Get rid of your GAS and ensure that your unused camera gear will have a good home.
Ask yourself: what camera gear do you really need? What camera gear that you own are you truly passionate about? Lots of us have GAS: otherwise known as Gear Acquisition Syndrome. We all get it. In some ways, a photography hobby is sometimes like spring cleaning. It’s good to check in every now and again to figure out what you really need. If I didn’t have this job, I’d sell all my Sony gear. Then I’d try to figure out whether I should stick with my Canon or Fuji system. I did this recently with some of my cameras. It was wonderful to see my Fujifilm XT2 every day on the shelf until I noticed the thin layer of dust around it. Now, I personally own fewer cameras, and I use all of them! Selling cameras that you don’t need is important, and we often feel better about ourselves when we do. Better yet, knowing that the gear will probably go to a good home gives you a heartwarming feeling. Enter MPB!
This was my old Fujifilm XT2. For years, this was a special camera for me. It was the only Fujifilm weather sealed camera I had, and it was great for the journalistic work I do. But earlier last year, I let this and a few other cameras go. I wasn’t using them. It’s not fair to let a solid companion camera just sit on a shelf. Some other photographer is bound to make some wonderful memories with the camera. For a while, the Fujifilm XT2 served me well. But quite candidly–I’m a camera whore. My job demands that I have short-lived flings with image-making devices. I’m compensated by page views and ad revenue. So being steady with one system is pretty hard to do.
When I let go of this camera, I wanted it to go to a good home. I’d do the same thing with digital cameras. Traditional photography is a hobby for passionate photographers, and most don’t do it anymore. So it’s good to give your gear to a place you can trust. That’s why I’ve thrown my faith into MPB. They’re a smaller brand specializing in used digital photography gear. So, they don’t work like the bigger box shops in the photo industry. And you’ll probably get a bit of extra money back to fund the right lens for your camera.
Letting go of digital camera gear is hard. I battle it every day. As a business owner, I think that sometimes it’s better to have it and not need it. At the same time, though, I never want to end up being the hoarder that I saw my mother become. So I often ask myself a ton of questions:
- Do I really need this?
- If I let go of it, do I have an alternative that can fulfill its niche and more?
- Who would want this?
- How valuable is what I’m about to let go of?
- How supported is this product by third parties?
- Am I holding onto something precious?
- Going back into my archive – how much have I shot with this?
- How do I feel about those photos?
- Can I get the same effects from another piece of kit?
- How will I truly feel in the long run if I let this go?
- How can I ensure that this piece of kit gets a good home?
- Who is this piece of kit for, and how does that fit into my creative vision?
- When is the last time I whispered sweet nothings to this piece of kit?
Ok, I don’t actually ask the last question! But I’m pretty ethical about how I get rid of my gear. If something is given to the site for free, I won’t sell it; I’ll pass it forward. I find it unethical to sell stuff that I got for free. But the digital photography gear that I’ve purchased myself, I try to sell. The money is usually used to buy new digital photography gear that I actually need. It’s nice to think of it as getting new teeth or replacing something that doesn’t serve a purpose anymore.
Try out MPB’s price quote system. You’ll most likely get a better deal than a few other places. And most importantly, when you sell to MPB, the gear ends up in the hands of another photographer, which means potentially one less new piece of equipment entering the ecosystem. MPB will also plant a tree for every transaction (through November 30, 2020). MPB is partnering with the One Tree Planted organization to plant up to 25,000 trees in areas where there has been deforestation.