Where do you folks buy online?

BrewOnMaui · Jan 26, 2005

I am checking out B and H or Buydig. Any info or experiences from either?

danalec99 · Jan 26, 2005

Regular B&H buyer here. No bad experiences yet. A name I would trust any day.

Now I'm thinking about Adorama (link on the bottom of this page). We can indirectly support this forum by shopping from that link.

ksmattfish · Jan 26, 2005

I check Freestyle first, and if they don't have it I check B & H. Freestyle is super fast with their shipping, and has the best customer service I've found. Their prices are not the lowest, but they are close tot he lowest, and I'm willing to pay a little more and know that I can count on them if there is a problem.

B & H has great prices, and the largest selection. You can find stuff there that you can't find anywhere else. Their customer service can be kind of grumpy. Sometimes shipping is slow depending on the Jewish religious calendar (they don't work on certain days or weeks).

I used Adorama for a long time, but eventually they ticked me off with their super slow shipping and rude customer service. Everything is fine with these guys, until you have a problem with an order, and then they are buttheads.

airgunr · Jan 26, 2005

I mainly use B&H and have been very satisfied. I've also used Adorama and not had any problems either. I would suspect you would be satisfied with either one and as the forum gets support from Adorama I would try them first.

Digital Matt · Jan 26, 2005

Adorama, Willoughbys, B&H, KEH, Calumet (too expensive usually).

I buy CF cards alot from Newegg.com or Pcmall sometimes has deals.

will965 · Jan 26, 2005

depends what i'm buying, ebay for general stuff but 7dayshop for film/ paper. Thats for UK so might not help.

Mumfandc · Jan 26, 2005

My college is located a couple of blocks south of the B&H superstore. If only you guys could go to B&H in person!!! TOTAL CHAOS, esp. on Saturdays I think.

I remember a year back when our Intro-photography professor made us go there to buy film (for many of us, it was our first time walking into B&H).

The following week, we all were laughing at how we've never seen anything like it. Some people got scared and said they will never go back there again. It's like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (conveyor belts all over the place) except photography stuff...and MASS confusion.

The good thing though is they give you lots of free candy, pretzels and soda...and several Photography magazines you can take for free, which are usually $8-10 newsstand price.

danalec99 · Jan 26, 2005

I love spending time in that factory... Touch, feel all thegear,observe the PRO's coming in to service their gear... it sure isone little Mecca!

Just make sure to leave your AMEX at home

.

digital_ems_techie · Jan 26, 2005

I like Amvona.com, but you can find all of their stuff on ebay for much less than they retail on the site for. I've spent way way way too much money with them, but their customer service is great and they have decent shipping.

oriecat · Jan 26, 2005

ksmattfish said:
I check Freestyle first, and if they don't have it I check B & H. Freestyle is super fast with their shipping, and has the best customer service I've found. Their prices are not the lowest, but they are close tot he lowest, and I'm willing to pay a little more and know that I can count on them if there is a problem.

I totally agree with Matt on this one. I've also found the Freestyle often ends up cheapest, because a lot of the other places shipping charges are so high (like you have to pay for UPS 3 Day instead of ground or USPS). So the total cost ends up less, even tho the individual prices are higher. Also, you can support the forum using the Freestyle banner at the top of the pages.

mygrain · Jan 26, 2005

B&H, Adorama are my favs. I've had no problems from either- fair pricing and good shipping. I've also bought a bunch of older cameras from ebay. ALSO... Be weary of too good to be true offers from some places you might find in photo mags. They offer those prices if you buy a bunch of usually useless crap from them.

BrewOnMaui · Jan 26, 2005

Hey guys, it looks to me as though all these online companies are owned buy the same company. The websites on many are exactly the same and every address is in NY or NJ.

Buydig and Beachcamera are the same. Many of the others have almost exact duplicate sites and I find it hard to believe that no one outside of NY or NJ has an online camera store? Wouldn't you be able to beat all prices if you moved to say florida or texas etc. Overhead would be half of what it currently is. Just an observation.