On Mon, 18 Jun 2001, Chuck Riccardo wrote:
> As a former studio photographer (Hartford, CT and NYC) - I stopped
> buying high end stuff (Nikon and Blad) from the locals because they
> are too high,
By how much? Are they negotiable? It's nice to be able to handle the
stuff before you buy it, and that's where local shops come in handy. I
see nothing wrong with paying a bit of a premium for local service, since
when your cojones are in the figurative vice, local shops are often the
only people who can help you out in time.
> can't stock,
And they never will if no one wants to buy stuff from them. Sheesh...
vicious circle. While it's nice to want a local shop to carry every
single piece of equipment that you might want, it's impractical to expect
most of them to. Once you actually start buying stuff from them, they'll
see what high-end stuff they can sell and can hopefully start to stock
some of those items regularly.
> and usually unable or unwilling to remedy their mistakes.
That's inexcusable. The main advantage of a local shop is the rapport
that you can build with them, and if they're doing nothing about their own
errors, that's not a good sign.
> Bot a ton of stuff from 47th st photo a hundred years ago and am now
> buying happily from B&H. BTW, I am buying used gear from B&H (lots of
> Pentax 67), and finding that when you disagree with them on the
> condition of the gear, they will negotiate or happily take it back for
> credit which appears very promptly on your credit card.
All of which a local shop should be able to do, only quicker. And at
least you can see the gear before you buy it. I'm not trying to say that
you should never buy from B&H, etc., but if you have a decent local shop
that genuinely wants your business, you can get an excellent working
relationship going by buying some big-ticket items from them. Both types
of store have their advantages, but local stores are quickly becoming an
endangered species.
chris
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