I Made Some Money Selling an Old Digital Camera. Here’s How

Remember that awesome digital camera you had when you were younger? Those pocket-size makers of memories are now making a big comeback. People too young to have bought them new are now seeking out cameras that take photos with a specific 2000s vibe. More than the photos themselves, people want to be on their phones less and digital cameras are an easy way to do that. 

So, before you trash that old camera gathering dust in a drawer or storage bin, consider giving it a second life with someone else. And if you don’t have someone in your life who would love one as a gift, here’s how you can sell it.

Is an old camera worth anything?

Yes, old cameras could be worth some money. The highest prices usually go for the most recognizable names, like Canon, Nikon, Sony and Panasonic. Certain models of other brands, like Olympus, Kodak, Fujifilm and others might be worth something too. A Google search could turn up listings of your specific model to give you an idea what they go for, but more obscure models might be rare enough that there’s not much of a resale history.

Before you get your hopes up, though, you need to figure out if it’s worth selling. To start, and perhaps most obvious, does your camera even work? Maybe you’re so organized that you kept the battery and charger all in one place. If not, don’t despair. Find the camera’s model number (check for a label on the camera’s bottom) and search for what you need to get it up and running. Third-party chargers and batteries are usually fairly cheap. Best case, the camera works, and you sell it all for a little more money since it’s a complete set. If it doesn’t work, well, you’ve wasted money on a charger or battery that maybe you can sell for a few dollars.

If it doesn’t work, depending on the camera, it might still be worth something to people who repair cameras. Don’t expect much, though.

What’s the easiest option to sell a camera?

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The easiest way to sell your camera is via used camera gear websites like KEH, MPB and retailers with used camera departments, like Adorama and B&H Photo. These sites will email you an estimate and, once they receive the camera, either send you store credit or deposit the money into your account. 

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The only physical labor on your part will be boxing up the camera and sending it. They’ll usually send you a shipping label. No dealing with annoying potential buyers, no after-sale questions — it’s easy. However, the cost of that ease is less money for your camera. The above websites need to make money on what you’ve sold them, so they’re giving you less money than the camera is potentially worth. Also, it’s possible they’re not interested in more obscure or lower-end cameras. For that, you’ll need to sell it yourself.

How to get the most money for an old camera

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It comes with additional labor, but selling the camera yourself offers the best potential for higher profits. Facebook Marketplace and eBay are the most obvious examples. I recommend taking lots of close-up, well-lit photos of the camera, especially the lens and screen. Open the battery and/or memory card compartments. Turn it on and show the screen working. If you really want to go all out, take some photos with the camera and show those.

I also recommend doing what you can to minimize post-sale emails by listing exactly what the camera might need to work. Does it need a Mini USB or another older cable? Many people won’t have those. Potential buyers might not have any idea what a CF card or MemoryStick is or how to get those images onto their phone. Maybe you don’t either, and that’s fine, just mention it ahead of time to weed out less-informed buyers.

An example of how to sell old cameras

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I found two cameras during a recent purge of old gear, so I’ll use them to give you a general idea of the differences in sales amounts. One camera is a Panasonic DMC-FX07 circa 2006, and the other a DMC-LX3 circa 2008. Incredibly, both still work, and I even found batteries with several minutes of charge, plus two chargers. This is the “managing expectations” section of this story. Let’s take a look at what I was offered from KEH:

MPB didn’t even have a listing. However, the results were much better on eBay. Be sure to limit your results to recent sales, so you can see if your camera is selling and what it’s selling for. Here are my results:

Since I had an ancient SD card I could spare, plus the charger, I could probably get between $50 and $100 for it. Not bad! 

The results for the higher-end LX3 were better. When new, this camera cost $500, which is around $750 in today’s money. It’s also basically mechanically identical to the Leica D-Lux 4. Given how popular older Leicas still are, the higher used prices of the LX3 might be getting pulled upwards along with them. KEH was far more interested in this camera.

MPB was not. 

Amusingly, I got the following email a few minutes after I asked for a quote:

Adorama, on the other hand, was very interested:

And, unsurprisingly, eBay was offering a decent amount if I wanted to put in the labor, but interestingly, the recent sales were slightly less than what Adorama was offering. However, once Adorama got hold of the camera, maybe it would decide it wasn’t “Excellent Plus” and would offer me less.

Regardless, I’d say $150-plus is pretty good for a camera I’d forgotten about. Let’s call it $200 for both. That’s certainly worth a few hours to take some photos and create two listings. Like most photographers, however, once I started checking them out to make sure they worked, I was once again enamored, or at least overwhelmed in a deluge of nostalgia, by the results from the old CCD sensors. Hmmm, maybe I should keep both of these…

In addition to covering audio and display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile road trips and more.

Also, check out his books Budget Travel for Dummies and the bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines. You can follow him on Instagram and YouTube. 

Geoffrey Morrison

Contributor

Geoffrey Morrison is a writer/photographer about tech and travel for CNET, The New York Times, and other web and print publications. He’s also the Editor-at-Large for Wirecutter. He is the author of Budget Travel for Dummies as well as the bestselling sci-fi novels Undersea, and Undersea Atrophia. He’s NIST and ISF trained, and has a degree in Audio Production from Ithaca College. He spends most of the year as a digital nomad, living and working while traveling around the world. You can follow his travels at BaldNomad.com and on his Instagram and YouTube channel.

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