ShareGrid has announced that the company will be launching a buy and sell platform for used camera and film equipment gear. It is designed to offer the protections of other online platforms like eBay, but geared towards a dedicated filmmaking audience.
Charging only a 5% transaction fee (while offering secure payments and fraud protections), the platform hopes to offer a service to a targeted community of filmmakers who already use the platform for rentals.
Why not just stick with eBay or the occasionally useful Craigslist? The key feature here is the community of filmmakers already on the ShareGrid platform. While eBay, with millions of customers, will likely maintain the largest audience, the vast majority of those customers don't care about buying vintage PL mount lenses or used cinema cameras. A dedicated marketplace that has a community of users who can build track records is a useful thing.
While an eBay user might have great ratings after years of good transactions, they might not know how to tell if the backfocus is off on an integration lens camera they are reselling (or even what backfocus is). By building the buy and sell market around its expert-focused rental market, ShareGrid has a community of knowledgeable users in place who will be likely to make smart purchases and know the real value when certain items appear.
On top of the used inventory, ShareGrid will also be coordinating special deals for its users on new items, starting with a $500 discount on the popular SmallHD 702 Bright. While in some ways this puts the company in competition with traditional camera stores, it could also be seen as more of a complement, providing special deals on key accessories that users might want to use over and over again. The 702 Brite, for instance, makes a good companion to whatever camera you're renting, so it might make sense for a renter who changes cameras all the time but is ready to commit to a monitor. Without the full inventory of accessories like cables, batteries, cards, and cases, ShareGrid won't be in competition with full fledges camera shops, but can hopefully offer an option for used selling that comes with a sense of community participation.
As the platform launched today, the inventory might be slow to fill (since it's a marketplace, after all), but take a look at the functionality and check back when you are ready to buy and sell your used gear.
Tech Specs:
- 5% transaction fees
- Fraud Protection
- User profiles from the rental platform
- Flash deals with retailers like AbelCine
