Internet purchase Digital camera

milkman · Mar 9, 2005

Since my new camera is no longer with me, I have been looking at cameras and prices on the net. I have decided on the camera and model, and have found some good prices. With places like "pricescan and others, I have read some of the reviews from some of the camera sellers and now I'm kinda scared to go that route. I have bought a lot of items online and had good luck, but some of the review horror stories have made me apprehensive, and although some of the reviews are positive, some of them sound phony. Anyone here bought from these places, what are my chances of avoiding a scam. A lot of the places try to sell overpriced accessories and if turned down, all of a sudden the item you order is on backorder. I seems that most of these places are the NY photo shops and I need feedback from some of you that have made such purchases.

Bob_Skurka · Mar 9, 2005

I've purchased several digital cameras and a few digital video cameras from Beach Camera with good luck. Each time I just ordered only the parts I wanted, not being pressured to buy over priced battery chargers, etc. They always had very good prices, not always the absolute lowest, but usually very near the bottom. Beach Camera website

Dargo · Mar 9, 2005

I tried once to make a camera purchase from a camera shop in NY. They had the best price for the camera and their website looked nice. After 3 weeks from paying I still had no camera. I called them and they told me that they were out of that model and they expected to receive more in during the following weeks. I explained that I didn't plan to wait the 3 weeks I already had waited and that I was not at all pleased or interested in waiting further. The short version was that they then implied that I was overly impatient and refunded my money.

I've since bought other digital camera items online, but not from companies located in NY. I've actually purchased several items from a camera shop when visiting St. Thomas, USVI, and have since bought from them online without issue. If you're interested, I can provide you their website. Their prices in general seem pretty fair after comparing, but generally not the absolute lowest. Thus, my lukewarm endorsement. I cannot fault them on service and that is the only reason I mention them. I had an issue with one item, and they immediately sent a replacement and asked me to mail them the defective item. I didn't have to play the mail game and wait for shipping each way.

milkman · Mar 9, 2005

Thanks Bob,
That's reassureing, and Beach was one of the places that I checked, and you're right, they were only a few $'s more than the lowest. I've decided on the Fuji S5100 for several reasons, the 10X optical zoom, I can use rechargeable AA batteries which I have from my previous camera and also the XD card from the other camera will work with the Fuji. Glad to hear that you like them, that's a relief.

milkman · Mar 9, 2005

Yes, I'd like to have the website, I'll check it out. If I'd known this earlier I could have had my daughter pick one up, she was there right after Christmas, no that wouldn't work, still had my camera then.

Dargo · Mar 9, 2005

I guess I could have just put in the link, sorry, I wasn't thinking. Here is their site http://www.boolchand.com/index.php Good luck!

BillG_in_TX · Mar 9, 2005

As Bob suggested, Beach Camera is a good option. I have bought from them with zero problems in the past.

Whenever I consider an internet purchase, I always check ResellerRatings.com for information. They are a great resource for identifying bad sellers. For example, Beach has a six month rating of 9.15 (out of 10). Compare that to A&M Photo World with a six-month rating of 0.68! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Gatorboy · Mar 9, 2005

You should have no problems if you use B&H Photo

milkman · Mar 9, 2005

Tried thr Beach Photo again and they don't even list the camera now, although they said they were upgrading their inventory on the site, maybe later.

Dargo,
Struck out there also, not listed.

Anybody know about Butterfly Photo, had some good reviews although I didn't read all 2000+ reviews.