I agree it was always bad and now is not better if not worse, but there is one thing I do like better. On the old site if they listed several pages of lenses you could not skip ahead from say page 1 to page 7 you had to go one page at a time. Now you can at least skip ahead. That is about the only improvement I saw that and the ratings. Otherwise just a different bad interface from the one they had before.
Steve Spencer wrote:
I agree it was always bad and now is not better if not worse, but there is one thing I do like better. On the old site if they listed several pages of lenses you could not skip ahead from say page 1 to page 7 you had to go one page at a time. Now you can at least skip ahead. That is about the only improvement I saw that and the ratings. Otherwise just a different bad interface from the one they had before.
I usually just use "view all" and see everything on one page. You can even search the page with the keyword you choose.
I thought the site was down for 3-4 days cause my old link did not work. When I woke up and Googled it, I still thought it was down. Very hard to find what I am looking for.
Ι just bought a mamiya 6 from them, rated BGN for $580. Turns out its A+ operational with moderate wear, looks a little better than this. Ι thought that was a fair price. I think I've ordered stuff from them 6-7 times the last 1-2 years and they've all been in the same ballpark in terms of value/$. Best deal was a CZ 85/1.4 that was perfect but rated bgn due to a dent in the filter thread. I dont remember what I paid exactly but I remember I sold it for double that on ebay, with full disclosure re filter thread. Only time I had a problem was a faulty Contax G1 but it was the type of fault you dont pick up on inspection (shutter wouldnt open every 5 or 6 frames). They took it back and refunded quickly, no questions asked.
It mostly looks like they just reskinned it, and didnt' change much if any of the core back end. My biggest beef is it's just damn slow!
That, and it's too small. Hello, 1024x768? the world is not all on 640x480 screens any more.
Bring up the speed, bring up the size of everything, and I think I could live with the other quirks.
They don't update their DB that often, there's no need for it to be so slow. It's probably doing queries on every page load or menu change. They could cache a static copy of the whole site, and not do DB lookups at all, the functionality would be the same. Or refresh the static pages only when something is sold. That would speed it up a pile. That, and improving the JS that drives the menus (Chained-selects).
KEH, please get a clue. Never could I have thought it possible to make a marginal web site worse, but they did it. Someone ought to donate a "Create Web Sites for Idiots" book to their internet director. It is now a HORRIBLE web site! It is so much worse than before that I now refuse to waste my time browsing it and removed it from my favorites bar in Firefox. Why even bother having a search function if it pulls up numerous pages of everything I'm NOT looking for?
I hope they read this thread and get it fixed not that the few thousand per year I (used to) spend there will make or break them. Great business case though for how-to-kill-a-useful-web-site.
I loved KEH for a while. I got a couple of great lenses from them in EX condition that looked like they had never been out of the Canon factory. One lens, a Canon 28/1.8, I got for like $100 less than the new price ($360 or something like that). Three months later when I tried to trade it back to them for something different, they offered me like $180.
Also, they charge a minimum $12.95 for shipping no matter what you get. You could order a $2 Canon lens cap and they'd charge you $12.95 to ship it.
I'll do my business here on the B/S forum or just buy new from now on. Their prices are ridiculous and they give peanuts for trades. I can understand giving less money on an outright sale, but if I'm trading say, a 28/1.8 for a 17-40, give me a little something (other than the extra $18 from the 10% bonus).
no problem with their ratings based on a couple of recent purchases. surprised to hear so many views that indicate their historically conservative rating scale is slipping. agree that the new layout is a step or two back. don't like not losing my order history, either.
not so relevant here, but their LF guys are really helpful and especially conservative, i think.
One of my last purchases this year was "EX+". I didn't pull out my reading glasses to see 2 dents on the item. Silly me. They got me, so I now actually doubt their "condition/ description" more often than I order from them thesedays.
And I agree, the new site sucks worse than before.
Much harder to quickly powershop, browse, & impulse buy.
I've read the guy who owns the KEH has turned the daily business operations, buying & selling, over to the next generation.
Don't like the new website and all of you are dead on right, SLOW. That said I dealt with them for years and frankly other then one slow shipment they have been fair to deal with and if I had an issue they made it right.
To darn slow, but it seems a little faster now than at first.
I'm happy enough with "bargain" rated gear, especially medium & large format, but with what they pay for used gear, I won't be selling anything to KEH.
I actually much prefer the new site. Guess I'm the only one. Those old drop-down menus were horrible, now at least you can open things in new windows and browse more than one section at a time.
While I've been happy as a clam with my "ugly" 1D Classic, I'm wondering if anyone else has suggestions for alternative sites, or reputable ebay sellers? KEH has the advantage of having a huge selection, and I've not been able to find anything else like it online
ianpaterson wrote:
While I've been happy as a clam with my "ugly" 1D Classic, I'm wondering if anyone else has suggestions for alternative sites, or reputable ebay sellers? KEH has the advantage of having a huge selection, and I've not been able to find anything else like it online
KEH is the largest - and perhaps the most reputable overall - but s few others I have used over the years include:
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for all of the comments, both positive and negative, about the new KEH website. As with any new site, we have some bugs to work out, primarily with the search features and I realize that it's frustrating when any site changes once you've gotten used to it.
Please feel free to contact me personally to communicate any specific issues that you're seeing with the site so we can get them rectified.
kehtodd wrote:
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for all of the comments, both positive and negative, about the new KEH website. As with any new site, we have some bugs to work out, primarily with the search features and I realize that it's frustrating when any site changes once you've gotten used to it.
Please feel free to contact me personally to communicate any specific issues that you're seeing with the site so we can get them rectified.
Yes, if there is one thing people hate, it is change. Thank you for the invitation to contact you directly. I purchased my first camera from KEH back when you guys had a retail location open to the public. Boy do I miss that candy store!
