Should you buy used camera gear? This new report makes a compelling case for it being the right thing to do!

If you're in the market for a camera, lens or accessory, you've probably pondered whether buying second-hand makes sense. Well, a new report by MPB, the online platform for used photography and videography kit, offers some compelling answers. And they go well beyond just saving money.

According to its newly released FY25 Impact Report, MPB recirculated 615,000 digital cameras, lenses and accessories over the last 12 months; up 9% from 564,000 the previous year. But what's perhaps more interesting is what an independent assessment revealed about the broader impact of choosing used over new.

MPB commissioned Route2 to conduct a Value2Society assessment; essentially a full accounting of the economic, social and environmental value their business creates. And the results are striking. A study of roughly 15,540 used cameras and lenses found that buying used generated £13.5 million ($18m) in "societal profit", driven primarily by affordability and the income benefits compared to buying new. That same sample prevented an estimated 3,600 tons of CO₂ emissions in FY25 alone.

Scale that across MPB's full inventory of 615,000 items, and you're looking at genuinely significant environmental impact; not the token gestures that usually pass for corporate sustainability.

The environmental math

Before you dismiss this as greenwashing, consider this: MPB's achievements are already accomplished, not promised for some distant future.

The platform hit zero waste to landfill this year; as in, actually zero, not "aiming for zero". They averaged 69% recycling across all sites, with their Brighton headquarters achieving 92%. And the leftover waste? Well, that gets converted to energy rather than sitting in landfills.

MPB also matched 100% of global electricity usage with renewable energy certificates and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 7% year-over-year.

For context, the photography industry has historically been terrible at sustainability. Think about all that plastic packaging, the boxes within boxes, the camera bodies that become obsolete after a few years. MPB's circular model challenges that disposable approach head-on.

Should you buy used?

Let's be realistic: the main reason people buy used cameras is that they cost much less than new ones. But this report suggests the environmental benefit is also real. Every used camera purchased is one fewer new camera manufactured, with all the resource extraction, energy consumption and emissions that entails.

In other words, if you choose to buy used, you're participating in a more economically efficient system. You're getting gear that works perfectly well. The seller is recouping value from equipment they're no longer using. And society avoids the environmental costs of new manufacturing.

Photographers have always understood that quality gear outlasts its first owner. Most of us, at some point, have bought used bodies, inherited lenses and sold equipment to fund new creative directions. MPB's report simply quantifies what we already knew intuitively. That choosing used isn't settling for less. It's often just choosing better; for your wallet, for other photographers, and for the planet.