New versus used videography gear: costs, risks and resale

What to take away

The ownership cost model

Compare candidates on ownership cost over the period you expect to keep the item, not on the sticker.

Ownership cost equals the purchase price minus resale, plus repairs and service, plus accessories, plus downtime.

Used items usually win on price minus resale, because the steepest depreciation has already happened. They usually lose on repairs and downtime, because warranty is shorter or gone and service history is unknown. Accessories are the term people forget entirely, and are often the same either way.

Worked example, using assumed figures. A new body at $2,000 and the same model two generations older at $1,200 used, held for three years.

The used body was $800 cheaper on the sticker and $400 more expensive to own.

Where used is a good decision

Bands are typical shares of the current new price and move with supply. Treat them as a starting point for negotiation, not a rule.

The last three rows are the ones that get ignored, and they are the only ones on this table whose failure loses footage rather than time.

The inspection, item by item

Do these with the seller present, before money moves.

That sequence takes under half an hour and prevents almost every expensive used-gear regret.

Seller checks, which matter as much as gear checks

A private sale offers no recourse. A dealer sale usually costs more and carries a short warranty, which is exactly the downtime term in the model above.

Pay in a way that leaves a record, and keep the receipt no matter who you bought from. Without a paper trail, a used purchase leaves a gap in your asset register, a problem at insurance renewal, and makes the serial number impossible to prove after a theft.

When new is clearly correct

Four situations, and they are not about prestige.

The item is your only one of that kind and a failure stops the business. Warranty is worth its premium when there is no backup.

The item is in a category where used carries hidden wear: cards, batteries, drives.

The generation change actually removes a problem you have, rather than adding a number you do not use.

You need several matched units. Buying three used bodies of the same model in the same condition is harder than it sounds. Mismatched bodies create post work every time you use them, which is the argument running through the camera, audio and lighting setup guide.

The costs neither option removes

Some spending follows the gear regardless of how you bought it.

Safety kit is one. Stands, cables and rigging create hazards whoever owned them first, and OSHA's guidance on safety management sets out the practice of finding and fixing hazards before an incident does. Sandbags and mats cost the same used or new, and they are the items most often skipped.

Maintenance is another. The occupation involves setting up, operating, monitoring, maintaining and troubleshooting equipment across changing environments, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics description of broadcast, sound and video technicians records. Used gear starts further into its maintenance life, which belongs in the repair budget rather than being discovered later.

Insurance is the third. Cover is usually written against value and schedule rather than against how you acquired the item, and a used purchase with no receipt is harder to schedule, which is one reason the paperwork side sits with licensing, releases and compliance.

Licensing is the fourth, and it is the one people expect a purchase to solve. It does not. Music you use in a delivered cut can carry more than one right, held by different parties, with separate licensing paths, as the U.S. Copyright Office's work on the music marketplace sets out.

Common questions

How much of a discount justifies buying used?

There is no single figure that fits every market. As a working rule, used gear in good condition typically sells for 50 to 70 percent of the current new price, with warranted dealer stock at the top of that band and private sales near the bottom.

Work the ownership model with your own resale expectation and your own downtime cost. If used only wins on the sticker, it is not winning.

Is a manufacturer refurbished unit used or new?

Practically, it sits between the two: inspected, usually warranted, and priced below new. For a body or a lens it is often the best value in the table, and it removes the inspection burden.

Should I sell my old gear or keep it as backup?

Keep one generation back as backup for anything whose failure stops a shoot, and sell the rest while it still has value. Gear held sentimentally is capital sitting in a cupboard.

Does buying used affect what I can charge?

No. Clients buy a result. What it changes is your cost base and your risk, which flows into the margin rather than the price.

What changes if I hire an operator?

Someone else's care of shared equipment is a real variable, and it belongs in the training you give rather than in the purchase decision, which is part of hiring and training a crew. The order in which a new company should acquire any of this is set out in the kit checklist for a first shoot.

Does location change the answer?

It changes service and resale, both of which are local. A model with no nearby repair option carries a larger downtime term, and that is worth checking before a move, alongside expanding into another market.