So long D90. You have served me well…

October 30, 2009 | Category: Nikon

Now that I’ve shot (what I believe) is my last wedding of 2009, it was time to finally put the D90 up for sale and use the proceeds toward a full-frame D700.  I had originally considered waiting for a while longer to see if Nikon was going to replace the D700 with a newer model in the near future.  However, reading a recent comment from a Nikon rep that the replacement wasn’t going to happen any time soon, I figured I might as well take the leap now.

Selling the D90 was an interesting process.  I’ve typically used eBay to pawn off my used stuff in the past. However considering the market value of the camera, I didn’t feel like having eBay/Paypal take 10% of the proceeds through their crazy fee structure.  So I tried out 2 new selling avenues this time – The fredmiranda.com Buy & Sell forum, as well as good old craigslist.

Going through fredmiranda.com, you need to pony up a $25 annual subscription fee to be able to post photog gear for sale.  To me, this was a small price to pay (especially compared to the $80 plus that eBay would have taken from me had I sold through them).  At any given time, the fredmiranda forums see about 2000 photogs perusing it.  That’s pretty good exposure.  Plus, I figured it could be worthwhile should I decide to sell anything else within a year since the $25 fee allows you to sell as much as you want during the subscription period.

Craigslist is great because posting items for sale is free, and you are geared toward local pickup/cash exchange sales.  My only hesitation about posting through craigslist was due to some of the horror stories you read about on the web about scam artists and stuff.  But I know quite a few people that have had great luck with craigslist.  I guess it all comes down to making every effort to be vigilant and smart about dealing with potential buyers on this forum.

In the end, I found a really cool buyer through craigslist and sold the D90 to him.  Quick, easy, and cash in the pocket without any ridiculous fees.  I did get some interested buyers through fredmiranda.com as well.  However, I found that quite a few of them would say, “Hey I’m interested!”, but then you wouldn’t hear from them after responding.  I did eventually get one serious buyer through FM, however this was after I was set to sell to the craigslist contact.  Ah well.

Anyway, I ordered the D700 yesterday through B&H.  One of the things that I love about ordering from B&H is that living in NJ, you are able to get stuff from them tax-free and next day ground shipping.  As I type this, the D700 is on a UPS truck to be delivered today.  Can’t wait!

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