture (Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Pentax, etc) is 2%. For example KEH’s reports show that of everything used they sell, only 1.7% returns are due to defect issues.

Out of stock items.

Some equipment is simply no longer available as new on stock. For those of you who are camera enthusiasts, some of your favorite items can no longer be found new and can only be purchased used. Fortunately there are dealers who are continually buying used cameras from all over the world. Many collectible items, no longer produced items and vintage cameras and equipment can be found at used camera dealers online.

Test driven for you.

When purchasing second hand cameras, you don’t have to wait for the item to go through a testing period. By the time it’s sold used most of the modifications and firmware updates have been made to the equipment already. If not, that is usually done by a dealer’s repair department before being put on the shelf to sell.

Cheaper experimenting.

With used gear it’s better and cheaper to learn and experiment with new formats. When you have an appetite for a new piece of gear but are still in doubt if it’s made for you sometimes it’s better to purchase it second hand and test to find out whether you like shooting with it or not. It’s less risk than buying brand new and finding out you don’t like it, or you end up using it very rarely. In case the test is not successful you can resell it for about the same price you bought it with no hard feelings.

Cheaper backup equipment.

Used camera equipment is great for backup (second set of equipment) and is perfect for experimental techniques that could be risky to the equipment, and shooting in harsh conditions.

If you can come up with another interesting reason for a second hand camera please let me know by leaving a comment below. I would love to hear about it from you

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