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In the (paraphrased) words of the great Dave Hester:\u00a0YUUUP<\/span>.\u00a0 There\u2019s money to be made, as long as you\u2019re willing to put forth the effort<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n I just bought a new camera.\u00a0 I am now excitedly anticipating its arrival, and I look forward to it being my primary equipment when I travel to conventions, baseball parks, and any other social events where having a camera might be a good idea.<\/span><\/p>\n My current, soon to be former camera is a Canon EOS Rebel T3 (1100D).\u00a0 I have enjoyed it, I think I\u2019ve taken a few good pictures with it, and it\u2019s been a great introductory piece of equipment into my foray as a stereotypical\u00a0Azn Guy With A Big Camera<\/em>, but I think I was pining for a change.\u00a0 Not that I\u2019m some great photographer, heaven\u2019s no, I\u2019m the first person to deny the title of \u201cphotographer,\u201d but I did feel that the T3 was beginning to constrict my ambitions as a person who likes to take pictures.\u00a0 So I\u2019ve been keeping my eyes peeled for a potential upgrade.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Namely, the T3\u2019s older brother, in the T3i<\/em>.\u00a0 Aside from the superior sensor, processor, and general build, there\u2019s one component that I really, really wanted to have: image stabilization.\u00a0 I do not have steady hands to begin with, and it\u2019s amazing that I\u2019ve gone this long without a camera with image stabilization and not had\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0blurry shit pictures that I\u2019ve been unable to salvage.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d also not be lying if I didn\u2019t say that the fact that the T3i\u2019s swivel LCD viewfinder now gives me the capability to take classy, not-blind selfies in the future, excites me too.<\/span><\/p>\n But the T3i was what I had my sights on, and it was only a matter of time before I found a deal that made it economically feasible to acquire one.\u00a0 And I just found it, and pulled the trigger on it.<\/span><\/p>\n However, it\u2019s going to take time\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0effort before I really see the recoup in this purchase.<\/span><\/p>\n Long story short, I just dropped $889 on a package that included the aforementioned Canon EOS Rebel T3i<\/em>, as well as several \u201cincluded\u201d items, such as a camera bag, memory card, photo printer, and photo paper.\u00a0 When I say that the camera alone would have ran around $450-470 in most normal retail outlets, it begs the question why I jumped on this exorbitant package\u00a0especially<\/em>\u00a0when I\u2019ll additionally say that I have very little interest in the camera bag, printer and its paper, and I already have an equivalent size memory card.<\/span><\/p>\n Three words: mail-in rebate.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, the dreaded mail-in rebate, those pesky asterisks of fine print that retailers often use to deceive customers into thinking they\u2019re spending less than they\u2019ll actually do, when in reality, the savings don\u2019t come to fruition until like 6-8 weeks after the purchase.\u00a0 But knock on wood, I\u2019m not particularly living paycheck-to-paycheck these days, and I can handle an $889 hit for the time being.<\/span><\/p>\n Because when the mail-in rebate is configured into the cost, then the grand total for my new camera, and all its \u201cincluded\u201d crap is now $489<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n Granted, the $400 that comes back to me is via an American Express gift card, but as far as I\u2019m concerned, that\u2019s $400 worth of funds that will typically go towards daily expenditures such as groceries and gas, that won\u2019t be coming out of my bank account, for like a few weeks, at least.\u00a0 So it all events out in that regard.<\/span><\/p>\n So, with a pile of crap that I don\u2019t really want now on the table, on top of the camera that was the goal in the first place, this is where the effort comes into play.<\/span><\/p>\n How much can I unload a printer, its paper, and my old camera, to recoup even more money from my $489 (after rebate) investment?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In a perfect world, I somehow manage to get people on eBay to pay for all things I don\u2019t want for somewhere around $450, and make me feel like I paid just $40 for a T3i.\u00a0 But in order to really avoid tragic disappointment, I think I need to curb my expectations on what I can make on my available hardware, if it even manages to sell at all.<\/span><\/p>\n One thing that is very clear is that I\u2019m not the only person to have purchased this exact same bundle; there are a good bit of people who have listed and sold the exact same printer and photo paper that I\u2019ll eventually have in my possession in a few days.\u00a0 Needless to say, it looks like the happy medium is somewhere around $150-170 on those two items, and the way I see it, if I can make anything higher than that, it would be gravy.<\/span><\/p>\n All I know is that people in the market for this printer are in a very advantageous position, because it retails for somewhere around $350-400 brand new, and here are a bunch of people online trying to unload them for almost 40% of MSRP on eBay.<\/span><\/p>\n As for my T3, since it will be selling as a used item, I can\u2019t expect to come close to the MSRP of $300 for a brand-new T3, even with the kit lens that comes with it.\u00a0 Even included the brand-new 32GB SD card, I can\u2019t expect that to add that much, so for all intents and purposes I think I\u2019m going to strive for $150-ish for my used camera.<\/span><\/p>\n