Scouring the top trends from Japan-based camera retailers offers a hint as to what cameras are the most popular – but where do cameras stand on platforms that sell everything from video games to sneakers? According to a recent report, camera equipment is the second most popular secondhand category exported from eBay sellers in Japan.
The insight comes from a “Used In Japan” report from eBay. According to the report, camera gear is the second largest category exported by eBay Japan sellers, following just behind clothing and fashion. That leaves camera gear beating out popular categories like jewelry, toys, and collectibles.
That comes at a time when the sale of non-new goods is on the rise, with the number of Japanese resellers offering used goods rising 19 percent between 2023 and 2025 alone.
eBay is home to thousands of different categories, so cameras ranking second in Japan speaks to the popularity of not just secondhand camera sales, but crossing borders with those sales. The United States is the top destination for used products coming from Japan, followed by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
“Pre-owned items that have been carefully kept, maintained, inspected, and described in Japan are highly valued in overseas markets for their quality, rarity, trustworthiness, and storytelling value,” the report reads. “In categories such as fashion, luxury goods, watches, cameras, collectibles, and hobby-related products, ‘Used in Japan’ is not merely a secondhand category. It can represent a group of products whose value is rediscovered in the global market, supported by Japan’s strengths in careful ownership, product stewardship, accurate descriptions, and appraisal expertise.”
The report hints that one of the reasons that the used market is rising is “trustworthiness.” Japan is home to several major camera manufacturers, including Canon, Sony, and Nikon. If the new report is any indication, the region’s reputation for new cameras is likely bleeding into the used market.
A similar quarterly report, as spotted by Digital Camera Watch, also broke down the most popular eBay Japan categories by price. Lenses and filters placed fifth when ranked by transaction value. Lenses weren’t the only camera gear in the top ten highest-value categories for eBay Japan either, with film cameras in seventh place and digital cameras in eighth place.
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Read tips on buying used cameras on eBay, or browse the best mirrorless cameras or the best compact cameras.
