Supporting the Local Camera Store

I don't have a local camera store, but even when I did I mostly bought online. The only times I really went to the local store were when I needed something 'right now', which was rare.
 
I wouldn't go to my local store at all. They are really only Ritz (ha ha) and Best Buy, neither are even good camera stores, and the price shows. I only go Adorama.
 
I will go where I get something for my money. A local store or an internet based store offer me 99% the same level of service. That 1% will go to the local "brick and mortar" place because I can walk down the street and return something or perhaps they have it in stock NOW and I can walk away with it and only pay a LITTLE MORE.

Because I research the heck out of ANY AND ALL purchases I make, I have over $10,000 in equipment (and more coming), and ZERO buyer's remorse and zero need to return anything.

In my case, I would be spending *lots* more and get nothing in return if I shopped locally. Who is more important... you and how hard you worked to scrounge and save your money, or someone who is local and charging you much more for the same item you can get for significantly less elsewhere?

I go where I have to spend the least, unless that local person can give me something for that extra cash. If they cannot, I am an idiot for spending my hard earned cash there in the first place and get NOTHING for it. ;) :)
 
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Well... I live 100+ miles from my nearest camera store, and they are horrible. The nearest decent stores are in St. Louis, Kansas City and Des Moines (all more than 150 miles away from me).

The down side is I can't get anything locally... the upside is when I want to shoot wildlife I can just walk from my front door with my camera and start shooting.
Tis my problem as well. Not quite 100 miles, but I have a shop that sells Canon 40 miles in one direction and a shop that sells Nikon 40 miles in another.

That is my problem right there. I will eventually be looking at getting a dSLR and I can't just pick them up and compare them. I have to drive all over the place to look at them eventually forgetting what I might like about a Canon when I drive the 80 miles to the other shop, or more likely drive the next day to the other shop. Then I have a Sony outlet store again 40 miles away from home that I would need to use to check out Sony.

Or I could just go to my Walmart and look at the D40 on display that doesn't turn on and compare it to the XS on display that doesn't have a lens mounted.....

The upside for me isn't that I can walk out my front door and shoot wildlife like Sabbath, but that I can walk 2 feet out my door and launch my RC airplane and fly it right in my back yard :mrgreen:
 
Well... I live 100+ miles from my nearest camera store, and they are horrible. The nearest decent stores are in St. Louis, Kansas City and Des Moines (all more than 150 miles away from me).

The down side is I can't get anything locally... the upside is when I want to shoot wildlife I can just walk from my front door with my camera and start shooting.

I'm very lucky to live within a few miles of Schillers, Schiller's Camera and Audio Visual they've been in business since 1892, they have the most knowledgeable staff in St. Louis and they are ALWAYS happy to help if you know what you want to do but don't know what equipment you need to do it.

I use them both professionally and personally.
 
With me it's been local stores for stuff like filters, flashes, tripods, misc gear, and bags. When it comes to the other gear they usually don't have what I want in stock. an example was buying the Canon 30D a couple of months after the 40D came out. But then, again, at that time the canadian currency was above the american dollar, so I ordered it and a lens from B&H - total savings? $264.53 - and that was AFTER the tariffs and taxes.

So, yeah, local for small stuff and online from a trusted retailer for big.
 
I have been buying most gear purchases from B&H since they were on 19th st (a good 20 years). I do not like them and they do not like me, so it has been an amicable relationship. Thank god for the internet. When I lived in Jackson, WY I would go to Mountain Camera to hang out. Not like I bought gear from them, it was just good to show my work and hang with other photographers. Also had a close relationship with the local E6 lab. Everyone was waiting for the "after 3" run. We would hang and talk about everything from clients to the latest in gear.

We talk about saving hundreds and digi vs film, amateur vs pro... We do not recognize that photography as a community has died. Internet is good and certainly convenient. It is not the same as standing in line at the lab or bitching to the salesman at B&H. If you are interested in saving a hundred bucks buy on line. If you are interested in the local store buy from them. Bet you a dollar they will not be around for much longer.

Love & Bass
 

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