mint, like new, etc...

I'm always scouring the internet and local camera shops for that bargain camera or lens.  One that I think will appreciate in value and be a joy to use while being either free in the long run or make me a little profit when I sell it on.

Of course, you have to be mindful of any item's description, as one man's "like new" is another's "old tat"!

But one way of gauging whether an item may have been cared for is what comes with it.  Now, when I buy anything that I might think to sell on at a later date, I keep all the accessories that came with it (think strap, lens hoods, caps. etc) along with the original packaging that it came in.

That way, whenever its new owner receives it, their experience is as close to mine was when I bought the item and first unboxed it.

However I'm increasingly seeing adverts for cameras or lenses being described as "like brand new" or "mint condition" but when you dig a little deeper there's no box, no charger, no lens hood and almost always, no original packaging.

When you're buying something that costs many hundreds or thousands of pounds even, how difficult is it to keep those smaller items?  If you can't, then describing something as "like new" is misleading.  How can it be "mint" if it's coming in some bubble wrap and a shoe box?

It can't is the simple answer!