At what price to you give up loyalty to your local dealer?

[Colin Southern]

The local retailer is doing what's best for HIM, not you. My suggestion is that you do what's best for YOU.

[Electron]

As a matter of interest, have you tried standing in front of him with the actual cash in your hand, (i.e. not a credit card)?
David.

[Mark von Kanel]

The 30% discount that I'm fishing for as a result of connections with writing for a local magazine = 30%

That makes a D800 potential purchase = 1,680GBP

And that also shows the markup that my local dealer (the sole dealer of official Nikon products) has set - ouch!

Thought you didnt want one phil can you bring me one back???

So for me, I have to weigh up the value of my locally purchased product and warranty support vs. the huge markup!

So very true.

As a matter of interest, have you tried standing in front of him with the actual cash in your hand, (i.e. not a credit card)?
David.

Well as a business man then thats up to him, ive made it clear that i want to give him the business, and its not that i expect him to match the price but i can buy this camera in the same town cheaper than his outlet.

Ive mailed the link to this thread as well as i thought he might be interested in a little market research. it will be interesting to see if he gets back to me.

[dubaiphil]

Thought you didnt want one phil can you bring me one back???

No and No!

30% off a 200mm f2 might be enticing though!

I'll probably end up with a D800 some day!

[Splatsworth]

£134 is a lot of money, even if your local dealer threw in some deals you could probably buy whatever it was for less than the saving so i'd go with online

[charzes44]

Why settle for £134 when you could have £181? hdewcameras.co.uk are selling the D800 for £1869, including 3 years warranty. I know what I'd do!

[Mark von Kanel]

Thanks for the heads up on HDEW they get good reviews and feedback on various photography forums, ill look into them, they are grey imports though. but as alot of my gear is of US origin (i work there sometimes) i shouldnt realy be concerned. so thats it if i dont hear from the local supplier soon then ill buy from HDEW.

[AB26]

Hi Mark,
This might sound rude. In Johannesburg we have a saying "If you want loyalty, get yourself a dog". Being Loyal to a local dealer is in principal the right thing to do. If Loyalty is costing an arm and a leg - let the local dealer find himself a dog.

[KCBrecks]

My experiences with things bought through Amazon has been very positive over that past couple of years and their rapid refund for defective goods has been remarkable. A duff motherboard and ram chips, then a WDTV Live which was refusing to stream, an expensive bag for she who must be obeyed, all taken back and refunded with no cost for returns. I these perilous days of trader insolvency you are more likely to find the dealer out of business than Amazon should anything go wrong, just look at Comet. Taking this into account the saving of £134 or £181 is even more valuable. I would go for the internet through Amazon every time.

[Mark von Kanel]

heres the response from my local dealer, youve got to give it to him for being honest!


Morning Mark,

Thank you for your email. In my opinion it is highly unlikely that the first 3 vendors on the following link will be supplying UK stock at those prices. If they were, going on current pricing, they would be losing money as would we.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...&condition=new

I’m afraid that £2049.99 is the best we can possibly do at this time although prices are subject to change.

Thanks for the link to the forum. I am familiar with the contents of the UK Sales of Goods act and the UK opt out of the EU SOGA. The gentlemen that posted the information regarding returning an item within 6 years is technically correct although the procedure isn’t quite as simple as it may seem. There is mention of expensive items giving reasonable service over a reasonable life span and I believe six years is mentioned as a precedent in the case of a washing machine. Please click on the link below for more info regarding this matter.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advic.../sogaexplained

I think the best course of action to buy one locally at a cheaper price would be to go to Jessops as they are currently offering the camera for £2024.00

so there you go.... looks like the interweb it is. or maybe not...

[Colin Southern]

Being Loyal to a local dealer is in principal the right thing to do.

Perhaps the time has come for us to ask the question "why"?

Perhaps they're just an obsolete delivery dynamic in modern times? Interestingly I often hear of dealers complaining that "the internet is killing them" and yet the irony is that most of the internet dealers give a darn site better service than the local dealers in terms of answering eMails. Local dealers might call it murder ... others might call it suicide.

[Manfred M]

At one time there were a couple of local camera stores around town. These people knew their customers and were able to give me insight into the products that they were selling because the owners expected their sales staff to have a reasonable familiarity with the products that they are selling. Alas, these stores are no more, replaced by the two national chains.

So, why would I still go to a store? To get advice or physically hold and try a product before buying are two that work for me.

• When I ask for some information, it is suggested that I visit the review websites (I already had).

• When they tell me to drive to another city some 5 hours away because they won’t bring the model in unless I commit to buying it sight unseen (this was a $5000 video camera without the lens).

• When they won’t pull a lens out of a box for me to look at it.

I may as well buy from an online store, especially with the substantial discount in price, because these stores seem to have stopped offering the value to me as a shopper. There has to be some value in it for the buyer to pay for the premium of buying from a bricks and mortar store, and in the city I live in. I don’t live in a small town; the population base is around 1 million people.

[Mark von Kanel]

Manfred i agree with you, but the question was, how much value? im more than willing to pay a premium on the price for the facilities that you mention but is £134 ($216) about 7%, an amount i should be willing to pay on a single purchase?

[AB26]

Sounds better in SA Rands - or is it Mandelas now? R 1880.00 - the price of a new lens. Makes you think!!!

[Manfred M]

Manfred i agree with you, but the question was, how much value? im more than willing to pay a premium on the price for the facilities that you mention but is £134 ($216) about 7%, an amount i should be willing to pay on a single purchase?

For the substantial savings you are looking at, I would buy on line Mark. If the price difference is getting into the 1% or 2% range, I could go either way. The in-store warranty really does not hold a lot of sway either, if I ship the camera back to the importer, the cost is about the same as me driving down to the camera store and back and dropping it off and doing so again to pick it up.

I find that I am moving to buy the small stuff at the camera store, while getting the higher end items on line.

[Ady]

I don't' have a fixed rule regarding the premium for buying on the high street but looking back at my purchasing behaviour it would seem that I've been OK with up to ~10% premium on smaller items (up to about £200) and ~5% on higher value items.

Two specific purchases: I was happy to spend £210 in store for a bag I could have got for £190 online but balked at paying £1499 on a lens I eventually ordered online for £1349.

However I tend to only buy online from WEX (occasionally Amazon if it's from Amazon direct, not a reseller).

Cheers,
A

[Geoff F]

With regard to potential problems and being able to return items locally.

When my 7D, purchased from a Gibraltar based internet store, had a slight problem I simply sent it off to an official Canon repairer where it was fixed under guarantee with no problems.

A little bit of postage is actually less than the fuel used (at UK prices) driving to a shop over 20 miles away.

My local camera shop owner retired over 10 years ago when digital started becoming popular.

ps. The Gibraltar company aren't stocking the D800. I checked, thinking that Mark could make a quick port call on his way from Genoa and save the postage.

[Mark von Kanel]

Ha!! ive been to Gibraltar 6 times and never got off the fuel dock!

[Mark von Kanel]

purchase has now been made. fro HDEW for £1859 a total saving of £190 ($306) and i still feel guilty now for a tread on memory cards.....

[Colin Southern]

purchase has now been made. fro HDEW for £1859 a total saving of £190 ($306) and i still feel guilty now for a tread on memory cards.....

Congrats

Why are you feeling guilty though? I'm of a mindset that it's simply Darwin evolution in progress (survival of the fittest); if the "corner camera shop" eventually disappears then it's because people didn't perceive sufficient value in what they offered. End of.

We could probably have had the same conversation about supporting the salt sellers right after the refrigerator was invented.