p.10 #1 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Mykal wrote:
I have had some good experiences with Cardinal through GreenToe however the last two were bad and I have decided to not even use GreenToe again. It seems there is little GreenToe can do when you have a bad experience.
p.10 #2 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Just saw this thread and wanted to share my experience.
I very recently purchased a $3600 camera through Greentoe / Cardinal Camera and it was a great experience. Quick confirmation email w/ receipt from Cardinal and the camera was shipped fast too. Sorry you had a bad experience, but personally, I'd happily buy from them again based on the significant amount of money I saved.
p.10 #4 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I had a bad experience last year with Cardinal Camera through Greentoe. Purchased a Sigma 100-400 that was defective. They accepted the return but would never refund my money. Many emails and weeks later I finally had to have PayPal refund me. They just ghosted me, kept the lens and my money,and they're wasn't anything Greentoe could do.
p.10 #5 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I'm bumping up this thread since I recently purchased from Greentoe / Cardinal.
I never heard of Cardinal Camera before, so when I got the invoice from Greentoe, I Googled them. I landed on this thread and I felt very uneasy with the negative stories. I almost wanted to cancel my order.
I placed a bid for both a Sony A7 IV and Sony 50mm f/1.2 lens last Friday night (1/7/22) around 8:00pm. I was initially going to buy it through B&H and use the Payboo credit card to save on taxes. However, B&H have the camera on backorder. I decided to search on Greentoe to see if I can get a deal. I was surprised someone accepted my offer (and provided counter offer) that late at night. I saved a few hundred dollars (nothing crazy), but mainly I was able to save on taxes.
On Monday morning (1/10/22), the charge went through to my credit card (from Cardinal). After reading this thread, I was afraid I was going to run into the same issue as many people here since the Sony A7 IV is backordered in a few sites (B&H, Adorama, etc). However, on the same evening, I got a notification that both camera and lens was shipped. Since they're in PA and I'm in NY, I received them today 1/11/22). I was surprised how fast I was able to receive it.
So, I just want to say that I don't have any issues with Greentoe/Cardinal.
I looked through my Greentoe photography purchasing history and this is my fourth time I used them. The first two times, I bought Fuji lenses and it was sold through Camera Land. I didn't realize, but my 3rd order for Fuji X100V and was fulfilled by Cardinal. Maybe I am lucky
p.10 #8 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I recently made three purchases through Greentoe, all fulfilled by the same camera shop, which I will not name per Greentoe policy.
Two of the three shipped right away, no issues, good price. The third one took about 6 weeks. When I contacted the camera shop they were straight with me. They didn’t have it in stock and were not sure when they’d get it. They said they’d be glad to refund my money at any time. Since I wasn’t in a hurry, I waited, and the lens arrived a few weeks later.
I’d say, if you’re in a hurry, contact the vendor to find out if they have your item in stock and they should let you cancel if they don’t.
Personally, I’ll use them again because it saved me a lot of money (about 20% including taxes).
p.10 #9 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I got an oem Sony battery and a Tamron 28-75 G2 lens through Cardinal/Greentoe this month (I'l keep the price a secret, but I was very pleased). Both shipped within 2 business days of being accepted and showed up on time with UPS. Very happy and would buy from them again
p.10 #10 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I have used Greentoe six times. The first five times, the camera/lenses were quickly shipped. On the sixth, I did not see a shipping notification within several days, so I called the vendor. They did not have the item in stock, so I cancelled the order.
Overall, my experiences were excellent; however, I would not use this service for newly released products that are in short supply, or in situations where you are in need of the item for immediate use, since vendors will bid, even though they might be out of stock.
p.10 #11 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I just got a lens through greentoe/cardinal. I want to return it for a refund. Haven’t even opened the box yet. Would I be better off selling it myself instead of trying to get a refund from them? I used my credit card and not PayPal if that makes a difference. I don’t want to get the run around.
p.10 #12 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I'm considering making a couple lens purchase through Greentoe. But having seen the mixed reviews, with many reviews stating they received used products sold as new, how do you know for sure that what you get is new? With a camera body you can check shutter actuations. But for a lens, how do you know? Just curious. It's been many years since I last bought a lens until jsut a week ago. Bought a Sigma lens through Adorama and there was no seal on the box. I trust Adorama. But it seems many of the Greentoe deals come from Cardinal Camera and from what I can see, their reputation is not the greatest. So I'm trying to decide if it is worth the risk.
p.10 #14 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I got a Tamron 70-180mm from Greentoe/Cardinal and it was fast and new product. Recently I ordered a Tamron 28-75mm G2 and it was also fast and new product.
p.10 #15 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
csebasti wrote:
I'm considering making a couple lens purchase through Greentoe. But having seen the mixed reviews, with many reviews stating they received used products sold as new, how do you know for sure that what you get is new? With a camera body you can check shutter actuations. But for a lens, how do you know? Just curious. It's been many years since I last bought a lens until jsut a week ago. Bought a Sigma lens through Adorama and there was no seal on the box. I trust Adorama. But it seems many of the Greentoe deals come from Cardinal Camera and from what I can see, their reputation is not the greatest. So I'm trying to decide if it is worth the risk....Show more →
FWIW, I've had opened items returned and sold as new from almost every major retailer out there in the US. BBY, B&H, Adorama, and Amazon (enough that I don't buy camera gear from them anymore).
This is a common issue and you're not safe from any of the retailers when it comes to it.
You just have to inspect the item and look for telltale signs that it has been used. If it doesn't appear to have any obvious issues or signs that it was used, then I wouldn't go looking for an issue because you will eventually find one and it'll drive you mad trying to figure out if it was used or if it's just you overthinking it.
I usually check out the item, glance it over, check the packaging material, etc. and if it all looks in order, I start using the gear and as long as that works, I stop worrying about it and move on.
p.10 #19 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
Elusivesouls wrote:
FWIW, I've had opened items returned and sold as new from almost every major retailer out there in the US. BBY, B&H, Adorama, and Amazon (enough that I don't buy camera gear from them anymore).
This is a common issue and you're not safe from any of the retailers when it comes to it.
You just have to inspect the item and look for telltale signs that it has been used. If it doesn't appear to have any obvious issues or signs that it was used, then I wouldn't go looking for an issue because you will eventually find one and it'll drive you mad trying to figure out if it was used or if it's just you overthinking it.
I usually check out the item, glance it over, check the packaging material, etc. and if it all looks in order, I start using the gear and as long as that works, I stop worrying about it and move on....Show more →
Yes, I see your point there. I think enough people buy/return multiple copies of a lens before settling on the perfect one that there will always be some opened items sold as new.
I think my biggest concern is that I did put in a bid on a Tamron 17-28, which was accepted with no counteroffer which surprised me based on the price. I then became worried it was too good to be true and I may be getting a used lens passed off as new. I have nothing to base that on other than my pessimism and a bit of paranoia.
The lens should arrive Monday, so I'll do as you point out and inspect it and ideally it all looks great and I'll move on with another couple bids through Greentoe to finish my transition to Sony mirror less.
p.10 #20 · Do not buy from Cardinal Camera / Greentoe! You have been warned.
I’ve used GreenToe a couple of times, and it was great for “no rush” items.
If I need something fast and want to save on taxes - pretty much any small to medium out of state retailer works great. You can always call them and talk to someone who’s actually working there, and not some random dude in a call center in a random country.
