A standing program since 1978
Every full-frame body bought new from Simon's Cameras carries a trade-in credit redeemable for the full original purchase price — at any point in the future, against any gear in the shop. Not a rebate. Not a limited-time offer. A standing policy written into the register receipt, the same way it's been since the original Smith Street storefront opened.
Get a Trade-In Quote
The mechanics, in three steps
The program has never changed in forty-seven years. Buy a full-frame body new from us, trade it back when you're ready for the next one, and apply the full original purchase price to whatever you step up to.
Purchase any full-frame camera body — Canon R-series, Nikon Z, Sony Alpha, Leica SL, Panasonic S — from Simon's at full retail. The credit attaches to the original buyer, not the body, and stays on file in our system for as long as you keep the receipt.
Qualifying bodies
Bring the body into the Brooklyn shop or ship it to our intake bench. Our buyer inspects it against our 38-point checklist — shutter count verified, sensor checked, AF calibration confirmed — and the credit is logged to your name. No expiration. No "current model year" window.
When you're ready
Apply the credit to any future gear in the shop — a new flagship body, a hand-matched Simon's Picks bundle, a Smith Street Collection pre-owned Leica. The credit is honored at the full original purchase price of the traded body, not its current resale value.
Toward your next rig
Why the credit holds its value
Most retailer trade-in programs depreciate the moment they issue. The credit is sized to the resale value of the body on the day you trade it — which means by the time you spend it, it's worth less than when you earned it. The Simon's credit is structured differently, on purpose.
Simon's lifetime credit
The credit is the same value the day you earn it and the day you spend it.
Industry-standard trade-in
The credit is worth less each year you hold it. By year three, you've lost a body generation.
From the shop floor
“We started the credit because photographers don't keep bodies forever — they outgrow them, they switch systems, the work changes. A camera that's worth three thousand to you in 2024 should still be worth three thousand to you when you're ready for the next one. So we made the policy match the way shooters actually buy. It's been the same three lines in the ledger since my father wrote them.”
Working quote within one business day
Tell us the body, the lens kit, and the honest condition. A staff buyer — not a pricing algorithm — reads every submission and replies with a working quote, typically within one business day. The credit can be issued as a lifetime certificate or applied directly to your next purchase.
Prefer to talk it through? Call the Brooklyn shop at +1 (718) 555-0178, six days a week, or email [email protected].
Same door, same policy, since 1978
The Smith Street storefront has been open six days a week for forty-seven years. The phone still rings to the same counter. Pick the path that fits how you shoot.
412 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 · Mon–Sat, 10–7 · Family-run since 1978.
