This Must be to good to be true....

[jamesW135]

I Have found Two Stores selling a new Nikon D70s Body for only $300! Is this to good to be true?

Here is a link.

http://www.infinitiphoto.com/viewitem.php?IndexID=6608&RefTag=shopcartusa $259 !!!

http://www.royalcamera.com/nikond70s.html

 

[tykles]

In answer to your question, yes, it is too good to be true. sorry.
You'll actually find a lot of threads on the same subject, and the tag line is usually, "Is this too good to be true?" The answer is invariably yes.
To confirm, just go to resellerratings.com
Here are links to the 2 companies you've mentioned:

Royal - http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1895.html
Infinit - http://www.resellerratings.com/seller9662.html

Do a quick search for threads about companies that people consider to be reliable - it has been discussed before. You'll typically hear about B&H, adorama, cameta, etc.
Good luck, and do your research before pulling the trigger.
t

 

[camomac]

yes.


i too have heard bad stories about royal camera, and many of the New York discount stores. Grey Market at best.

there use to be a link somewhere that somebody went around and took pictures of all these New York discount stores, and most looked like really sketchy storefronts, or just plain doors.

(anybody know this URL???)

B&H is highly recommended by many, and sometimes they have some really good prices, also try newegg for somethings too.

 

[andiwm2003]

with this cheap cameras it usually works like this:

it's either refurbished or used or grey import without warranty.

or they tell you on the phone that you have to buy the extra expensive battery and charger because the supplied battery isn't good.

if you don't order their overpriced accessories the availability of the camera suddenly jumps to "in three month".

worst case is you already gave them your credit card number and the shipping date gets pushed back by 8 weeks unless you order the $180 battery and the $79 shoulder strap.......

sometimes different shops seem to use the same call centers. it's all a big scam and should be illegal and prosecuted.

 

[Clix Pix]

Don Wiss' site will show you all you need to know.....

http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/

 

[camomac]

Don Wiss' site will show you all you need to know.....

http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/

yes, yes. thats what i was looking for. thanks!

 

[jamesW135]

The Reviews on ShopCart USA of these stores seems to be very good. This makes no sense.

 

[tykles]

The Reviews on ShopCart USA of these stores seems to be very good. THis make s no sense.

It makes sense if the people writing the reviews are employees of the companies. I don't know what to tell you, because I couldn't find merchant reviews at the ShopCart USA website, but these places are definitely scams, that, if you're lucky, will only end up costing you more time, money and frustration than real stores, and if you're unlucky, you'll just get totally ripped off.

 

[camomac]

It makes sense if the people writing the reviews are employees of the companies. I don't know what to tell you, because I couldn't find merchant reviews at the ShopCart USA website, but these places are definitely scams, that, if you're lucky, will only end up costing you more time, money and frustration than real stores, and if you're unlucky, you'll just get totally ripped off.

exactly what i was going to say. often times employees write reviews to make these scammers look better. i would put more weight into resellerratings.com.

 

[seenew]

That's GREAT. I bought my RebelXT from J&K Cameras in June, and look at this:
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0218.htm

AGH.

 

[Clix Pix]

It would be nice if one of the mods could make a sticky which includes the URLs for reseller ratings and for Don Wiss' site..... it could save a lot of people a lot of grief!

 

[Abstract]

It never made sense to me that these were grey market goods. Grey market from where? Cameras are cheaper in the US than they are anywhere. I mean, if I go to HK or Oz, and I'm looking for a grey market product, many of the grey market goods is from the US. And even in a market like HK, where everything legit is still cheap, DSLRs are only as cheap as the US DSLR prices.

Or am I missing something?

 

[serpent]

the ads say exactly what your getting! Camera body only, nothing else!
No books,warantee,battery,charger, etc. whether or not they don't ship unless you buy their inflated priced accesories(which brings $$'s up to normal grey market) I don't know? Isn't always buyer beware, make sure of what your actually getting before taking out your hard-earned cash? You should all know that if a deal looks too good to be true, that it usually is!
as far as what the stores look like in those links, I don't know what they have to do with determining if someone is legitamate or not? Hello everyone here, thats what most stores look like in Brooklyn, Queens, or Manhattan. Brick walls and roll down gates. Whomever put that site up of pictures should have posted a picture of Peter Lugers to use as a comparison.

Serpent

 

[serpent]

@ Abstract you are missing something very big! Grey Market is simply selling or purchasing any item in a area that it was not meant to be sold or purchased in. Go back to the late 80's and early 90's, people started going to Germany buying Mercedes and importing them to the US-saving thousands of $$. It wasn't long till the insurance companies caught on to this and if you suffered a loss you only got paid 1/2 of the normal value. If you live in the States take a good look at the batteries and film that you buy many stores where I live sell grey market, you'll see printing on the package that most of the time is meant for the Asian market. Some stores sell it for the same prices as "legitamate" products, while some sell it at discount. Yesterday I walked across my street to pick up some Duracell AA batteries, the convenience store had 2-packs and 4-packs. The 2-packs were $1 and the 4-packs were $4.I asked why....my answer was 2pks were grey and 4pks were for american market.....I bought 2x 2-packs!
Have you ever walked into an electronics or appliance store? What is the one thing that every salesman in any of them will pester you with to no end? An EXTENDED WARRANTEE! Thats where the store makes most profit and salesman makes most commission.
Now lets take this to camera's. The manufacturers sell cameras with no warrentees, and do so at a much cheaper price than their normal goods. These items are usually not meant to me sold into the same market into which they are bought, but since there is such a huge demand for this type of product, they turn a blind eye onto what is happening because sales and profit is their only concern. Look at B&H a legitamate re-seller of "Grey Market" items, posts adverts for USA product @ "X" $$ and Grey @ "Y" $$. While most of these too good to be true websites try to make it seem that their grey stuff is actually US. Hell I wonder how much profit companies like MACK actually make?

Serpent

 

[puckhead193]

Do a quick search for threads about companies that people consider to be reliable - it has been discussed before. You'll typically hear about B&H, adorama, cameta, etc.

t

I"ll have to agree about cameta. I got my 8800 from their store on Long Island. Highly recommond them. I might buy a P&S from them tomorrow (canon SD600/630)

edit - to the OP, i see you live in Northport, save yourself the trouble and go to cameta camera...

 

[camomac]

Look at B&H a legitamate re-seller of "Grey Market" items, posts adverts for USA product @ "X" $$ and Grey @ "Y" $$.

what???
i don't see any "USA product" and "Grey" product advertised on their site. could you please explain this a little more.

i always thought, and heard that B&H was okay.


thanks.

 

[atari1356]

Don Wiss' site will show you all you need to know.....

http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/

Wow, nice detective work... that guy must have spent weeks going to all of those places/taking pictures/researching.

I purchased my Digital Rebel XT and lenses from Canoga Camera in California - very reputable and nice to deal with.

 

[serpent]

@camomac
B&H is ok!(their $$ aren't the best tho) like I said, They advertise what is and what isn't
whats so hard to find? For example:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=search&Q=&b=2&a=695_6140&mnp=0.0&mxp=0.0&Submit.x=9&Submit.y=9&Submit=Go&shs=&ci=12041&ac=
you can even read their statment regarding grey market here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist.jsp&A=getpage&Q=GreyMarketStatic.jsp
IIRC, B&H was probably one of the first retailers to offer grey market products. If you compare their prices to adorama, Brooklyn Photo, or any of the sellers whose stores were photographed they are not competative in price partially due to their including a 1-year warrantee with any grey market items they sell(prob. w/MACK).
Fortunatly since I work/live so close to all these stores I've never needed to rely on internet sales or mail order, I simply search for cheapest $$ and visit the store to pick up.
@atari, most of those places are so close to each other that most of those pics could've been shot in a days adventure, the research prob took weeks.

Serpent

and James if you are serious in buying a D70s(USA), I am selling mine to up to a D200.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Nikon will not service grey market cameras EVER.

 

[serpent]

Nikon will not service grey market cameras EVER.

Why would you want them to?

unless you fell for one of those "too good to be true" advertisments!

why should Nikon have any resposibility to service something which doesn't belong here.

And Nikon will service grey market cameras and equiptment if it is sent to a foriegn service center.

If you want to take the chance and buy grey market you can always insure your item w/Mack:
http://www.nextag.com/Mack-3-YEAR-INTERNATIONAL-502631788/prices-html

Serpent

 

[seenew]

I"ll have to agree about cameta. I got my 8800 from their store on Long Island. Highly recommond them. I might buy a P&S from them tomorrow (canon SD600/630)

Did you ever get a "System Error 2" message on your 8800?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

How many times do we have to see posts like this?

The likes of B&H should be the benchmark of those that seek the the lowest price above all else. And in most major metro areas the Mom&Pop shops are very close.

I wish I were in to cars. I would love to know how many people ask about buying cars at half the average cost of retail from what they see in in every day ads.

Give me a break!!!!

Just how many people here think that there are 50 to 100% margins on the likes of of digital cameras?

To those that think that - I say get a grip on reality!

 

[serpent]

at half the average cost of retail?
Where is that being done?
B&H sells a $999 MSRP D70s package for $874.95 thats 12.42% off! How is that 1/2 offa retail? Retail = MSRP.

Just how many people here think that there are 50 to 100% margins on the likes of of digital cameras?

what do you think the margins are then?
Myself being a wholesale distributor of products in a completly different industry, truely believe that yes there probably is between 50 to 70% "markup" in selling cameras!
Do you think that a company like Nikon just sells to anybody? I'm sure not! and inside that contract that you sign with them there is a termination clause that states something to the nature that, if they feel that you are doing anything to upset/undermine the market selling their product that they have the right to terminate doing business with you without any notice!
Take Apple for instance, do you really think that co.'s like MacMall, when they purchase 1000's of computers doesn't recieve at least 50% offa MSRP?
I have a friend that works for them, and while they sell usually at $5 off of MSRPto the public and also sometimes give away companion items for free to offer a discount he has guidlines that must be followed which will let him discount product to aprox. 20% off to a customer if need be. He can also buy as an employee at aprox. 40% off, and then re-sell on ebay or where ever. and there are alot of Dell, B&H, and MacMall employees doing this on ebay to earn extra money!
Getting back to camera's, Lets take a Samsung NV10. It's not even out yet, but the likes of B&H are already advertising it at $349.99, MSRP is $399. Thats a 12.3% discount to the "Retail Market". If we used your logic Chip, and said their wasn't a 50% margin then B&H is already loosing money selling this camera. If they were only getting 25% offa MSRP they'd be loosing money at this price, since that "fancy" piece of NYC real estate and state of the art warehouse and 100's of employees and NYC taxes would at least generate an overhead of around 18%. And lets not forget all the seconary market that a company like B&H sells to, all the Mom & Pop shops that can't afford to keep inventory and go to B&H and buy @ wholesale.
Not only are the likes of B&H buying at at least 50% off its probably more like at a 50/10 or 50 & 2-10's off of MSRP! Yeah I'd like to see the Hassid buyers face when the Nikon rep walks in and tells him,"we're running a special this month, you can now buy a D70s package w/18-70 for $749.25"
Ha

Serpent

 

[puckhead193]

Did you ever get a "System Error 2" message on your 8800?

nope. I read a thread on here about that happening. What causes it/what does it mean? So far my camera is taking great pictures! (knock on wood)

 

[camomac]

@camomac
B&H is ok!(their $$ aren't the best tho) like I said, They advertise what is and what isn't

ahhh.. i guess i never noticed the USA and IMPORT under the item being listed. Thanks!
Yes i know that B&H isn't always the best price, but they are honest, and sell without the preasure tactics of other "discount" stores.