Camera Shopping on the web

[blonde423]

What is the be place on the web to purchase cameras and gear? I'm looking for a bargain but I need a trustworthy website before I make such an investment. Also, on ebay and other sites a lot of sellers offer "kits," with several lenses, tripods, etc....... Are these a good deal, or are they too good to be true?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!:)

[Seltzer]

Well the locations vary by time of year and sale it seems. The places I usually look for deals (not necessarially specifically for camera deals) are http://slickdeals.net/ and http://spoofee.com/ both have good forum communities and post if they think a site is bad. If it's someone you havn't heard of it's probably not the greatest but you can always check http://www.resellerratings.com/ for more info.
As it is, sometimes you can't always save much over just waiting for sales at a local retailer and retailers offer abilities like just switching out the item instead of sending it back in if it's bad. With the issues with my XT I have to send it back to Canon rather than just taking it back to a store. And I didn't have the option of just trading in and upgrading to the XTi when it came out as I would have been able to with local retail.

I can't say much about ebay, always check reviews on the items in the package, sometimes they are good, sometimes not. Always make sure whatever you buy comes with a full manufacturer warrenty.

[NaturesPixel]

hmm you dont have a camera store near-by???
if you are going to be getting a camera.. even a point and shoot i think i would prefer actually talking to a real human.. Like John says above he is now having to send his camera to canon .. where as if something (god forbid) happens to mine i walk in to Henry's and say ok its under warranty.. take it back i want a new one...lol which i did when i had a defective Minolta Z5 last year but i have brought some used equipment from keh.com (http://keh.com)

they have an excellent rating on http://www.resellerratings.com/ they also sell new gear but only to people in the United States

[Seltzer]

Another great note is buying in person you actually get your hands on the product, even if ordering online it's good to get into a store and see how things fit in your hands and how the controls work for you and such.

[Saralonde]

You need to be careful with web shopping. Generally, if it sounds to good tobe true, it usually is. People seem to have good service from http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home/. It gets good reviews but I think it's a bit pricey. I've ordered a number of things from http://www.buydig.com/shop/home.aspx and have had a good experience every time. I also have found good prices at amazon. Like Seltzer I usually look on http://www.resellerratings.com/ to start my search.

[smc1377]

I usually go to a site like www.pricegrabber.com that lists pricing from many, many online retailers. I then enter in my zip code to determine shipping costs, then sort by "bottom line pricing."

Then I look to see what kind of ratings each store has received. Say if a lens is $10 cheaper at XYZ Store with 15 ratings than BHPhotos.com with thousands of ratings, I'd rather spend the extra $10.

But of course, I only resort to the online route after exploring if the local camera shops have the item in stock for a comparable price. I also take into account the complexity of the item. Saving $10 on a book, I'll order it online. Saving $10 on a camera body if purchased online, I'm buying it from a local retailer.

Example: When I bought my Canon 50mm f1.8 II lens, I looked near and far and determined that I could get it online for about $30 less. And being such a simple item, I trust that a reputable online retailer would be able to serve my needs. After doing exactly what I mentioned above, I determined that even though I could have saved a couple bucks with lesser known online retailers, I chose to buy mine from JR.com instead, since they have a great reputation.

[amit]

use comparitive search engines, I use mpire.com & yahoo shopping. then look for the prices that the reliable stores like 6ave.com, circuit city, amazon(not amazon market place), adorama, best buy etc. are offering, calculate shipping costs, tax etc. & then see which one will suit you best. also its always better to check the store for replacement & refund policy etc. in US I heard J&R are a really good brick-mortar store with competitive pricing, they claim to match any brick-mortar store's pricing if you tell them some other store is offering the same thing at a lower price.

if you are looking to buy from ebay, you need to be very very careful since there are lots of cheats & smart guys out there along with honest ones. one way to look is check the seller's rating. there are loads of good sellers out there as well with a rating of above 97%. I got my first digital camera(a Kodak) from one such power seller at eBay, had no problems at all & I got what was mentioned on the auction page! :)

[velvet4269]

Be VERY wary of web shopping. There are a few good merchants out there (B&H Photo gets very high reviews), but some are well worth staying FAR away from.

My Own Experience With Buying a Camera Online (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?keyword=Caveat+Emptor&user=velvet4269&sortby=user)

[jdepould]

Be VERY wary of web shopping. There are a few good merchants out there (B&H Photo gets very high reviews), but some are well worth staying FAR away from.

My Own Experience With Buying a Camera Online (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?keyword=Caveat+Emptor&user=velvet4269&sortby=user)

Yikes. I'm pretty much speechless. If it were my company I would be mortified.

[kirbinster]

I've used JR.com several times with very good luck. I've taken basic or free shipping and have always had the stuff in two days or less.

[velvet4269]

Yikes. I'm pretty much speechless. If it were my company I would be mortified.

Like I said - I should have known better; and I did. I really don't have anyone to blame but myself.

And again, I don't expect every company to be Newegg (from whom I've received nothing but stellar service; their "3-day shipping" ends up being more like "overnight" or "within 48 hours") or Amazon, but that was just absurd.

So, I'm sticking with who I know as far as internet sales for some things (sadly, I *am* still on a fairly tight budget, and the local camera shop will *only* price match with other local merchants), but the fragile equipment (lenses, flashes, filters, etc) will be purchased locally.

[xxpinballxx]

I've bought two cameras at BHphoto.com my sd630 and my G5. They seem to be around the same as anywhere else.
Now a new question is why can there be such a huge difference in the prices of cameras from site to site....I mean i am no dummy and understand the way the market works but geez! A new xti body can be anywhere from 250 to 500.
One of those things where Id pay the extra money if its from a more reputable or known seller.

[jdepould]

Like I said - I should have known better; and I did. I really don't have anyone to blame but myself.

And again, I don't expect every company to be Newegg (from whom I've received nothing but stellar service; their "3-day shipping" ends up being more like "overnight" or "within 48 hours") or Amazon, but that was just absurd.

So, I'm sticking with who I know as far as internet sales for some things (sadly, I *am* still on a fairly tight budget, and the local camera shop will *only* price match with other local merchants), but the fragile equipment (lenses, flashes, filters, etc) will be purchased locally.

I'd hardly say that you're to blame here. There's really no excuse for the kind of nonsense to which you were subjected, especially from a company that has brick and mortar stores. There are so many places that treat their customers well that I'm not quite sure how the other guys stay in business.

[EricF]

I've been very happy with B&H, their prices are very competetive, and since I live only a couple of states away I get 2nd day delivery even though they do 3rd day shipping.

But I started out using mail-order for photo equipment VERY gingerly... I talked to lots of people to see their actual experiences, as well as who some professionals recommended. B&H was typically the most common one recommended (Adorama was in there too, but I don't like their web site as much)

Having said that, I'll echo some other sentiments and add my own:


Find/visit a local camera store. Nothing beats holding the camera/lens/tripod/whatever in your hands. Also, if you're lucky, you'll find a real live human who knows his/her stuff to help you out. Problem is, local camera stores are more expensive than most mail-order. But what you're paying for is the personal service. Some people go to a local camera store, make their decision, then order online to get the cheaper price. You can decide if that's right for you or not.
Beware of "gray market" goods. Some web sites (like B&H) will mark some items as "Imported" or "gray market". These items are less expensive, and are supposed to be identical to the "USA" versions. The difference is the "gray market" has an international warranty. That means that if your camera needs warranty repair, it has to go to Japan.
If you order by mail-order, returns mean shipping things back to the store and waiting for an exchange. If the item isn't defective, and you just don't like it, there may be a restocking fee.
Read all of an online merchants "terms and conditions" before purchasing. Some charge your credit card even before your items ship.
Aggregators like pricegrabber.com and shopper.com are great for getting an idea of price-range for things. But the really inexpensive prices may be gray-market, and you have to check out the merchants before ordering. I usually skip down to a merchant I'm familiar with, and pay a few extra dollars.


I hope this helps. I'm sure others will add to/correct these comments :D

-Eric