How to Create a Marketplace Site for Cameras and Photography

¡Hi! this week we will show you how to create a marketplace site of cameras and photography services with YCLAS.

1. First, log your mail and web domain at YCLAS. We will send you a confirmation email, click the confirm button or the link below it to continue, then you will receive another email where we announce your site is alive.
   
   
   *Important* In that email, we will give you the access password to your admin panel. We will not save your password in our records, so please don't lose it. We recommend you change it after login in for the first time.
   
   
   If you click the link in the second email (http://yourwebsite.yclas.com) you will be able to take the first look at your website. It will look like this.
   
   
   
   
2. To manage your website, you can click Manage at Classified “your website name”. You will see your admin panel, this is where you can control almost everything in your classifieds site. Yclas automatically offers you a tour of our admin interface when you enter the admin section.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Now you can go to Appearance > Themes and you will see the themes we offer to make your work easier (e.g. I will use the Yummo Theme). When you pick a theme the page will take you to the Theme Options where you can edit your theme template.
   
   
   
   
   
4. At General, Options upload your site Logo, Favicon, and Apple-Touch-Icon (e.g. I will use a logo and Favicon I've created). Once updated, the site will look like this.
   
   
   
   
   
5. At Color Options you can manage the colors your site going to have (e.g. I will use a color palette I've created).
   
   
   
   
   
6. At Typography Options select the Body Font you want for your site (e.g. I will use Open Sans).
   
   
7. At Layout Options you will find a few more options to edit your site appearance (e.g. I will disable the category counter badge and show a banner group above the footer of the page, also I will write what I want to show on the title and subtitle of the banner group).
   
   
   
   
   
8. At Homepage Options, you can set the number of ADS to be displayed on the home slider (e.g. I will put 12), and you can place a header (allows HTML) (e.g. I will link an image). Once updated, the site will look like this.
   
   
   
   
   
9. At Listing Options, you can set a few more options as Infinite Scroll or Display Slider In Listing (e.g. I will set the second option to show on every listing the location of ad).
   
   
   
   
   
10. At Classifieds > Categories you can use the Quick Creator tool to create all the categories you want to display on your site. If you click on the edit button at the right next to any category you've created, you can update the information of that category as Name, Parent, Description, even upload a Category Icon (e.g. I will upload one of mine). You will have something like this.
    
    
    
    
    
    And your website will look like this.
    
    
    
    
    
11. In the Custom Fields section you can set the fields that must be filled when an ad is being created in any category. Your site is ready to run ads now.
    
    
12. At Appearance > Widgets you can add to your page a variety of available widgets we offer and select where to locate them (e.g. I will create a share button). First select where will be located your widget, then write what you want to display a title and, for last, write the social media icons you want to display (e.g. Facebook, tweet, Pinterest, google plus). Click Here to find all the words you need/have to use for the different social media sites.
    
    
    
    
    
    And your website will look like this.
    
    
    
    
    
13. At Menu, you can create an item to show on the sidebar (e.g. I'll put Home, Search, and Contact-buttons). Once updated, the site will look like this.
    
    
    
    
    
14. At Settings > Plugins, you can activate the Blog and FAQ system, which ones can be configured in the Content section.
    
    
    

Part of the guide Starting a marketplace

The camera gear market in 2026: who is buying, and how to set up your categories

Before you build the categories, it helps to know where the camera market has moved since this tutorial was written. The Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) press release of February 26, 2026 gives the full-year 2025 shipment figures from the major manufacturers:

Example site Have a site like this This is how your site can look on Yclas. Pick the Reuse design or one of 100+ others, add your own domain and categories. Free for 15 days. Start free trial Second Round Market is a made-up example with demo listings, not a real business.

Two things stand out for a marketplace owner. First, DSLR shipments fell by almost a third in one year while mirrorless kept growing. Many photographers are switching systems and selling their DSLR bodies and lenses, which is steady supply for a used-gear site. Second, compact cameras grew faster than any other type (+29.6%). CIPA attributes this to demand for high-zoom and video-capable models, so a separate compact category is worth having.

Demand for second-hand gear is strong too. The used-camera retailer MPB reported for its financial year to March 31, 2025 (published January 2026) net revenue of £63.6m (+19%), gross merchandise value of £224.8m, more than 564,000 used items recirculated and 1 million unique customers globally. When you set your own prices, remember what sellers pay elsewhere. According to eBay's US seller fees page (checked October 2026), most categories carry a 13.6% final value fee on the sale up to $7,500, plus $0.30 per order (or $0.40 for orders over $10). Store subscribers pay less. A niche site with a flat listing fee or paid featured ads can still be noticeably cheaper for someone selling a $1,500 lens.

A category and custom-field plan that works for camera gear

• Categories by system, not just by brand: Mirrorless bodies, DSLR bodies, Lenses (with subcategories per mount), Compact cameras, Film and vintage, Lighting and studio, Video and audio, and Services (photographers, repairs, rentals).
• Custom fields buyers filter on: lens mount (e.g. Canon RF/EF, Nikon Z/F, Sony E, Fujifilm X, L-Mount), sensor format, shutter count, condition grade, included accessories, original box and receipt, and remaining warranty.
• Trust rules in your terms: ask sellers to photograph the serial number and a screenshot of the shutter count, encourage testing the gear on meet-up, and keep conversations in the site's messaging so disputes have a record.

In Yclas, all of these can be set up as custom fields per category (text, number, list, yes/no or date), and new sites start on the mobile-first Nova theme rather than the theme shown in the screenshots above.

Now, you can add all the extra adjustments you want to your marketplace site.

Click Here to visit MeriCams (note: this is a sample marketplace, it's not a real commerce website).

Regards, YCLAS.