eBay camera sales of 40D

[Pablo]

Hello all,

I imagine this little thread might stirr up a few questions and views but here goes.....

A customer came to me today with a price for the 40D body with 3 years warranty in this country.

The stated company (dealing through eBay) was selling it for many hundreds less than any store I know can match.

It was also a company that is in a city not too far from me.

I have known this customer for many years and would do my best to beat any price another store would offer him.

This price though was simply not possible.

I could not get over this situation and so decided to look into it further and was told this...

Firstly, it was not a grey item !!

It is what is known as a second (one that was rejected after manufacture due to some reason).

It is bought direct from Japan.

Evidently it is possible to buy seconds from Japan.

Seconds meaning .... "it has a defect picked up at quality controll"

This defect could be anything from something like a sticky button or a battery door fault of a lens mount fault... anything.

I also believe they have a blue mark on the underside.

With this in mind it brings a question, "how does the warranty work with such an item" :dunno:

Interesting :dunno:

What does any one have to say on this matter :dunno:

By the way, I did see this advert for the 40D body at sub AUS $1500 and with 17-85 IS lens for AUS$150 more

 

[psychobiologist]

yup, in the US, they have for sale "refurbished" sets, and they are explicitly marked as "refurbished", even when being sold, its made known to the customer.

adorama/bh-photo does carry these units that come straight from the maker, and there is a period of warranty as well, 6 month to a year. price is usually more than a hundred dollars off a normal one. it was super tempting then! 800 usd for a nikon D80 body which was going for almost 1.6k in SG.

over in singapore, i dont recall any shops explicitly selling refurbished models, sometimes i'm worried grey bodies might have been imported in as refurbs and off loaded to users thinking that its cheap. then again. seconds or refurb having failed the quality screen would have had their problems rectified already, should be fine for using (thats if the defect is not serious, and can be rectified to be as good as new, no failures in usage from then on).. but sometimes there's this buyer's paranoia, and ignorance is bliss (till the problem develops)

canon has refurbs? dont recall seeing them, and i thought i saw a thread of canon in china with workers smashing rejected goods? :dunno:

 

[Pablo]

Hi psychobiologist,

Interesting....

The price I saw was MANY dollars less that our buy price (ex GST) a few hundred infact.

There are a few pro camera stores that from time to time sell cameras at our cost or a few dollars under.

But this price I saw was way under what they would sell at even if they had to clear them and take a loss.

"there is no mention of re-furbished or seconds"

Now, when it comes down to it, I can't prove it and I live by a saying my father uses......

"Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see".....

This though does bother me to contemplate; there is no mention of re-furbished or seconds

 

[Pablo]

Hi psychobiologist,

For you and for anyone else that reads this.

It is not that I am put out that I might loose a sale or two... it doesn't bother me really.

It is more that I feel for the poor person that buys it thinking that they have bought a great camera,

Then possibly don't feel happy with the results they get ..... maybe thinking that it is their fault.

To bring a point forward that I mentioned in the beginning, (the 17-85 IS lens for $150 more)

What would the quality of that lens be when the RRP is $1099 ?

If your average person that want's to get into photography buys the body and lens, thinking of getting serious....

Then all they produce is OOF photo's or whatever, they might simply blame themselves and think they are not cut out for it.

That would be VERY sad I think.

Sorry if I go on about it but I actually care about customers (though if you knew me you would think not :bsmilie

Cheers

 

[psychobiologist]

the overseas buying culture is different, be it in US, in Europe, and in Aussie or back in Singapore.

if you come back to singapore, the buying culture is that every dollar matters, they will try to bargain for every single cent, get freebies, maximize the discounts, and "Grey" sets, i.e. imported sets are often popular due to the cheaper prices. Equipment price off the shelf is rigid, in-elastic to fluctuations, and costlier than i.e. HK and other countries. seriously a $50 saved on a lens might give one a bigger empirical psychological satisfaction than the experience of using the lens. :bsmilie:

on overseas photog forums, people talk abt equips they use, techniques etc, in singapore, we not only talk abt the equips, but we also talk about where is the best place to buy for the best price etc :bsmilie:
i'm not saying its wrong but its a socio-phenomena. similarly the donut craze, the donuts arnt particularly tasty, but perhaps its the fact that one had queued 2 hours for it that makes it more satisfying, albeit like getting a prize. does this buying culture exist in australia?

however in some countries, the buying culture differs, that is when marketing has a more profound effect on people, i.e. good company relationship with customers, the way the product is marketed, the reputation etc.. is more important than prices alone.

does BH-photo or adorama offer the best prices? nope. but competitively priced. BH is one of the largest photo-vid equip store in the world, adorama is not much smaller, both run by members of the Jewish community (thats why they dont process orders on sabbath).. many people go back to them, although once in a while other shops, off the streets, other places like 42nd street, maine etc you can get what you want at probably $20-$30 USD less per big item. when you come online you can even find some online stores via google.. i.e. regal cameras/royal cameras that offer equipments at a few hundred dollar discounts.. (followed by many complaints that the items do not arrive, has been shipped but wasnt what it was intented to be, etc and many more).

customer equity is important, you do not want to keep a customer for only once, but you want him to be a customer for as lifetime. a toyota lexus is abt usd 50k, but a lexus executive will say that a lexus customer is worth 600k in his lifetime, and thats why companies like that do very well, and go out in many different ways just to bring customer satisfaction.

and as you are in this camera business, check with canon or the local distri of the cameras, to know if whether refurb units are available, and the price of them. and when a customer brings that up, you will have good enough information to let him know, that there are such units floating around, and educate him on where it comes from, why its so low priced etc. at least even when he doesnt buy, he will know that you are a reliable/trustable merchant.

here's an example of adorama's refurb stocks
http://www.adorama.com/Search-Results.tpl?page=searchresults&searchinfo=refurb
the 17-85 IS, can be gotten for abt USD $70 lesser than the non-refurb one.

 

[junkai21]

There's only one shop in singapore i know selling refurb electronic items. Creative!!

 

[advrider]

There's only one shop in singapore i know selling refurb electronic items. Creative!!

:thumbsup:

 

[Sion]

Sorry if I go on about it but I actually care about customers (though if you knew me you would think not :bsmilie

I will buy a 40D from you even it costs Aud$12,000.

 

[Pablo]

I will buy a 40D from you even it costs Aud$12,000.

Oh Sion, your faith in me :angel: I feel so touched ....just like you :bsmilie:

I will be glad to do the deal for you and because I am such a nice guy, I will throw in a bag and 1GB card free.

I will PM you my Swiss account number tonight :devil:

 

[viewwing]

Hi psychobiologist,

Interesting....

The price I saw was MANY dollars less that our buy price (ex GST) a few hundred infact.

There are a few pro camera stores that from time to time sell cameras at our cost or a few dollars under.

But this price I saw was way under what they would sell at even if they had to clear them and take a loss.

"there is no mention of re-furbished or seconds"

Now, when it comes down to it, I can't prove it and I live by a saying my father uses......

"Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see".....

This though does bother me to contemplate; there is no mention of re-furbished or seconds

a good way of telling if its a re-furb item is the warranty. Usually items with 6 months warranty is refurbished. even for DELL in singapore... watch the warranty.

then its up your "luck"

 

[Pablo]

a good way of telling if its a re-furb item is the warranty. Usually items with 6 months warranty is refurbished. even for DELL in singapore... watch the warranty.

then its up your "luck"

They are giving extra 2 year "Australia wide" warranty