Pros/Cons of purchasing a camera from the canon store on Amazon

[mimosa09]

I am going to be buying the EOS R6 mark ii and I am considering buying through amazon because I have a 20% discount on any one item and being able to do payments in installments would be a benefit to me through my Amazon credit card. However I am nervous about buying through Amazon over the canon website or B&H, so tell me what are some pros or some cons to purchasing on Amazon!

[rs-eos]

I would advise against purchasing from Amazon.  If you do though, you'd have to be absolutely positive that the seller is actually an authorized reseller for Canon.   Many times, the actual seller is not what you think it is.

I would thus recommend only doing purchases from authorized Canon resellers to include B&H Photo.

[johnrmoyer]

I have usually purchased from https://www.bhphotovideo.com/ or from the Canon refurbished store, but I would not hesitate to purchase from Amazon if Amazon is the seller and not some other entity with an Amazon store.

According to https://www.usa.canon.com/contact-us/where-to-buy/authorized-dealers Amazon is an authorized retailer for Canon in the United States, but I do not know about other countries. There are other retailers on Amazon who are not authorized. The thing to look at is whether it says "

Ships from Amazon.com

Sold by Amazon.com

" instead of sold by some other retailer.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Ricky has provided excellent advice.  Here is a current list of Canon Authorized Resellers:

canon-ad-3-13-2023.pdf

Amazon (itself) is an authorized reseller)

Note, if the product states "Ships from and sold by Amazon" this is safe.  You need to be careful.  Its easy to mistake storefronts and buying from a non-authorized seller can result in grey market or shoddily refurbished gear being sold as new.  In these cases products can be listed as "Sold by X, shipped by Amazon".  These sellers allow Amazon to warehouse their items which often results is faster shipping, but it is still possible for this gear to be grey market.  Larger reputable authorized resellers don't usually need to sell through Amazon, but some do.  If you decide to go this route, do your research and be certain of the source.

Sellers offering "kits".  99% of the time these are non authorized dealers.  Don't be tempted.  They sell you a camera that comes bundled with bags, cards, filters, flash, tripod, lenses and everything you need to get started shooting.  Don't do it.  You can have a positive shopping experience, just be certain of the seller.

[Stephen]

This. Right here. ☝️

[lantapete]

Make your own decision, but a lot of people aren't especially happy with Amazon these days, and are making purchases from other vendors because of Amazon's recent decision to shut down dpreview.com.  Amazon apparently claims the site isn't profitable. Personally, I understand Amazon's obligation to make profit for their shareholders, however, the dpreview.com web site has accumulated a lot of valuable photographic information over the last couple decades that may be lost forever.

[FloridaDrafter]

Amazon is an authorized Canon dealer and provided you buy "From Amazon" (sold and shipped by Amazon), you will have no problems. I have an extensive collection of Canon cameras and lenses, from Rebels to D series to R series, and most were purchased from Amazon. Since 2014, I've only recently received one lens that appeared to be an open box, but the box was delivered by UPS damaged and I couldn't be sure that they (UPS) didn't open it to check the item. Anyway, I contacted Amazon support, returned it and had the replacement lens (RF 15-35mm f/2.8L) in my hands the next day. UPS took the return and handed me the replacement.

Newton