After deciding on what cameras to buy yesterday, it was time to get hold of the sellers. I knew that the fastest way to ask someone something is to talk to them, or in this case phone them. Out of the four people I called, only two replied. Both said I should send them a WhatsApp message, as that is apparently the norm for Gumtree sales. (First lesson learned). I applied what I learned with the first two phone calls to the rest of the sellers and sent them all a WhatsApp message telling them who I was and that I was interested in buying their camera.
I agreed to meet the lady selling the Canon Powershot SX620 HS at Century City just after 6pm yesterday and in the meantime, I got replies from the rest of the sellers saying that everything was still for sale and that I could come and pick them up whenever I wanted. The guy selling the SX430 IS lives close by in Bergvliet, so I decided that would be my first stop. The guy with the other Canon and the guy with the GoPro both live in the Durbanville area so I decided the efficient thing to do would be to only make one trip out today.
Another lesson I learned with second hand online trading is that EFTs and credit cards are not used for many things, as people want money in their hands. i.e. Cash. This was a problem because I have a limit on how much I can withdraw per day, however my parents said they would help me out and used their cards to withdraw so that I could get the first two cameras yesterday and the other two today.
The first purchase was the SX430 IS, which was being sold by a boy in Bergvliet. When I went around to pick up the camera, I immediately noticed that the camera did not have many manual options, as it was mostly automatic with everything. This would mean I’d have limited control over the photos I took, but that was fine because I knew I could hack the camera using the CHDK. Or so I thought. I later found out that this was one of the only cameras that wasn’t eligible for hacking as it was meant to be an automatic camera, which meant limited user control and no built-in functionality for hacking. I had gotten confused while looking at different camera models and saw that the SX330 IS was supported and thought I had read SX430 IS, which was this camera’s model name. This was a real bummer as I couldn’t return it and it was the second most expensive camera. However my mom was very generous and offered to buy it from me, as our previous camera had broken recently and there was no camera in the home, and as a normal camera, it wasn’t bad. This softened the blow slightly but was not the start I was looking for.
The next sale was at Century City yesterday at six. In the kiddy’s section at Woolworths to be precise. My dad came with me just to make sure that everything went well, and it did. The woman was with her husband and two kids and was really nice and kind and explained everything that she knew about the camera. She told me that the reason she doesn’t trade from her house, is because she has had bad dealings in the past where people read her Gumtree ads and then come to her house and stole stuff, as she doesn’t live in a good neighborhood, and security is not available. At the exchange she gave me the camera and when I told her she could count the money to make sure it was all there, she told me not to worry as she trusted me.
The last two exchanges happened today. The first was to collect the last Canon camera which went smoothly and there were no hiccups at all. The camera was exactly what I was expecting, and we had the cash ready, so there were no problems.
The last stop was the GoPro. Since the Hero 4 came out, I have always wanted to own one, then for my birthday this year I received a Hero 6 Black, which is currently the best. One that I never thought I’d ever own. Then only four months later I’m buying another GoPro that I’ve wanted for years. It was like Christmas in June. The guy who I bought it from was really nice and gave it to me at a discount, as he didn’t have the waterproof casing, which I didn’t need anyway. He also suggested that if I’m sending it to space, I should probably look into getting a Hero 4 battery BacPac, which is basically an addon for the camera that increases the battery life. I will look into that when cash flow becomes more available.
On the way home, I decided to stop at Merrypak, as I remembered searching online for Polystyrene boxes and they were the only ones that I knew sold them for sure, and since I was passing them on the way home, decided to save myself another trip out to them.
They didn’t exactly have what I wanted, but I got the next two closest things, which I will experiment with. The idea was to buy a box that I could cut holes in for the cameras and that would be both strong and light enough to work as housing. Seems like it won’t be that simple. However it got me thinking about designs and how I can potentially design my own box and get it manufactured. This will allow for much more control and I can get the box manufactured to my exact requirements.
I got home and was finished, but happy, as a spontaneous decision I made yesterday worked out (for the most part). One big thing ticked off my list. But there is a long road ahead and I will have to keep up this pace in order to complete what needs to be done. The next thing to do is to actually watch a launch and see how everything works. This way I will have a much greater understanding and will be able to draw up a plan.
Now to rest…
