How To Sell Your Gear Without The Hassle

Look, I get it. Sometimes as photographers, we get a little too easy-breezy with our purchases. A new shiny lens, camera body, flash or tripod comes along and we simply must have it. Then, after a few uses, we realize that maybe we don’t love it as much as we’d hoped.

Or perhaps you had a family member who’s downsizing and you’re desperately trying to help clear out that attic. Surprise! They’ve got a pirate chest full of classic camera equipment that they don’t want to keep.

You could hold onto this gear, clean it up, dust it off and decide that you’re going to go make your mark on the world with this newfound stuff…

Or you could realize that you’ve got a lot going on and you just don’t have time to fall in love with a piece of equipment that you don’t already love. It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about it.

KEH makes it super easy to take this equipment and change it into money. Do you want to turn that guilt-causing pile of gear into a higher number in your bank account? Read on and I’ll tell you exactly how it’s done.


How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

Our real-life website

GET A QUOTE STARTED

Let’s say you’ve got an aging Sony a7s II that you’re looking to sell. First, navigate your way to the best site on the web, keh.com, and click [SELL] on the main navigation bar. That’ll take you here.

Click the big, red [GET STARTED] button. The next page has an entry field where you can begin typing in some characteristics of your gear. As you type, the site should automatically pop up suggestions with a photo of the item in question.

How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

Yeah, this one!

Make sure to read the full name of the piece you select. Our initial quote values are based on your selections and if the wrong item is selected, you may be given an incorrect estimate until we receive your stuff!

You’ll see your selected item listed here, and be able to choose your item’s Condition from the drop-down menu to the right. Just to the right of that, you’ll find a question mark in a circle. Click on that to read short descriptions of the different grades from Like New Minus to Bargain.

If you aren’t familiar with our grading scale, read up on these different grades. We pride ourselves on having incredibly consistent and accurate grading among used items. I should know—I spent months in training to calibrate myself to KEH’s thorough grading scale before I ever inspected a customer’s camera or lens.

How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

Be honest—not everything is Like New Minus

Once you’ve chosen a grade, choose your attributes. For the a7s ii, you’ve got the option of choosing ‘Body Only – without Accessories‘ or ‘With Battery and Charger.‘ It’s awesome if you’ve still got the original box, strap or instruction book, but for this model, we aren’t looking for those items. Some items may have more of these attribute options to choose from. These attributes may not exactly match what you’ve got, but try to match them as best you can so that we can estimate your quote more accurately.

Once you’ve done that, you can hit the big red [ADD TO QUOTE] button and it’ll give you an idea of what kind of payment you could receive for this item.

How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

Much better than collecting dust

If you’ve got more items, feel free to add them by clicking [ADD ANOTHER ITEM] and repeating the process with any more pieces you want to price out. Once again, make sure to get the item description as close as you can. If you’ve got a Sony 50mm f/1.8 E-Mount lens and you accidentally enter it as an A-mount lens, your estimated payment will appear much lower than it should, so try to be as thorough as you can.

At this point, hit [CONTINUE TO CONTACT INFO] and fill the required fields. This is also when you’ll add any comments about your items or any promotional codes related to trade-ins. Sometimes we’ll run special promotions where you can get a higher amount on your quote, so make sure to sign up for our email list to be notified of all those.

How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

No, I don’t actually live at the KEH Offices

After that, you’ll find a link to the Terms and Conditions of our Sell Your Gear program. Take a little time to read through them. Whether you read them or not, you’ll have to check the box to accept our terms and conditions to move forward. Don’t let this stress you out. We’re good people. Call and talk to us at 1-800-DIAL-KEH if you’ve got any doubts or questions about our terms for this stuff.

Click on [GET AN INSTANT QUOTE] and the hardest part is done!


How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

Let’s print some stuff

SIMPLY PACK & SEND WITH FREE SHIPPING

On the next page, you’ll see your instant quote amount. Click on [PRINT PACKING SLIP] to print a document with your quote # at the top. It’ll also have your contact info & any product info you provided to us in the last step. Make sure to include a copy of this packing slip inside every package you send to us so that it’s easy to identify whose gear we’re receiving.

Here, you can also print your prepaid FedEx shipping label. That’s right, shipping is on us unless you’re outside of the US. We don’t currently cover international shipping. If you’re nearby our office in Smyrna, GA, you can just drop off your equipment here!

How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

This should cover it

A little further down the page, you can find some more links and some frequently asked questions. One link will show you where to find your nearest FedEx location for convenient drop-off of packages. The center link will show you the status of your order once we have received it. Lastly, the rightmost link puts you in contact with us via email if you’ve got any concerns.

You should quickly receive a message to the email address you’ve provided with shipping instructions, a link to track your quote’s status, and another link to print your shipping label.

How To Sell Your Gear Without Leaving The House

Wow, an e-mail!

All that’s left to do is print those documents, pack up your gear and drop it off at your nearest FedEx. Wrap each item individually with bubble wrap or newspaper and put them into an appropriately-sized box where the item is cushioned but secure. Remember to include that packing slip! For more info on how to ship your gear, check our Selling FAQ page.


THE FUN PART—GET PAID OR TRADE-IN

Once your equipment arrives at KEH, our camera experts will inspect every last nook and cranny of your gear. We check for functionality and appearance during the grading process. After it’s been evaluated and graded according to our standards, we’ll contact you regarding how you’d like your payment to be delivered. You may also choose to use the payment toward a future purchase, or trade older gear for a discount on upgraded equipment. We often give an extra percentage if you’re looking to trade up. Just let us know when you submit your quote if you’re interested in that.

Of course, sometimes things don’t work out and a photographer might change their mind about selling some equipment. In that event, we’ll simply send your gear back to you—once again free of charge.


It really couldn’t be easier to sell your stuff to us. KEH grades fairly and pays fairly. We won’t try to scam you or ghost you like a random internet person. Trust me, KEH has been doing this for a long time. We’ll take care of you and your gear until it reaches another loving photographer’s hands.

 

Thinking about selling elsewhere?
Well—don’t. Read Why Selling Your Gear to KEH is the Better Choice.

Check out How To Store Your Gear to keep it in the best shape

If you’re brave, read What Can Happen to My Equipment in Storage?

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