Buying Digital Photography Equipment on eBay

Yes, I buy digital photography equipment on eBay! I admit it. I've bought quite a few items and most recently a remote cord for the D2X.

My advice is you have to start slow and small on eBay, in my opinion. I began by buying a few sterling silver bracelets. (I kinda collect them!). And no where else could I find a great assortment of old, beat up, antique-y silver other than on eBay. I made a few bids – and WON! It’s almost addictive! I got good feedback for these transactions, and I decided to sell some stuff.

(The entire “community” is based on feedback, which is taken very seriously. You leave appropriate feedback for your transactions; and your customers leave feedback for you. It’s the credibility currency of e-commerce on eBay)

And my sales? Well guess what? People DID bid on my items (an old laptop computer was one item), and they paid. I watched every day as the bid price was going up up up! So cool. It really is a unique experience.

So, now I’m a convert. I’ll visit eBay to see what the “market price” for an item REALLY is; or I’ll check to see if I might find a better deal. Often I do. Or if I want to sell something (on eBay or not) I’ll check the “completed auctions” for that category of item to see what I could expect to sell it for.

Ebay is an excellent source for digital photography equipment, especially for camera accessories and hard to find in Canada (or your country) gear. At a local camera shop for example the lens cap for the Nikkor 10.5 mm fisheye (which I lost on a mountain top in BC this spring – the cap not the lens) is a whopping $50.00. But I found one on eBay for less than $20.00. eBay has national sites so you can search for items close to home, and in your currency.

Other things like batteries (make sure you use real Nikon batteries - generics can cause problems), cables, filters and pouches are all good deals.

Just make sure it’s not TOO good a deal – there have been a few apparent "scams" lately. A brand new Nikon D2x for $2000.00?! Get real. I’m not sure if this one was a scam to collect peoples e-mail addresses so they could be spoofed later; or just an outright fraud. But either way, you have to know there’s something fishy (phishy?) about a listing like that!

Search for Nikon D2X, and sort by price. What you find may surprise you. (more about the grey market in photography equipment later) But eBay is very vigilant about putting a sharp stop to fraudsters and they have all sorts of insurance and protection measures to make sure no one gets "hurt while playing".

Try the “watch items" featrue – so you can follow what the asking price is and what it ultimately sells for. You can also search for products that have been sold, so again, you can see what the going price for your stuff is.

Thinking about getting rid of that old 35mm film camera...see what it’s worth on eBay! You may be richer than you think!

I also have a few talented friends who sell their stock photos and artworks on eBay. It’s quite a place!!!