sjms wrote:
yep been there done that. henry, remember, i was buying there when you all were down by city hall in 1977 with mr schreiber sitting upstairs overlooking everything and yehuda's smiling face to greet me
That's before my time. B&H was on W17th St a block from Barney's when I started. I've never been to the old downtown location.
Most often B&H has gotten my patronage when ever their prices benifit me. Simons in Montreal also has great service and a price advantage for Ontario shoppers on some items because of the 8% tax savings. That tax savings evaporates on July 1, 2010.
Even though I have to pay tax 'cause I'm a PA resident, and can probably save a few bucks by buying from B&H or Adorama, I try and give Allen's all my business. He and his staff really and truly give outstanding service before and after the sale and his prices are superb. There are few "brick and mortar" stores left but his is one of the best!
sjms wrote:
for the most part yes. lets say up to 75% these days. for most its a great one stop shop. you buy everything from one source right down to your portfolio binders. but in the end they'll get you on some of those smaller and even larger items if you don't study before the exam.
Yeah, for sure! If we're talking about the little stuff then almost all "camera" shops have about a 1,000% (ten times) markup. Just recently I went to some variety discount shop and I got:
¥ three of these: for $1.30 each. In the "camera" shops those are about $8 ~ $10 each so instead of spending $4.00 for 900 sheets I would have spent about $30.00.
¥ some quite nice wooden A4 frames with decorative carved scrolling, gold guilting, and etc. for $2.80 each. The same (and I really mean same) quality ones at a "camera" shop are about $25 ~ $30 each. I bought 4 so I only spent $11.20 instead of the $120.00 it would have cost me at a "camera" shop. The frames came with regular and non-glare glass, 45 degree beveled matting, all the hardware for both desk-standing or hanging, etc.
¥ three hard bound photo flip-books which can hold 96 photos each for a total of 99¢ in a "three-pack" (so 33¢ each). I think they're over $5.00 for just one in a "camera" store.
So the total in a "camera shop" would have been: $165.00
And the total I spent at a non-"camera" shop was: $16.19
Yup, pretty close to ten times...
It's doing like this once a week or more that keeps me from EVER doing the "one-stop" convenience shopping thing and never offering any weirdness like "loyalty" from myself. Now, I do have loyalty to a near-by ice-cream shop and my surf-shop. But the ice-cream shop makes their own ice-cream and the surf shop is home to a pretty famous shaper and sells mostly only custom boards.
henryp wrote:
Anytime anyone has any feedback, good or bad, or any suggestions for us to improve our service, we're eager to hear them. B&H Photo-Video
Henry, your shipping prices to Canada are way too high!!!
helimat wrote:
Henry, your shipping prices to Canada are way too high!!!
For some small, inexpensive lightweight items they are a bit much. We have to balance inexpensive with reliable, traceable and cooperative (particularly if a parcel is mislaid). Often we get either inexpensive or reliable, traceable and cooperative.
But, we've heard your plaintive cry and have initiated a major effort to make shopping at B&H (particularly but not exclusively online shopping) a better and more satisfactory experience for our non-US customers and this is part of that effort. I doubt this will be resolved by Valentine's Day, but I know two of the fellows here spearheading this effort and both are smart can-do people.
helimat wrote:
Henry, your shipping prices to Canada are way too high!!!
$39 dollars for UPS Worldwide Saver overnight, less than 24 hours door to door, is not too high in my books. It would cost me more than that in gasoline, parking and time to shop at a decently stocked photo store here in Ontario. On my most recent purchase from B&H, I also saved a couple hundred dollars including the shipping over purchasing the same items in Ontario.
Overnight Express Post from Montreal cost me $20 and I had to pick the package up myself at the post office on the 2nd day.
Now if B&H could figure some way to beat the dreaded HST.....;-)
Another vote for Allen's Camera in Levittown, PA. Small store service and support, big store pricing. Nothing against Adorama and B&H, but Allen's is always my first choice.
It's amusing for me to see folks write about Canoga Camera. They've been right around the corner from me for decades but I never think of them as having a national following, though I know they do. For those who have never been to the store; it's pretty modest. You can sense that their model is shifting toward their online presence and that's unfortunate if inevitable. The service is still good and they have some genuinely knowledgeable staff. Samy's (at least in Pasadena) is fine on service as well.
I like Kenmore quite a bit too...it has way way better staff than glazers!
jstephens62 wrote:
In the Seattle area, Kenmore Camera. They offer the old-fashioned personal touch, great if there is something you want to touch and try before you buy.
In Halifax, it's Atlantic Photo Supply and Carsand Mosher. In Toronto and Ottawa, it's Vistek (was Ginn in Ottawa) and Henry's, plus Camera Trading Company in Ottawa only. In Montreal, it's Camtec and Simons. In the US, it's B&H, KEH, CameraQuest, Igor's, Midwest, Jack's, and Camera West. In the EU, it's Calumet Camden, Jacobs, Aperture, and York in London, plus Kamera Express in north Rotterdam.
c.d.embrey wrote: Calumet and Samy's in SoCal. I value service over price. I rent Lighting/Grip/Medium format from both of them and am greeted by my first name. Why would I want to buy from someone 3,000 miles from me who can't take care of my rental needs?
I've had problems with Calumet when I bought online and they also ripped me off on a used lens. I'll second the Samys recommendation though. They're great, when I'm back in LA I go there for Think Tank gear that Mikes Camera in Colorado doesn't carry.
Amazon has good prices but all this third-party vending from them can be a huge pain. I had some problems with a third party vendor there on some audio books and I was taken for about $50. Amazon did nothing effective to help. Since then I will not use them anymore.
Amazon has good prices but all this third-party vending from them can be a huge pain. I had some problems with a third party vendor there on some audio books and I was taken for about $50. Amazon did nothing effective to help. Since then I will not use them anymore.
A lot of Amazon stuff is sold directly by them. I bought my D700 through them and they were the provider, as well as my Lexar UDMA CF cards and various other things. Amazon is really worth it if you have Amazon Prime like I do and pay just an extra 3.99 for overnight shipping.
pturton wrote:
Most often B&H has gotten my patronage when ever their prices benifit me. Simons in Montreal also has great service and a price advantage for Ontario shoppers on some items because of the 8% tax savings. That tax savings evaporates on July 1, 2010.
Another vote for Simon's in Montreal for their price, service and response time. Other than Simon's or the local Henry's (on the rare occasion when prices are competitive), most of my purchases have been online at B&H followed by Adorama. For years I stayed away from Adorama because Fedex appeared to have it in for me. I am open now to shopping at either Adorama or B&H since both offer UPS as a shipping option.
. as we all know how success molds the future.