How Much is this Camera Worth - Price Check Ebay Completed Listings

How much is this camera worth? (Can I sell it?)

Is this camera a good deal?

These are two of the most common questions people have about cameras, lenses, and other gear.

eBay is where the largest volume of used camera gear is sold online. The price of what items did or did not sell for can be checked by looking at the completeing listings. This is done by using advanced ebay search filters to see completed items as well as sold items for a search term.

Knowing what items sell for, or even if they will sell at all, is important to know if you are interested in selling a piece of gear you have. If you’re looking to buy something, you’ll be able to estimate if it would be worth it to try to wait for a good deal.

There are also filters to avoid because they can falsely filter out results. This is especially important if you are shopping for a good deal.

Camera models that have been released in series can be difficult to sort through due to the number of search results. There are several ways to narrow down the search results.

Pay attension to the dates of the sold listings to see how frequent sales are. This will help you figure out how patient you need to get a good deal. The sold listing prices are also useful for price checking sales from other sites like Amazon, KEH, and Adorama.

Show Only Completed Items and Sold Items

Just because someone listed an item for a certain price, doesn’t mean there is someone willing to pay it. That’s where the “Completed Items” and “Sold Items” filters under the Show only section come in.

Enabling the “Completed Items” filter will show all competed listings. This will allow you to see what an item if an item has sales and if so, how much it is selling for.

Items that sold will have “Sold Month Day, Year” written in green above the listing title as well as the listing price. If it was an auction listing, the number of bids will also be displayed.

Items that did not sell will have “Ended Month Day, Year” in red above the listing title. The price will be shown in black. For auctions, listings will most likely have 0 bids. If there are bids, there was likely a reserve price that was not met.

Good Buys & Sellable Items

The worst gear to buy are items that can not be resold. It is common to eventually want to upgrade or have gear fall out of favor.

This is also helpful if you have found some camera gear and want to know if it is worth selling.

The closer the number of results for “Completed Items” is close to the number of results for the “Sold Items” filter, the better a item is selling.

If they are the same, all of the items are selling. If there are no results for sold listings, nothing is selling.

You should want the number of sold listings to be at least 75% of completed listings to be able to easily sell as piece of gear.

No sold listings or very low sold prices are signs of bad value. It may not be worth the time or effort to attempt to sell something.

No Sales & Bad Value

If the number of number of “Sold Items” is much less, that means few items are selling. That is likely to put downward pressure on future prices.

if you have found something you want to sell, this may be a sign that there might not be a buyer out there for your item. Or it might not be worth the time and effort due to how little the item would sell for.

Using eBay Search Filters to Save Money

An eBay listing can have a surprising amount of information to fill out. All that info is then used for search filters.

Lazy people will only fill out the required information to launch a listing. The older the gear you are trying to lookup to purchase or price check, the more common this will be.

I get the most use out of the following filters:

• Category - “Digital Cameras”, “Camera Lenses” These are good to use with popular items. Good to use when there are hundreds or thousands of listings for accessories for your search query.
• Condition - The prices will be different. Unless it’s going to be a business expenese, you get significantly better value by buying used. Modern cameras are excessively good.
• Item Location - It might have Japanese firmware. It also might reek of cigarette smoke.
• Returns Accepted - You’re less likely to have a problem. They are more likely to know how to correctly test and appraised the condition of gear. It’s annoying to have to deal with stuff.

Item Location

This filter allows you to see how many listings are from outside of specific geographic areas. Items that come from overseas can have long shipping times. Returns can also be difficult due to language differences and long return shipping times.

An example of this is the Lubitel 166B. It is a medium format film twin lens reflex camera made in the Soviet Union. It makes sense that there are significantly more available for sale from outside the United States.

The ratio of completed listings to sold listings is close, which means there is a consistent volume of sales. If you are in the US, the Lubitel 166B is a camera that you could buy and then easily resell. Keep in mind that depending on where you decide to resell the camera, you can lose money on marketplace fees.

The Model Filters are Bad

I don’t like using any Model filters because a large percentage are filled out incorrectly and inconsistently. This is understandable when dealing with models that are released as a series. Should it be called a Mark VII, Mark 7, mk vii, or mkvii?

If you are looking for a deal, you don’t want to filter out potential deals.

Start with Sold Listings

Start with the eBay sold listings filter. Pay attension to the number of results.

You can check the demand by comparing the number of results for only the “Completed listings” filter option.

Cameras

example of a camera body with good sales

example of a camera body with terrible sales

How to Filter Models From a Series (I, II, III, IV, V, etc…)

The harder a listing is to find, the fewer the number of people that will see it. Doing different searches can result in finding a lower than average price listing.

Two camera models that highlight this are the Canon 5D and Sony A7.

Searching for the 4 Different Canon EOS 5D Models

The Canon 5D is a full frame DSLR made by Canon. There are 4 different versions, the 5D, 5D Mk II, 5D Mk 3, and 5D Mark IV.

There are too many ways to refer to the versions of the 5D. The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is the same camera as the EOS 5D Mark III*, but notice the difference in the number of results shown in the (parenthesis). Using a filter will filter out models you are looking for.

Setting a price filter can be helpful for Buy it Now listings. There is likely going to be some overlap in price between models. However, a large chunk of listings can be easily filtered.

Megapixels can be another way to filter listing for a specific model. Keep in mind that people will not alway fill out the information. There is no verification information submitted is correct, so people can also make mistakes.

For the original release of a camera model “classic” is popular. This is because a search for a “Canon 5D” will return listings for a newer and more expensive “Canon 5D Mark III”.

Searching for the 12 Different Sony A7 Variations

At this time that means the following models: A7, A7R, A7S, A7 II, A7R II, A7S II, A7R III, A7 III, A7R IV, A7S III, A7C, and A7 IV.

Just like the 5D above, the use of “classic” in a search listing will be helpful in finding an original Sony A7.

With so many options, some models you aren’t insterested in will likely be included. This can be a situation where setting a price filter can be helpful for looking at ‘Buy it Now’ listings.

How to Filter Out Camera Batteries

One of the common issues with older cameras is that the batteries start to die. Cameras that have been discontinued will often also have their batteries discontinued by the manufacturer. Or OEM batteries can just be too expensive.

That’s where third party manufacturers step in and provide replacements. Searches can be flooded with listings for replacement batteries and battery chargers.

Select the correct category.

Bundles for Beginner Cameras

Former “Christmas bundles” can be great camera to purchase. This is because they should come with everything you need, such as a memory card, battery charger, filters, and a bag.

With older cameras, you want to pay more attension to included accessories. Just the cost of shipping an additional item can be a considerable cost. Some accessories, like older memory cards, can be surprisingly expensive to replace.