A question aboout Camera-shops

[moxi1]

Hi there,

In the US you have on the internet a site checking out photographic retailers and their reliability.
Does anyone knows if something like this exists in Australia?

As the saying goes, if a deal sounds too good to be true it is probably not true - but where would be the cut-off point?

For example the Nikon D5000 is advertised in different places here in Australia from 815 Dollars right up to 1500.- all Body only!
I have heard of the so-called grey imports, but of course every retailer is giving (or at least promising) a guaranty for the purchased item.

Perhaps someone can put some light on this issue for me.

Cheers Moxi1

[mikman]

Here in Switzerland there are several price comparison search engines on the internet. The one I usually use for everything has a rating system for each shop which is used quite frequently by people that buy things.

Is there no such Australian site? The Swiss one isn't restricted to camera shops, but to all kinds of retailers. In terms of prices, there aren't really any shops in Switzerland that have significantly cheaper prices than other ones. There is a general price range where you find 10-20 shops with the general lowest price and then a few select shops that charge double of what the cheapest ones sell it for.

[moxi1]

Hi Milkman,

Thank you for your reply, we do also have those price comparison sites, however there are hardly any camera retailes mentioned - usually only electronics conglomerates selling almost anything.

The particular shop I wonder about is actually buying gear in Singapore and selling it in Australia. I don't know how reliable they are, and in how far they would honour the warranty they promise.

Anyhow I am not quite ready about my purchase so I will have to do a little bit more research.

Cheers Moxi1

[Joves]

I thought reseller ratings covered just about everywhere on the interbutz. Learn something new everyday.

[Mike_PEAT]

Originally Posted by moxi1

The particular shop I wonder about is actually buying gear in Singapore and selling it in Australia. I don't know how reliable they are, and in how far they would honour the warranty they promise.

The question is, whose warranty is it? Not all brands have an worldwide warranty (some brands don't even have a Canada-US warranty), and if they have their own warranty your camera will be serviced by a third party who works on every brand and may not have the knowledge to fix a brand specific issue yours may have.

To me a full manufacturer warranty is worth paying for rather than trying to save a few bucks (yes, I even buy the OEM batteries rather than third party).

[moxi1]

Hi all,

The question about the warranty is the crux of the matter.
Nikon Australia will not honour items purchased from overseas, in particular items purchased on the grey market.
Most of the shops I am concerned about have their own warranty - and of course many of them don't really exist as a shop, but are just post box numbers and computers, redirecting goods (that is what I assume) So who would fix it is my rhetorical question?

I personally rather spend two hundred dollars more and have peace of mind.
However I still wonder about them and what rating they would have.

Cheers Moxi1