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Prices fluctuating...

inkjunkie
Enthusiast

Bave been looking at the prices on the 5D Mark IV. Ebay, Amazon etc. Yesterday morning there was a shop in NY that had a new import listed on Ebay with a Buy It Now price just a tick or two under $2300. I still am on the fence aobut buying a FF so I just colosed my browser and forgot about it. Last night I got on Ebay again and noticed that in the recently viewed window this same camera was now a tick or two under $2900. Do prices really fluctuate THAT much?

 

Do camera shops ever have "Black Friday" or "Cyber Monday" type of deals? Have never spent this much time looking at something, I  tend to be very impulsive in my purchases.

 

Spoke with my wife Ernestina about this over breakfast this morning. She suggested that I at least wait until we see if camera shops have any Holiday deals....

10 REPLIES 10

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

I would not buy a "new" camera from anyone other than an authorized dealer.  There have been a lot of scams from non-authorized dealers where you really don't get what you were expecting.  

 

ALSO... when buying from an authorized dealers, there are the "USA" cameras and the "imports".  Imports are gray-market cameras and they are generally not supported by Canon USA.  This has two really big impacts... #1 it does not have a Canon warranty (often the store claims they will do repairs since Canon will not).   #2... even when the camera is out of warranty, Canon USA will not service the camera (even if you agree to pay)

 

To me, saving a few bucks isn't worth the risk of having an unserviceable camera.

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da


@TCampbell wrote:

I would not buy a "new" camera from anyone other than an authorized dealer.  There have been a lot of scams from non-authorized dealers where you really don't get what you were expecting.  

 

ALSO... when buying from an authorized dealers, there are the "USA" cameras and the "imports".  Imports are gray-market cameras and they are generally not supported by Canon USA.  This has two really big impacts... #1 it does not have a Canon warranty (often the store claims they will do repairs since Canon will not).   #2... even when the camera is out of warranty, Canon USA will not service the camera (even if you agree to pay)

 

To me, saving a few bucks isn't worth the risk of having an unserviceable camera.

 


I understand what you are saying but....Canon will not service the camera....safe to assume that the place I have used locally will not have a problem servicing it?

I have never been one to get hung up on a warranty, simply because I have never needed it. When we purchased appliances for our home we purchased extended warranties, only to never need even the standard warranty.

Only tiime I have even attempted to use a warranty it was a complete trainwreck. Purchased a used diesel truck. Truck has some aftermarket modifications. Dealer offered a warranty. I asked several times, and read the contract several times, about the warranty being valid even though the truck was "hot rodded". No where did it say, or was I told, that these modifications would void the warranty. As luck would have it I broke the transmission. Best friend owned a transmission shop, he came with his trailer and hauled it to his shop. Took it apart, all sorts of damage. $3900 in parts, at his cost. Contacted the warranty company. They sent a claims adjuster out. Seen the aftermarket parts and voided the warranty. My friend had his attorney contact the warranty company. Only thing they were willing to do was pay me friend for his time in tearing it apart. Dealer offered to have the transmission rebuilt, at their expense IF I had the truck towed to a nationwide chain transmission shop. This particular shop they were going to use had at least 4 dozen BBB claims against them, in which they came up on the wrong side of on all of them.

Sorry for getting off subject. But I literally have never in all my adult life have needed warranty service on anything. I have only had to have 2 electronic devices repaired. One was a Canon camera, that was about 8 years old and the other was the pre-amp for my stereo, which was about 11 years old when it broke. The total between the 2 of them was not even $200.

Inkjunkie,

The point others are trying to make is not that you need to buy a warranty, or expect that you might need to use it, but that you should take steps to ensure the integrity of the seller and product you are buying.   

 

"Gray Market" items are not a "good deal"...  or I guess to some maybe they are.. but in reality I believe they encouraging theft, illegal importation, deceptive business practices...  and more.  You might pay less...  but eventually its going to come back and bite you. 

 

I'm not telling you what to do, you may do as you wish, but I won't support or buy from a non-authorized dealer or gray market.  Have heard too many stories about folks who got a great deal, only to find out their purchase was refurbished in someone's basement sweatshop.  

 

Prices that are unbelieveable and too good to be true usually are.  B&H, Canon Direct, Sold by Amazon (not a seller) are authorized dealers.  You're going to get a product with a US warranty and support from the manufacturer.  I don't know about you, but thats important to me.  Smiley Happy

 

Cheers 

~Rick
Bay Area - CA


~R5 C (1.0.6.1) ~RF Trinity, ~RF 100 Macro, ~RF 100~400, ~RF 100~500, +RF 1.4x TC, +Canon Control Ring, BG-R10, 430EX III-RT ~DxO PhotoLab Elite ~DaVinci Resolve ~Windows11 Pro ~ImageClass MF644Cdw/MF656Cdw ~Pixel 8
~CarePaks Are Worth It


@inkjunkie wrote:

@TCampbell wrote:

I would not buy a "new" camera from anyone other than an authorized dealer.  There have been a lot of scams from non-authorized dealers where you really don't get what you were expecting.  

 

ALSO... when buying from an authorized dealers, there are the "USA" cameras and the "imports".  Imports are gray-market cameras and they are generally not supported by Canon USA.  This has two really big impacts... #1 it does not have a Canon warranty (often the store claims they will do repairs since Canon will not).   #2... even when the camera is out of warranty, Canon USA will not service the camera (even if you agree to pay)

 

To me, saving a few bucks isn't worth the risk of having an unserviceable camera.

 


I understand what you are saying but....Canon will not service the camera....safe to assume that the place I have used locally will not have a problem servicing it?

I have never been one to get hung up on a warranty, simply because I have never needed it. When we purchased appliances for our home we purchased extended warranties, only to never need even the standard warranty.

Only tiime I have even attempted to use a warranty it was a complete trainwreck. Purchased a used diesel truck. Truck has some aftermarket modifications. Dealer offered a warranty. I asked several times, and read the contract several times, about the warranty being valid even though the truck was "hot rodded". No where did it say, or was I told, that these modifications would void the warranty. As luck would have it I broke the transmission. Best friend owned a transmission shop, he came with his trailer and hauled it to his shop. Took it apart, all sorts of damage. $3900 in parts, at his cost. Contacted the warranty company. They sent a claims adjuster out. Seen the aftermarket parts and voided the warranty. My friend had his attorney contact the warranty company. Only thing they were willing to do was pay me friend for his time in tearing it apart. Dealer offered to have the transmission rebuilt, at their expense IF I had the truck towed to a nationwide chain transmission shop. This particular shop they were going to use had at least 4 dozen BBB claims against them, in which they came up on the wrong side of on all of them.

Sorry for getting off subject. But I literally have never in all my adult life have needed warranty service on anything. I have only had to have 2 electronic devices repaired. One was a Canon camera, that was about 8 years old and the other was the pre-amp for my stereo, which was about 11 years old when it broke. The total between the 2 of them was not even $200.


Why didn't you sue the dealer, if he misrepresented the terms of the warranty he sold you?

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA


@RobertTheFat wrote:

@inkjunkie wrote:

@TCampbell wrote:

I would not buy a "new" camera from anyone other than an authorized dealer.  There have been a lot of scams from non-authorized dealers where you really don't get what you were expecting.  

 

ALSO... when buying from an authorized dealers, there are the "USA" cameras and the "imports".  Imports are gray-market cameras and they are generally not supported by Canon USA.  This has two really big impacts... #1 it does not have a Canon warranty (often the store claims they will do repairs since Canon will not).   #2... even when the camera is out of warranty, Canon USA will not service the camera (even if you agree to pay)

 

To me, saving a few bucks isn't worth the risk of having an unserviceable camera.

 


I understand what you are saying but....Canon will not service the camera....safe to assume that the place I have used locally will not have a problem servicing it?

I have never been one to get hung up on a warranty, simply because I have never needed it. When we purchased appliances for our home we purchased extended warranties, only to never need even the standard warranty.

Only tiime I have even attempted to use a warranty it was a complete trainwreck. Purchased a used diesel truck. Truck has some aftermarket modifications. Dealer offered a warranty. I asked several times, and read the contract several times, about the warranty being valid even though the truck was "hot rodded". No where did it say, or was I told, that these modifications would void the warranty. As luck would have it I broke the transmission. Best friend owned a transmission shop, he came with his trailer and hauled it to his shop. Took it apart, all sorts of damage. $3900 in parts, at his cost. Contacted the warranty company. They sent a claims adjuster out. Seen the aftermarket parts and voided the warranty. My friend had his attorney contact the warranty company. Only thing they were willing to do was pay me friend for his time in tearing it apart. Dealer offered to have the transmission rebuilt, at their expense IF I had the truck towed to a nationwide chain transmission shop. This particular shop they were going to use had at least 4 dozen BBB claims against them, in which they came up on the wrong side of on all of them.

Sorry for getting off subject. But I literally have never in all my adult life have needed warranty service on anything. I have only had to have 2 electronic devices repaired. One was a Canon camera, that was about 8 years old and the other was the pre-amp for my stereo, which was about 11 years old when it broke. The total between the 2 of them was not even $200.


Why didn't you sue the dealer, if he misrepresented the terms of the warranty he sold you?


Penny wise, pound foolish. How mcuh would it have cosrt me to obtain a lawyer?

diverhank
Authority

If I were you, don't ever buy on ebay for any items above  a few hundred bucks or so...especially if price appears to be too good to be true.  You will most likely receive a box of rocks for your troubles and the headaches dealing with ebay and the crooked seller.  It actually happened to me when trying to buy an expensive lens on ebay.  I didn't lose my money but a headache nonetheless for a couple of weeks.  Now I draw the line at under $200 for ebay...anymore than that, the temptation to cheat is too much for some sellers.

 

Greentoe is an internet broker outfit that's trustworthy...you name your price and their authorized dealers will try to match it...you end up saving about 15% from list price, sometimes more.  I've bought several big ticket items this way.

 

 

================================================
Diverhank's photos on Flickr


@diverhank wrote:

If I were you, don't ever buy on ebay for any items above  a few hundred bucks or so...especially if price appears to be too good to be true.  You will most likely receive a box of rocks for your troubles and the headaches dealing with ebay and the crooked seller.  It actually happened to me when trying to buy an expensive lens on ebay.  I didn't lose my money but a headache nonetheless for a couple of weeks.  Now I draw the line at under $200 for ebay...anymore than that, the temptation to cheat is too much for some sellers.

 

Greentoe is an internet broker outfit that's trustworthy...you name your price and their authorized dealers will try to match it...you end up saving about 15% from list price, sometimes more.  I've bought several big ticket items this way.

 

 


Bought my 70-200f/2.8 off of EBay....was $250 under what I saw it on Canons site...works flawlessly...

Back when I was employed I would not hesitate to spend a little bit more on something kknwoing that I was getting a warranty, that in all likeliness I would never need. But once I ended up on a fixed income, at about 35% of what I was making, my tune  changed. Actualli I went from from over 100k a year to about 32K...of which about 12% of that is going to cover insurances and meds...

Waddizzle
Legend
Legend

I buy big ticket camera gear from only three online vendors: Canon, B&H, Adorama, and a one time purchase of used gear at KEH.  All of those vendors have five star Customer Support AFTER the sale, which is why I only shop with them.

 

As for prices fluctuating on eBay, for what little I know about them, isn’t that the whole point?  Buyer beware, though.  Do a search for eBay on this forum, and look at all of the people lamenting shelling out big bucks for lemons.  If you keep shopping at eBay, you WILL eventually get burned.

Beware that if you fork over thousands for a camera on eBay, I doubt if Canon would either honor a warranty, or even repair it if it fails in the future. 

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