Yes, those local camera stores can no longer charge a 100% markup so they go out of business. There are a lot of reasons besides price that things like that happens, just a few"
Lack of parking. Kids are not interested in running the family business. Importer/distributor has tiered price stucture (the small store pays more whosale than the big stores sell it for, or in the case of Nikon will not sell so called pro gear to the small store at all). Poor customer service (I have seen this more at mom & pops than anywhere else). Local taxes (down town stores have to pay many times what suburban stores do). So if you have a local store that gives great service at fair prices support them even if you have to pay a bit of a premium. If like in my most experience all the local store offers is a bad attitude and high prices buy from B&H or such. My own rule has always been (back when I had any money to spend) that it is worth $50 to walk out of the store with it in my hands. Beyond that mail order is the way to go. -- graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com http://webpages.charter.net/graywolf "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" ----------------------------------- Steve Sharpe wrote: > At 1:18 PM -0400 9/15/06, P. J. Alling wrote: >> Since the manufacture or it's designated agent in the US is required to >> do something similar, (though you might have to make a phone call >> produce proof of purchase and deal with the US mail), I think I'd rather >> pay the lower price. > > Based on what I have seen since I moved to the USA this seems to be > how most Americans make their buying decisions. Price is primary, > service and everything else is secondary. That is why a few large > volume retailers (like B&H and Adorama in photography...Wal-mart for > just about everything else) come to dominate their market. In > photography, this has led to the demise of a lot of local camera > stores who just can't compete. If you can find a local camera store > here I'll guarantee that the difference between what they will charge > for an item and what it goes for in the UK, Canada or Australia will > be far smaller. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
