ruby.monkey
Veteran
According to the CDC the virus spreads mainly through airborne droplets (from coughing or sneezing). You won't harm yourself by disinfecting everything you receive, but it doesn't look like you're achieving anything useful either.
willie_901
Veteran
Disinfection is not a primary concern. Even though some lab tests show live virus persists for up to a week, the virus half-life on hard surfaces is what counts. In general, extremely low viral loads are harmless. At the same time, if an infected person with lower respiratory involvement coughed all over the gear just before it was packed - that's a different story. The initial viral load would be very high and the residual load could be significant by the time the item arrived.
Upon receipt I would carefully wipe the gear multiple times with alcohol wipes (I use Zeiss Pre-Moistened Lens Cleaning Wipes which are not in short supply). I would take care to not touch my face until I carefully wash my hands. I would expose the gear to indirect sunlight for 2-4 hours.
Here in Charlotte, NC shipping has been much less reliable than before the pandemic. Shipping times are longer and mistakes are more common. FedEx is the least reliable here. Family members have missed deliveries because FedEX claimed they weren't home when they were. We had a large order of frozen food delivered two houses away. These things never happened before. Even Amazon has had shipping issues in our area.
Good question. I suspect some items are definitely affected. At the same time less items are being listed. At least that's what I observed for used car prices. I would follow KEH for a couple of weeks to see if a trend exists.
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
Mainly...but the CDC also states:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cleaning-disinfection.html
I'm sure they are still making a profit... and they already got the cash from the early adopters. Should they instead keep the price high and not sell them?