Buying Digital camera

[Boss Gobbler]

I am looking at buying a Olympus C5050 5mp. digital camera and have been checking on prices. Have any of you purchased a camera from a magazine ad or over the internet from the numerous dealers? I know there are some horror stories from people who've had bad experiences doing this but it's hard not to consider it when you compare prices to my local dealers. I know you have to make sure you're buying a U.S. warranteed camera and check on shipping or hidden charges like credit card surcharges etc. I am looking for people who have actually bought a camera from a mag. ad or over the internet to give me some opinions and possibly the names of reputable dealers to work with. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[AnnieAK]

I've bought several cameras and accessories out of an ad in a camera magazine. You're right, it's definitely cheaper than your local store. For info on a good outfit to deal with, check out the topic Jesse has at the top of this forum "Before you buy your camera,check out the vendor at Resellerratings .com" . Get a camera magazine, find some ads that lookk good for your camera, and enter some of the names in the search engine on that site. The last camera we bought was from Abe's of Maine, and we won't use them again. I bought from Camera West(?) of Oregon several years ago, and they were great, but they've been bought out. B&H is a very reputable outfit; they supply all the pros, but they don't usually have the lowest price, either.

 

[rut]

Boss Gobbler,
B&H Camera....www.phphotovideo.com.....I have done a fair amount of business with them, never had a problem, even with returns....their products have US warrnety.....rut

 

[WildBird]

BG - I recently bought a C-730 Oly from Dbuys.com. Very satisfied with both service and price. The only advantage with an authorized dealer is that you can only get rebates/ promotion benefits with them. The factory warranty is good from any seller. C-5050 is an awesome cam and buy if you can live with the 3x zoom. Here is the link. WB

http://www.dbuys.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=...product_id=1584

 

[Lan-Lord]

I think rut intended to put www.bphotovideo.com (or bhphoto.com will work too).

There is a website called resellerratings.com that gives the low down on the good guys and bad guys when it comes to buying online.. I also like to use pricegrabber.com. they query various web retailers for the lowest price. they also have ratings and experiences available too.

 

[spectr17]

I use B&H Photo and Camera World

I actually bought my last digital camera from eBay from an online retailer Best Price AudioVideo. I checked them out at resellers.com and paid by credit card. At the time it was one of the only places to find an Oly 2100.

I wouldn't waste my time with ads in photo mags. 99% of them are rip offs out of N.Y. B&H being the one exception. If you read some of the headaches posted on resellerratingss.com you have to wonder if saving that $50 is really worth it.