We all know what buyers remorse is right? You make a purchase and instantly get that weird, sinking, gut punch feeling, then overthink for 2 days.. No? Just me? Well, one very similar topic that never seems to get much attention is sellers' remorse. Maybe this is an actual thing, or maybe I just made it up. Who knows.

Over the years I’ve bought and sold a tonne of different photography items (I’ve definitely got G.A.S). I will get buyer's remorse on bigger purchases, but on nearly everything I sell, I’ll have seller's remorse. I HATE selling things with a passion. This is actually a slight lie as I think about it. However, I am, in reality, a bit of a hoarder. Case in point; I’ve recently switched back from Fujifilm to Nikon full-frame (z6iis). To logically make the switch I had to sell my Fuji gear to make the purchases. But I found a couple of cameras, and lenses, and already bought them before my Fujifilm equipment sold. So I had already spent the money, but did I REALLY need to sell the Fujifilm gear to fund it now..? Couldn’t I just keep ALL of it?! I wanted to! Especially my Viltrox 75mm and 27 mm 1.2 lenses! I had a little internal struggle going on.

 I had an XT1, XT2, XH1 and my XH2 to sell, plus about 7 lenses. With boxes these took up a lot of space! I only really used my XH2 and 2 lenses too. Which means 80% of my equipment was sitting unused and collecting dust. My XT1 for example I hadn’t used in about 3 years.. There was absolutely no reason to keep it other than hoarding and liking little picture boxes around. I finally listed them all on eBay and nearly everything has sold. Every single item I packaged up gave me a little sorrow to see go. There were a few times I considered pulling items to keep, but for what purpose?!

Switching back to Nikon full-frame was a great and logical choice for me on so many fronts but there’s still that little niggle. The one that whispers “what if”. “What if you just kept one to use as an everyday carry..” Guess what? That’s how I started out on my Fujifilm journey in the first place. And I didn’t ever take anything as an everyday carry as my phone was just easier and more convenient. 

With second-hand prices being so low, it could have been easy to justify keeping a couple of things as I know in about 5 or 10 years I’ll probably regret selling. Especially as I didn’t get a whole load for things like the XT1 and XT2. I sold my D700 a number of years back for a low price as they’re not worth much and would have loved it again now. But, if I still had it I wouldn’t use it. It would be the same with the XT1 and XT2 also. I just know myself and how my brain works at times. 

Having said that, I can’t imagine much of a thought when I finally sell my z6iis. I don’t have any real deep connection with them. They feel mechanical and soulless. They’re great but clinical. They get the job done but with no personality. 

My D800e on the other hand is a massive mirror box with a loud clunky shutter and feels like a brick that's a little too big for my small hands. It has worse ISO and autofocus than my z6iis, I only have one lens for it and it’s a lot more effort to shoot. But it is beautiful. In comparison, it feels like a relic. Literally dug up from the Stone Age. But it has so much soul and makes me feel so much more engaged. Like I’m making photos. My z6iis are making photography so simple, which of course is great, but I’m feeling less like I’m using a camera with them. I don’t know if that even makes sense but it does to me. I can imagine in about 10 years people will be jumping back to DSLRs for the whole experience of shooting, just the way people are with film at the moment.

That was a nice little tangent. 

The thing that really spurred me into thinking about all of this is my most recent re-purchase. About 6 years ago I picked up a mint condition Sekonic L-358 light meter for about £120 and I absolutely loved it. I didn’t really need it too much and nor did I use it a whole lot. I felt it slowed me down and so it sat unused for a while. I ended up putting it on eBay and it sold for around £90. Anything under £100 for a Sekonic light meter in working order is basically a steal. I was really sad to see it go and questioned why I even sold it for years after. Especially at £90. Every now and then the seller's remorse had me looking on eBay and local camera shops for another. I was reluctant to pay more than £120 so I’ve been without for so long. Until now! One popped up at a decent price and I grabbed it! I had to throw a new battery in but that’s no issue. I have my Sekonic back!

Was it a waste of money? Maybe. But I wanted it. Will it get used? I’ll make a point to start using it so it does. But no guarantees. I cannot see myself selling this one though. Unless I ever upgrade to a better version. 

My seller's remorse finally got me buying back an item I had sold previously and regretted for years. Never will I sell it again!

My dearly beloved Sekonic L-358