Cameras for recording soccer games are making it easier to setup your camera on the sideline and sit back and enjoy the game. AI sports cameras that follow the ball for you can track your players for soccer, hockey, rugby, basketball, volleyball, handball, and lacrosse – making our lives as sports parents easier.

Unfortunately saving money on a soccer camera isn’t easy when you buy the latest version so you can livestream soccer, store more games on the hard drive, record higher resolution video, etc.  The good news is that new Veo 2 cameras, Hudl Flex Focus, and Trace PlayerFocus mean that some teams have second hand cameras to sell once they upgrade sports cameras.

In the search for the best soccer cameras many teams this season have swapped camera systems and now have a used Veo camera or old Pixellot Air camera for sale. If you’re looking for a used camera (or want to get rid of your old one) the latest update to our used soccer camera page made it easier for you.

Used Camera Options

You’ve been able to buy or sell used cameras on our site for years now but its gotten better over time. The very first camera post years back was titled, “Make an offer” – not the most helpful description for coaches or sports parents looking for a camera. However, last week we updated the site so now you can search cameras listings by location, by camera type, sold status, description – and you can sort by listing date and price.

So whether you’re looking to find a camera or researching how much to list your old camera for the sorting/searching should make it a lot easier. I made a video walk through of how to find a used camera for sale on the site, here’s how it can help you:

Sports Camera Shopping Tips

The video links above show you how to find cameras you might be interested in and also how to contact the camera owner. Here are some tips to follow once you’ve found cameras that might be a good fit.

Talk to Owner – One of the reasons I started the camera site is that I used to buy a lot of used cameras for our soccer camera rental business. I always got on the phone with the owner first to ask some questions about the camera. You can tell pretty quickly within a few minutes of talking to a camera owner whether it might be a person you want to work with. Better than just relying on email conversations.

Check Footage – When a team lists a camera they provide us with their most recent game and we check the footage to make sure its clear and looks good. We do this to verify the quality of the recording but if you find a camera you might buy we recommend asking for more examples. Most teams have current footage but if their plan has expired then they won’t have access to the last games. In this case they can share the mp4 file of the game with you or send your a link to a Youtube video.

Ask Questions – The reason we suggest calling the owner is that you get a sense of how they used the camera, why they’re selling, and anything you might need to know about the camera itself or how they want to complete the purchase. If you have any doubts it’s a good idea to check on the serial number of the camera. We have a story about a person who called us after stealing a camera (or buying a stolen Veo) and was trying to get it to work. The actually got themselves on video and it uploaded and the police got involved. The point is that you can check with the company if that specific serial number was stolen.

You’ll be able to tell after chatting if the person knows about the camera and how to use it. If they know nothing about how it works or what kind of plan it might have that could be a sign that they don’t actually own the camera. So if you’re looking on sites like eBay or Facebook Marketpplace where people are selling items ask specific questions about camera specs, plans, etc.

Tips for Selling your Camera

Here are some things to think about while you’re preparing your listing or after you list your camera for sale.

More Information is Better than Less–  The more details you put in the description the more people might be interested in your camera and the less time you’ll spend answering questions.

Self Service – After you list your camera you can update the description and change the price on your own.

How Quickly do You Need to Sell –  You can always lower your price. If you don’t need to sell right away then you dont have to price it to sell. It could be that you want to ship it out as soon as possible, so a lower price makes sense. Or if you are fine with it sitting on the shelf for a while you can set a price and lower it later if you have no takers.  You’ll probably also get lower offers as I’ll cover next.

Decide on Negotiation – Decide if your price is firm or if you’re open to offers. Once you list it you might have teams contact you and offer you a lower price than you listed it for.

Seasonal Demand – More teams are looking for cameras at the start of a season. So you’ll probably get more offers during certain parts of the year and teams are probably willing to pay more right before a season starts because they need it quickly.  For buyers it’s actually a good idea to buy off season because less people are looking so sellers might be more interested to sell. Buying right after a season ends could be a good time.

Best Soccer Cameras?

In order to help determine the best soccer camera for your team we’ve been buying every kind of consumer sports camera we can get our hands on (my wife isn’t exactly pleased that my office, basement, & garage are full of camera and tripods). Since we’ve been comparing soccer cameras and trying out different systems it makes sense that other teams are going through the same process and have different kinds of cameras to sell. So when a reader emailed and asked why they couldn’t list other types of cameras for sale I updated the page to add other camera models.. In addition to Veo you can list/search by:

  • Pixellot Air
  • Trace
  • Pix4Team
  • Soloshot
  • XbotGo

If there are other kinds of sports cameras you’d like to see added please let me know.

Cameras in Your City

One things the video shows is that you can list your camera in London just as easily as in Dallas. Just today I priced shipping some rental Veo’s to the U.K. – I don’t imagine many teams in London are going to buy a Veo in Texas — however, lots of teams in the U.K. are looking to buy/sell used cameras in their own city. Or in Canada or in Germany, etc.

The one challenge I’m working through is that the site lists the prices in dollars and obviously if you’re in Berlin or Sao Paulo you’re not selling in dollars. For now just list your price in the dollar equivalent while I work on supporting multiple currencies and languages. Sorry for the hassle.

Help Selling Your Sports Camera

If you need help listing your camera or run into trouble just let me know. The listing form works fine for most teams but occasionally someone runs into an issue. if it’s giving you trouble you can email me the necessary info and I can list it for you.  I’ve heard from many teams that have an old camera sitting in the club office or athletic department that they wish would just disappear!  If you have a camera that you’d like to list and don’t want to mess with us just email me the details – ben@easysportsvideo.com , or give me a call 816-398-8846

 

Soccer Camera Questions

Can I record without a subscription?

A really common question, do I need a subscription to record with a camera? For most of the AI cameras you do need some type of plan to get access to your recordings. Some cameras, like Veo, will let you record without a plan but in order to access the footage you need a plan. You need a camera subscription for Pixellot Air, Trace, Veo, Hudl Focus Flex, Replayer, and SeeUsPlay.

There are some cameras that don’t need a subscription, like Pix4Team, Soloshot, Camera Pan, and XBot Go.

Why can’t I  buy the camera directly from the site?

Our used camera site is setup to connect you with other teams who want to buy or sell a camera. As soon as I get involved as a middleman I slow down the process. If I had the camera in my basement I could take payment and ship it to you. Instead, it’s in the office of a soccer coach in your area. Its faster if you pay them and have them meet you or ship it to you.

How do I know if the used camera works?

You won’t know for sure until it arrives and you test it out. That’s why we suggest paying half up front and then half after you’ve received it and confirmed. Also why you want to call and talk to the owner. Definitely ask for recent footage and ask about the camera condition up front. Meeting locally is also helpful because you can turn it on and test it out in person.

How is this different than selling my Veo on eBay or Facebook?

This site is sports camera specific so we do additional verification on the camera and owner that other sites don’t do. We set it up so there’s no on going cost to have your camera for sale. You pay a small listing fee up front and if it doesn’t sell you get the fee back. In addition, we send the selling team a “Seller’s Guide” that walks you through selling the camera and transferring the ownership of the camera (and the plan if you have one active).

Shouldn’t I buy the most recent camera version?

As cameras keep advancing with models like Veo 2 and Trace PlayerFocus, guess what happens to the older models? They get cheaper! It’s a win-win for teams, coaches, players who don’t necessarily need the latest and greatest but still want quality footage. For example some of the new advanced tracking algorithms, real-time uploads, automated highlight generation, livestreaming, and data analytics options are nice but your team might not need all or any of those.

Finding an older generation camera lets you record games for less money out of pocket. One common scenario are high school teams who only need a camera for a few months a year. Oftentimes subscription promotions or camera deals involve getting a 12 month plan. High school teams who only need to record for 2 months can save money on a camera by getting a used Veo.

Used Camera Listing Questions

For a year I was getting emails asking if I had used cameras for sale. I’d email teams and send introductions but the whole process took longer than it needed since everyone was waiting on my email inbox. It really helped when  we created this used camera marketplace to help teams that didn’t need a camera find a home for it with another coach or parent without having to go through me.

Since creating the page I’ve had readers email or call and ask questions about finding used cameras on the site. I always took notes and now thanks to the readers who asked, the experience is better for everyone. So if you have questions or feedback please just reply to this email or call me- 816-398-8846

Update – Since launching the update I’ve been getting calls about different kinds of cameras, some fixed camera solutions in addition to portable cameras. If you are knowledge about fixed cameras (like Pixellot PXL-422-3582) or need more of them please get in touch with me.

 

 

What’s the Next Step?

Here’s the page for listing your camera for sale and here’s the page that lists sports cameras for sale.  You can also get updates from our Easy Sports Video youtube channel on the cameras. If you can’t find the used camera you’re looking for we can also help you get a discount on a new camera.