My best craigslist find to date. If you're wondering, my dad took the photo!
I’ve never really thought about it, but after fielding questions at a lot of my workshops about where to find equipment at a reasonable price, I thought to myself, “Hey, I’m a Craigslist expert.” Not that I use it a lot now, but I’ve found some great things there and I’m usually successful finding what I’m after. My best gets on Craigslist include, but aren’t limited to, our apartment, both of our cars, a Canon 50D, my wife, a few Nikon lenses, an awesome smoker (for only $50!). Surprised huh? You didn’t know you could get a deal like that on a smoker, did you? And, ok, yes I did find my wife on Craigslist, although she would argue that she found me. Now you can see why I might consider myself a Craigslist expert, right?
So what is Craigslist? If you’re totally new to Craigslist.org, it’s just a simple classified listing website. Think online newspaper classified ads that can be posted free by anyone and found by everyone.
If you’re looking for camera equipment, there is no better first stop than Craigslist. Before you go there though, check out Amazon or bhphoto.com to get an idea of what your item is going for or else you may end up overpaying.
Once you find an item listed, you need to figure out what you’re willing to spend. Now, here’s where some people get a little freaked out by Craigslist. You’re buying something that is most likely used and there’s always a chance that the item might be damaged or stolen, so consider this inherent risk and the fact that you are not receiving the standard warranty on your item to determine if it’s worth the savings. In other words, is it really worth saving $50 on a $900 camera body? No. Make sure you’re getting a deal. Not a steal, but a deal.
So do I have any Craigslist horror stories? Well, I wouldn’t call it a horror story, but I did buy my $1700 24-70mm f2.8 lens for only $1200, but it ended up having a damaged aperture. A quick lesson: when you test a lens make sure you test it with the aperture wide open (ie. f1.4, f2.8) as well as stopped down (f22) to make sure your exposure is consistent.
I took the damaged lens in for repair and the cost to fix it was $160. I emailed the seller since I felt like it was an honest mistake and he said he would send a check for the entire repair, but I only asked him to pay half since I knew I already got a deal. He sent a check for $80 so my lens ended up costing $1280. Still a deal and I still own the lens so it’s not much of a horror story… just a misstep.
My best photo equipment deal on craigslist was on my 200-400mm f4 lens. One of the dangers of perusing the For Sale section is often you’ll see something you just gotta have… well, really need… well, things you don’t need at all, but are really cool. I spotted this lens listed for $4000, which just sounded low. Go ahead and be shocked or think that’s crazy, but for a photographer that has bought and sold lots of equipment, $4000 for that focal length range and aperture just didn’t sound like a lot of money. I looked up the price and it listed for $6000, so I asked the wife (that’s a whole ‘nother blog post!) and was approved.
Quick tip: if you’re exchanging money it’s best to meet at a Starbucks or someplace public. Two of my mom’s favorite quotes sum this up: “You never know” and “it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Here are a couple of secrets to buying on Craigslist. Don’t lowball. Do some research and know what the equipment is worth to you before you email. If someone has something listed for a good price, offer that price or not much less. The 24-70mm lens I bought for $1200 was listed for $1200 so I emailed and used the subject line: “Can I take a look at the 24-70mm tonight?” I always reference immediacy, location, and price in my emails. I make sure I say “I’m in Fairfax” so they know it’s local and not a scam as well as putting a reasonable price in the email. The seller told me that he had received over 40 emails and all were either a scam or lowball offers. The lens was already discounted $500, yet everyone wanted more off. Now I love a bargain as much as the next guy, so sure, I also sent an email from a different email address saying I want the lens for $1100 today. It didn’t get a reply, but the other one did and I got my lens. Sneaky? Well, maybe a little, but it was worth a shot!
One other helpful thing I do now is to set up RSS feeds for items I am looking for. This way I am sent a message anytime someone lists an item with my keywords or search terms in it. Recently, I was looking for a Canon 430EX II flash so I went to CL and searched for one. Once the results are displayed, you will see an orange RSS feed button. Click that and anytime the text “Canon 430EX” was in a listing, it was sent to me. I emailed the seller and the next day I had a Canon flash that sold for $309 at my local camera shop for only $200. RSS feeds work great and they keep me from having to go to the site to search every day and potentially spotting some crazy expensive item that I really, really have to have.
Another of my favorite craigslist finds.
Craigslist is great. Six of eight of my current lenses were found there and I am totally happy with all of them; even the 24-70mm that had the damaged aperture. Just have a price in mind and exercise a little common sense and if something doesn’t seem right then don’t make the deal. A better one could be right around the corner.
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I had lost all hope for CL until I read your blog. So,from your endorosent, I gave it one last try and to my surprize I found exactly what I was looking for…a smooth top range! Now, I am off to find my new camera and hopefully be able to attend one of your classes. I love the photos you have posted in DC.
I agree 100%. Not only is it a great place to pick up stuff, also a good place to sell off your stuff as I discovered. I was able to sell of my D700 on Craig’s List for $2400! I had purchased it for $2700 and used it for about a year and a half before parting with it. And the deal was super awesome.
Also recently picked up a 28mm f2, manual focus lens from CL for just $80.
CL rocks and you are dead right about it.
Hey Okello, I attended one of your classes and was going to go out and find me a little prime lens. Now with this great advise I might give CL a try. Thanks for all your helpful tips!
ive purchased some great stuff for cheap on craigslist. am in the process of looking into a Nikon D90 with 2 lenses, one stock and one zoom for $850. sounds to good to be true but ill check it out.
Hey Peter,
It does, but it’s worth a look. A little common sense goes a long way. If you meet them just ask a couple of questions about use and when they bought it. If what they say makes sense and the equipment doesn’t look abused, go ahead. If anything doesn’t seem right, don’t hesitate to walk away.
Hey Okello! Great class yesterday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, did you get the smoker on craig’s list too……….
Hey George, Thanks! I sure did. Got it for only $50.