Hoping for a sticky This thread will be updated with those retailers who we on 6GA have personally dealt with and recommend. Conversely, those we have dealt with and won't recommend. To the people starting out in photography: It's strongly encouraged that you only buy from sellers on this list. Deals that are "too good to be true" usually are! If you're in doubt about the place you want to do business with, check out a site like www.resellerratings.com or even Google the business name...you might be surprised that other people have fallen to the scam...but you don't have to. Please, if you had a negative experience, outline why, from who, and what steps they took to rectify the issue. Anyone who has had to return something, please outline how long it took to get an RMA number and get your refund or new product. Recommended Sellers: www.amazon.com (see note 1 below) www.bhphotovideo.com www.adorama.com www.cametacamera.com www.6ave.com www.keh.com (used gear) www.freestylephoto.biz (film and such) www.frugalphotographer.com (film) http://www.jr.com http://flashzebra.com/ (lighting accessories) http://paulcbuff.com/ (lighting accessories) http://www.abesofmaine.com/ http://www.danscamera.com/ Not recommended: http://www.47stphoto.com/ (see note 2) http://soniccameras.com/ (see note 3) http://www.wallstreetphoto.net (purchase at your own risk) Notes: 1. Amazon is like an "aggregate" site...they have resellers set up and sell through their site. Right under the price, you can see who is selling the product, or you can click on the link for "x New from $y" and choose someone else. Only items that say "sold and shipped by Amazon" are available for free shipping unless stated. Adorama and B&H offer free shipping on some things directly on their sites, and those sometimes carry over to Amazon. Also beware: Amazon has scam sites/store fronts operate since it's easy to sell from them. Do your research on any and every company if they're not on this list! 2. The bait and switch scam is probably the most prevalent on the net today. They lure you in with a low price, then claim the camera won't come with firmware, is a "gray market" camera so you need to order a warranty through them, no battery charger, or some accessory and try to make you pay more for them...which is, of course false on all counts. In the end, it becomes more expensive than buying from a reputable site. If they ask you for more money, before they ship what you ordered, cancel the order ASAP! Some even say cancel that credit card so they can't re-use your info. Google "Broadway Photo" and see the hoops they take you through to steal your money. 3. Extremely low or even high prices should tell you to stay away from that site.
Maybe Recommended: http://www.47stphoto.com/ http://www.resellerratings.com/store/47th_Street_Photo_13 Bought through Amazon with 47st Photo as the 3rd party dealer. The lens was a Sigma 28-300 and it came just fine, worked great for a few weeks and then the zoom lock broke. The lens has terrible zoom creep so I got an RMA number and sent it back with delivery confirmation. They got it and NOTHING happened. I called many times and had to eventually get Amazon involved. Amazon was able to get 47st Photo to admit they received the item. I jumped through more hoops and 47st Photo did nothing at all. Luckily Amazon DID refund my money (woo!), but it took approx 8 weeks from when I shipped it back, to when I finally got store credit. Not Recommended: http://www.tristatecamera.com/ http://www.resellerratings.com/store/TriState_Camera_Video_and_Computers Made me play phone tag with them and tried the bait and switch for a lower quality lens that they have overprice by $100 or more (trying to get me to spend MORE on a much worse lens). I finally did get them to ship the items (lens and filter). Packing slip showed the filter as backordered. I canceled it and never got a refund. Lens that I did get worked great, but that has nothing to do with the retailer. Not a terrible rating on resellerratings, but I will never be ordering from them again. http://soniccameras.com/ http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Sonic_Cameras Basically the #1 scam site for camera equipment. Have not ordered from them and NEVER will. Just take a look at the prices, they are all over the place, sometimes 50% off on popular items. Resellerratings should be all you need to see. I would also add to the original post to search any place on resellerratings.com before making a purchase.
Thanks Ben and sorry to hear that Scammers and thieves make me sick The reseller ratings link is already in the first post But I'm going to update the original list with your links
Wow, I screwed up my info big time. Updated my post with my 2 bad experiences. 47st wasn't as bad, but still left me very unhappy. TriState Camera was the one that attempted the bait and switch tactic, and according to the rating should be avoided like the swine flu.
J&R Electronics - http://www.jr.com I bought my 40D from them, no issues whatsoever, product was BNIB as stated. They're located in NYC with retail stores and sell online through their store and Amazon as well (I bought through Amazon for a little more peace of mind). Would definitely buy from again. Wall Street Photo - http://www.wallstreetphoto.net The first store I attempted to order the 40D from. Their website seems sketch, but I originally ordered from Amazon. Reseller ratings has 0 reviews. Needless to say, I canceled my order (more so because they were closed due to a religious holiday) and reorder through J&R (read above). My review is neutral at this point. Ritz Camera / Wolf Camera / ProEx Expect to pay close to MSRP unless they're having a sale, I've found that their prices are usually about 15% higher than what they go for online. I usually only buy small items like cleaning cloths, blowers, possibly used lenses, etc. I go exclusively to ProEx to print photos, haven't seen any other stores match their print quality. Takes a lot of prints and some fine tuning to get correct color, WB, and exposure with prints. I just picked up prints yesterday and immediately noticed the WB was warm and the colors shifted to green/red, with a few "blown out" areas more blown out. Also have used stores already mentioned multiple times: -B&H -Adorama -Calumet -Amazon -Freestyle Photo All get positive reviews.
FlashZebra http://flashzebra.com/ This guy sells mostly cables, adaptors and other accessories for off camera flash. The best part is that the products have gotten praise and the prices are MUCH cheaper then retail prices. The cables are just as good as any other brand, this is basically the kind of difference between Monster cables and No Name cables. Theyre 99.99999% the same. Paul C. Buff http://paulcbuff.com/ This guy makes professional lighting, lighting accessories, kits, portable battery power, etc. Basically everything one would need for pro lighting. Ive ordered from these guys radio based triggers (CyberSyncs) to fire my flash units (Alienbees, also from them but purchased locally) and they work amazingly well. Basically, theyre triggers cost around 70 bucks compared to $250 for the standard Pocketwizards everyone else is using (that dont really offer any kind of benefit other than being transceivers). I *highly* recommend both sites.
Hey RyRy add AbesofMaine and DansCameraCity to the list http://www.abesofmaine.com/ A place like adorama. Its a local shop for us but has great prices and awesome customer service. http://www.danscamera.com/ I would recommend Dan's Camera City to anyone. They have extremely knowledgeable and personable sales reps. I go there to get all my prints done. They are of a high quality and at really good prices. They can give you info on anything. I've even taken a class there and it was a great experience.
