Call it the Instagram effect, but there seems to be a renewed interest for compact, point and shoot cameras – from the late film and early digital times (roughly 1990-2015).(see * at the bottom of this page)

But where to find them? Resellers of used photo equipment like KEH or MPB don’t seem to carry any – which leaves us with marketplaces and auction sites like eBay, Mercari or Shopgoodwill.

For a photographer looking for an old camera, eBay is relatively buyer-friendly – the feedback mechanism gives the cautious user a good tool to evaluate the reliability of the seller, and eBay organizes the shipping and the delivery to ensure that the transaction is satisfactory for the buyer – most of the time. It does not dispense the buyer from being cautious (beware of sellers with no or extremely limited feedback, of succinct item descriptions and of offers too good to be true).

On eBay, buying from the Mecca of old cameras, Japan, is easy – items often get delivered to your doorstep faster than if you bought them from an American vendor. Just be cognizant to the fact that your Japanese seller will probably have a very limited mastery of the English language, and that some of the Japanese camera manufacturers (in fact, most of them) sold specific versions of their cameras on their domestic market, that could only display Japanese menus and could not be reflashed with an “international” firmware. Validate that the camera you want to buy can be configured to the language of your choice, obviously.

I don’t know Mercari that well – I’ve always been discouraged by obvious red flags on the listings of a significant number of sellers, and I’ve never bought anything from them. In my limited experience with the site, I’ve noticed that they’re not as good as eBay at policing their site, and at banning obvious scams (sellers with zero history proposing a very sought after camera at half of the normal price). Which casts a doubt on the reliability of the whole marketplace. (see ** at the bottom of this page).

Shopgoodwill is changing. Contrarily to eBay or Mercari, it’s not a marketplace – it’s simply the on-line auction site of the Goodwill organization. It operates on a very decentralized model – and the photographic knowledge of most of those local organizations is still abysmal. Sometimes the work is divided in such a way that the poor soul entering the description of the item on the web site has never had it in hand, and only has a few low res pictures to work from – to comical effects: I recently saw a coffee mug in the shape of a Canon IS USM 24-105 lens described as a lens.

But a few local Goodwill organizations seem to have significantly stepped up their game recently, and now describe the cameras they sell accurately (they even list the tests they performed and their outcome). And it works – I’ve not had a bad surprise with Shopgoodwill recently. It could also be that – with experience – I’ve become better at separating the wheat from the shaff.

My rules for buying on Shopgoodwill.com:

1 / Only bid on cameras which have been accurately described and tested, with – in the case of digital cameras – a few photos of their rear LCD to confirm they’re in working order.

2/ Only bid on digital cameras that come with a battery – if there is no battery it’s very likely the cameras were not working when they were donated to Shopgoodwill. If the camera’s battery can’t be recharged without an external battery charger, and that charger is not included, walk away. Consider that batteries and chargers for early digital cameras can be extremely difficult to locate, and seriously expensive. And of course, without a charged battery a camera can not be tested, which brings us back to 1/.

3/ Avoid cameras with a known weak point, or a reputation for aging poorly. There are brands or models I would never buy on Goodwill (almost anything Contax and Yashica, many Pentax models or any premium compact film camera from the nineties). If I wanted such a camera, I would go to a specialized reseller, on their website or on their eBay storefront.

4/ Determine the maximum price you’re willing to pay, and stick to it. Logically, cameras should sell on Goodwill for significantly less than what well known and respected specialized stores would ask on their own web sites or on eBay. As a buyer on Shopgoodwill.com your risk of ending with a lemon is much higher, and you have no recourse because you’re buying “a donated item as-is”. I don’t understand why people are entering bidding wars and end up paying more for an untested piece of equipment than they would pay from a reputable seller on eBay.(see *** at the bottom of this page)

‘For parts or not working”

Generally, when an item is described as “for parts, not working”, it’s true. A seller would not advertise a camera as “not working” if it was working. Right?

Well, not always.

I can think of two situations when a camera is advertised as “non working” but is actually capable of taking pictures:

Canon or Nikon include the expected lifespan of the shutter of their pro cameras in their spec sheets (you know that the shutter of a Nikon D850 is good for 200,000 actuations, and that on a Canon 6D Mark II it is good for 150,000 actuations). But of course, it’s simply an estimate. Which probably includes a solid safety margin. Some resellers (the big cameras stores, typically) advertise cameras which have passed their “shutter life limit” as “not working” to absolve themselves from any liability in case the shutter dies two days after the buyer has received the camera.

The other situation is when the seller has limited knowledge of cameras in general (it’s a pawn shop, for instance) or of the quirks of a specific brand or model in particular. They can’t make the camera work, and rather than writing it off completely, advertise it as non-working. It happens. Be sure that somebody more knowledgeable will notice the listing, identify the issue, decide to take the risk and score big.

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(*) On the subject of the current used digicam market, you can read this interesting article from the blog aptly named thephoblographer: THE VINTAGE DIGICAM CRAZE IS AFFECTING SONY PRICES.

(**) – Both eBay and Mercari are making efforts to kick the scammers out of their marketplace – eBay will only pay the sellers after they have shared some form of tax ID with them, and after the Postal Service has delivered the item to the buyer. They also validate that the data provided by the seller (address, bank information) is consistent. On Mercari, participants (sellers or buyers) can opt to have their identity (and their existence) verified by a third party – and upon successful verification a little blue checkmark is added next to their name.

(***) By the way, donations to a charity like Goodwill may be tax deductible, but purchases you make online at Shopgoodwill.com are not. As per Shopgoodwill.com, “When you purchase an item on ShopGoodwill.com you are paying fair market value for the item, therefore purchases made through ShopGoodwill.com are not tax deductible“.

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