Has anyone had any experience with these companies?

[gordy9]

I am in the process of buying a Canon S5 II and in searching the internet I find that 86th Street Photo has this camera on sale for $215.00 + shipping. Camera Addict.com has a price of $254.00 shipping is free. Has any one had any experience with either of these companies?

Any comments good or bad would be appreciated.

[SpecialK]

Those prices seem unnaturally low and I would be suspicious of what they do not include.

[pas49ras]

As always..check Reseller ratings.com for store ratings on internet purchases ..You will find....
86 st photo with a lofty rating of 0.13/10..
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/86th_Street_Photo_Video

And Camera addict with a .061/10
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Camera_Addict

The is a reason why these prices are sooooo low. At that price its out of stock or a gray market product. Look elsewhere..

[gordy9]

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely stay away from these two companies. I thought these prices seemed to low.

[sw2cam]

Good idea Gordy ... Try B&H Photo

[mill creek]

Stay out of Best Buy as their store personal will mislead you....Good luck in your search.

[seanhoxx]

best Buy can be ok if you know exactly what you want to buy, and the average market value. if you consider the extended warranty options go over it in detail, any questions get a supervisor to confirm the answer and have them initial the area of question, make sure you have the names of anyone you talk to. I have had VERY positive and very NEGATIVE dealings with Best Buy. There is a thread here that has some detailed listings of dealers, and you can also look at www.sheddingsomelight.com for how MANY online "companies" are all basicly linked together frauds.

[stanj]

One option no one has mentioned is simply going with a local family type camera store. You will have to pay sales tax, but on popular recent release models, the price will not be much different from the on-line stores. The difference is service can be substantial however. I priced D90s recently and found the range with kit 18-105 VR lens was $1198 to $1299. It turned out the one priced at 1198 was from an on-line store that listed no phyical address and was rude and pushy on the phone. The lowest price of "legitimate stores was $1234, and by far the most had the same price of $1299. Circuit city had it for $1234 along with a couple well known on-line stores. I bought it from a small, but fully stocked local store where the pros seem to go. They were very helpful, suggested going outside to play with it for a while, and offered a great deal of objective advice. They specialize in on-sight repairs of film cameras and simple repairs on digital. I bet most communities have such a store and they should be supported. They had the same price as listed for most of the mail order houses so my only downside was paying sales tax. If it breaks and needs to go for factory service, they offered to supply a loaner. All in all, the support and value added was well worh the sales tax price difference.

Ask local pros where they go or where to go for advice. It seems that the pros know what traits of a supplier are worth paying for. Establishing a relationsip with a resource often overcomes any price advantage the on-line shops give.
Just a few thoughts about an option not often mentioned on the forum.

[Finger on Lens]

Cannot more thoroughly agree with stanj.

Buy your stereo at a stereo store.
Buy your computer from a computer store.
Buy your camera from a camera store.
Why? Often the sales staff actually have an interest in the products they are selling and know exactly what product you are looking for. Within 2 minutes there will be 5 cameras that fit your needs placed in front of you and then the sales staff is delighted to spend 1 hour talking shop with you.
Big box stores tend to be about moving product - any product. Lots of it. They carry 10-20 cameras from 3-4 manufactures. PRICES ARE LOW BECAUSE VOLUME IS HIGH

A camera store carries MANY CAMERAS from MANY MANUFACTERS, but take note- your large downtown camera stores still move product like crazy and over a broader range of cameras.
I live in Toronto and almost assuredly some of the downtown stores move more of a particular line or a particular model than the big box stores (or any other store in Canada or North America etc). Further, well-known camera stores have the capacity to accept one- off shipments, end of lines, etc from the major manufacturers. A sales rep can call a good customer and say "We've got a truck full of brand new 2 year old DSLR bodies and discontinued entry- level lenses. Take them off my hands at an outrageously low price and I'll toss in a bunch of matching accessories" etc. (And thus I bought a Canon Elan II at a very low price, with most basic lens, 'throw in' Canon camera bag included along with some other goodies made it a 60% off package deal etc) POINT- the well known camera stores in your city have more knowledgeable sales staff, do move enough product to get favours from company reps and -unlike box stores- can accept delivery of one-off items.

[Phill D]

Good idea Gordy ... Try B&H Photo
I can second this as I recently bought a lens from B&H. If you can though visit the store in NY I was absolutely blown away with the efficiency at the store. It is a techno geeks delight with a fully automated ordering & delivery system. Within a few minutes of telling the salesman behind the desk what I wanted the items were in a box under the counter & he was pulling them out for me to have a look at. The thing that impressed me most was the fact that I wanted to buy an eyepiece magnifyer for my Olympus & he quizzed me on why I wanted it & actually said he didn't think it would be worth buying but he would let me try it first. I tried it out & he did too, in the end I bought it & now use it all the time. Good sales technique maybe but it all seemed pretty genuine to me, just trying to make sure I was happy with my purchase. Overall sad to say possibly but my trip to B&H got up there amongst some of the highlights of our holiday to the US.
PS I've no affiliation with B&H at all.