4 Tricks for Buying Gear Online
By: Jessie Chipchase
Tags: Gear, Equipment, Buying Online, Video Production, Online

Get the best value for your hard-earned money

Buying anything online is a leap of faith. Most people are comfortable with a certain level of online purchases, especially if it’s a product that we’ve bought before and like. But what if you’re looking for something new that is pricey and possibly from an unknown company? How do you approach the buying process?

This past week, due to these exceptional times, I found myself searching online for some new video gear. I’ve been buying video equipment for 14 years, but new stuff comes out too quickly to monitor. I don’t know every brand or even every option within the brands I trust. But I have learned some helpful tricks to purchasing the most optimal equipment for each circumstance without going over budget.

So here they are, my top 4 tricks to finding the best video stuff.

1. Start with what you know.

Say you want to start doing time-lapse videos, but you don’t have a camera or even know how to do a time-lapse. No sweat. Start with what you do know. Familiar with Sony? Search for time-lapse with Sony cameras. Or maybe you’re a Nikon or Canon fan. Start with what you know, and read all the results you can muster.

Why? Isn’t this a time-consuming process? Yes. And by the end of it you’ll probably come across a dozen or so incredibly opinionated articles on why Nikon or Canon or Sony or Panasonic or whatever is the best choice for time-lapse videos and why. You’ll probably hate the word time-lapse after you’re done reading.

But you’ll know a lot.

2. Create a list of things you like

You won’t remember that site or review or camera you liked. You just won’t. Copy and paste all the relevant links into a document and write notes to go with each relevant link. Sounds time consuming, but believe me, it’s not as time consuming as not doing it.

3. Read the negative reviews, not the positive.

When I was a kid, my brother gave me this advice after he bought his gaming systems. He told me that the positive reviews are pretty much useless. Negative reviews tell you everything wrong with the product — and every product has flaws.

Think of it this way, buying video equipment is a lot like dating. You’re gonna be stuck with it for a long time. You wanna know what’s wrong with it before you get too attached. Some things you can learn to live with — GoPro cameras overheating after 20+ minutes of 4K recording — and then there are things you don’t want to learn to live with.

Like how many accessories you need to buy to get a RED camera to do anything, much less record.

4. Create a budget first, and stick to it.

Brah, don’t be making that up as you go along. I see you eying that 8K camera rig. It’s pretty, but so is a healthy breakfast, and unfortunately an 8K camera isn’t considered a good meal.

When you establish a budget before you start looking at gear, you’re much more likely to purchase responsibly. Just like you should never grocery shop on an empty stomach and without a list (why did I get 4 bags of chips this week?), you should never shop for gear without a plan.

Granted, you may get done with the first trick and realize that your budget is completely inaccurate. That’s okay. That’s why the initial research is so important.

That’s it, all the tricks I know. Any to add to my list?

I’m looking forward to our new gear. After all that research, I will certainly make the most of our new purchases. Why don’t you try out my tricks on your cloud or edge solutions? I know a great place to start….

And, stay safe. You’re important.