Digital Camera Ordered
Posted March 9th, 2005 @ 09:40am by Erik J. Barzeski
Today I ordered my Canon Digital Rebel XT from B&H. I first put a call in to "my local shop," but the guy would not even begin to guess at when he might see his first shipment. I realize that B&H is big, gets orders from the manufacturers quickly, but I wanted to give "the little guy" every chance possible.
In the end, even with $40 in shipping or so, B&H will end up saving me about $250. PA sales tax is 6%, and on a $1750 purchase that alone is a hundred bucks. The local shop's memory cards were $30 more apiece, the 28-135 lens was $40 more, and the extra battery $15 more.
I'll stop in to the local shop to pick up a camera bag and some accessories, and I may get my best shots "printed" there, but in the end, the inability to give me any kind of estimate on the arrival date did him in. I'm pretty sure we could have negotiated away $150 (some income is better than none, and $150 is far from being large enough to put him in the red), and used an out-of-state address to avoid sales tax.
My complete order is below. I ditched the battery grip, primarily, and got a filter kit with a warming filter and UV protector instead of just a circular polarizer.
Bought Separately from Singh-Ray.com: Galen Rowell ND Grad. Filter-two f-stop, soft-step graduation: $99.00
Giottos Rocket Air Blower 1 9.95
Tiffen 58mm-72mm Step-Up Ring (Lens to Filter) 1 19.95
Tiffen 72mm Photo Essentials Kit (UV Protector,
812 Color Warming, Circular Polarizer
Filters & 4 Pocket Pouch) 1 102.95
Lexar 512MB 80x CompactFlash Card w/WA Tech 2 59.95
Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 28-135mm
f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens 1 409.95
Canon NB-2LH Lithium-Ion Battery (7.4v 720 mAh) 1 49.95
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (a.k.a. 350D) 8.0
Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera (Black)
Kit with Canon 18-55mm EF-S Lens REG 1 995.95
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Sub Total 1,712.60
Shipping 31.85
Sales Tax 0.00
Total $1,744.45
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Posted 09 Mar 2005 at 10:50am #
Nice camera. My ex-roommate's been pretty happy with his Digital Rebel (one of the older model).
One of the nice things about B&H is the online access to your previous orders. That really saved us after my dad's camera was stolen and we had to file a claim with the insurance company. Of course, keeping the receipt would have accomplished the same thing, but that's besides the point...
Posted 09 Mar 2005 at 11:09am #
I am sooooo jealous - that is a NICE camera. I know you'll enjoy it.
I have always wanted an SLR, especially a digital SLR, but for now I have settled for a Canon A60. It's nice (if lacking in the "megapixel" ability), and has manual modes for many settings, but I'm just not enough of a photog to justify the cost of an SLR -- and this is something I wish were different about me.
Posted 09 Mar 2005 at 1:30pm #
Just a quick update on my local retailer. They called and I drove 30 minutes to the store only to find out that they'd gotten a silver XT in. I left, buying nothing. I'll eventually get my bag from them, I guess… And even then I may just find the model I like and buy from B&H. 😛
Posted 09 Mar 2005 at 10:32pm #
With all due respect -- I'm not trying to be a dick, but:
"I'm pretty sure we could have [...] used an out-of-state address to avoid sales tax."
Weren't you just writing about how today's kids aren't doing as well in school as we were at their age? I feel like it's one thing to happen to use a retailer in another state and avoid the sales tax, but to use deception to circumvent paying the tax seems a little extreme. It's not like you're buying necessities like groceries or clothes -- while I wish I didn't have to pay taxes either, I try to remember that the money to pay for road repairs, fire departments, and my brother's medicaid comes partly from the taxes on my purchases of luxury items like $1700 worth of digital camera equipment.
That said, I'm pretty jealous. This camera looks awesome, looking forward to your gallery (if it will be public). I'm hoping to replace my Powershot A75 with a 300D now that the prices are coming down, and then in a year or two upgrade to this 350D model. Enjoy.
Posted 10 Mar 2005 at 12:07am #
When does it ship from B&H?
Posted 10 Mar 2005 at 7:19am #
It should have shipped yesterday, and I should have it tomorrow.
To the other Erik, the suggestion that I save a hundred bucks on sales tax was made by the retailer as a means to convince me to buy from him. I ordered instead from B&H where there is no sales tax at all for me. Necessities like groceries or clothes - in PA - aren't taxed.
Posted 11 Mar 2005 at 3:07pm #
Went to the driver's license center for the third time this week. Monday was "pictures only" day. Tuesday I found out that there was a problem with my FL license. Today I was told that, despite the fact that I...
Posted 13 Mar 2005 at 6:43pm #
Erik,
Don't fool yourself. You really aren't "doing your local guy a favor" by asking him to match prices with someone the size of B&H. Unless price structuring has changed drastically the past fifteen years, the mom and pop camera shop gets screwed by the large camera companies on pricing, each wholesale price break for them coming every 3 or five units they buy. To even reach the level of being able to buy the camera for themselves wholesale for the same retail price you are buying it from mail order, they may have to buy lots of tens to a hundred or more, of the same 500 to over a thousand dollar camera. That is probably more in inventory, than the rest of his capital investment combined.
But if you buy from him, you can count on service and advice, without using a package carrier as a go between.
The big stores in port cities can get you the best prices. Support your local guy for your own convenience, if not a matter of conscious. But don't think you are "giving him a break" by having him match prices with B&H or CameraWorld... he can't even approach it.
Posted 13 Mar 2005 at 6:56pm #
Bud, I was doing him a favor. $30 is better than $0. A happy, satisfied customer is better than a customer that looks - and buys - elsewhere. They'll have no problem selling, in the next six months, 50 Digital Rebel XTs, and their price - $999 - is the same as available anywhere else.
We're talking about the accessories. The memory cards were $30 more expensive. The $10 blower cost $12.
I know how it goes, Bud. I've done retail at a high enough level to "get it." I don't need the mini lecture. He quite obviously can approach the prices, since his are the same on the bigger ticket items. He just tries a little too hard to make up for it on the cheaper stuff.
The camera store probably does 75% of its business in film, processing, and printing.