Low priced 20D... anyone actually buy one of these?

In looking at prices for EOS 20D cameras I see them at $700 in some

places. Has anyone actuall ordered, paid & received one of these at

this price? I know about 'too good to be true', but if they sell

them as advertised with all in the box from the factory, why not do

it? If I pay with plastic I can always reverse it if they don't

perform.

>> know about 'too good to be true', but if they sell them as advertised with all in the box from the factory, why not do it? If I pay with plastic I can always reverse it if they don't perform.<<

 

You seem to know about the scams, you seem to be willing to take the risk so, why ask? Do it and let us know how it goes.

 

OTherwise there is absolutely NO POINT whatsoever to post the same questions OVER AND OVER again. Just look a few posts down and search the archives.

Unlikely. Check with resellerratings.com or bizrate.com if you're unsure of the reputability of a store.

They won't ship the camera until you pay them full price. They will tell you $700 is for the camera only. everything elase including the box is $600. If you tell them that you only need the camera, the S/H would be $500.

Read through some of the "neighbor to neighbor" posts and find out what people go through. It evidently can turn into a protracted bother.

 

I've not quite figured out why people are very protective of their credit card numbers, but then perfectly willing to give it out to obvious crooks.

 

"Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it."

<i>"... but if they sell them as advertised with all in the box from the factory, why not do it?"</i><P>

Because they <b><u>don't</u></b> sell them as advertised with all the accessories in the box as supplied from the factory.<P>

<i>"If I pay with plastic I can always reverse it if they don't perform."</i><P>

Then dig out your last credit card statement and find the phone number to report a complaint, because you are going to need it. Do you REALLY want that aggravation, all to get a camera that in the end will probably cost you the same or MORE than if you had purchased from a REPUTABLE vendor in the first place.<P>

I don't mean to be harsh or condescending, but if you already know about 'too good to be true', WHY are you even considering this? Do you think you can outsmart these con-artists?

Are you talking about "Broadway Photo" They will sell you the camera at that price only after

you spend a few hundred more on marked up accessories.

 

Michael

I wouldn't deal with those camera sellers. They are mostly all in an ethnic mafia (not

Italian) and don't feel the need to operate within the constraints of the law. For some

reason the city of Brooklyn and the state of New York both tolerate (encourage?) their

activities.

 

Stay away, and shop at B&H. I have spent over $15,000 at B&H over the past decade, and

many here have spent four or more times that much there. You actually get your item

when you shop B&H. I have little experience with Adorama, mainly because I am a loyal

customer of B&H's. I have bought some items from Adorama, though, that B&H won't

stock or ship, and the transactions went smoothly.

The three golden rules, again:

 

1) don't be stupid

 

2) don't be greedy

 

3) don't be stupid _and_ greedy.

 

I'm not sure, but I think allowing yourself to be tricked into paying a price way lower than

advertised anywhere else may just be both.

Somehow these Brooklyn storefronts and Nigerian scam artists always find gullible fish to hook. The FACT someone posts here and asks that questions tell you a lot -- they have never heard of GOOGLE or Internet Web searching (or... they are just plain naive and shouldn't be spending their likely hard-earned dollars on such sophisticated electronics?).

" they have never heard of GOOGLE or Internet Web searching "

 

Where do you think I found the low price dealer?

Here's the business plan for Nigerian and Brooklyn businesses -- "A fool and his money are easily parted." Searching for good deals via GOOGLE is never the way to go for high quality cameras. However used correctly, the search tools will warn you about scams. That same search logic can be applied to reading photo.net forums where these "too good to be true" posts appear nearly every day. QED.

Run... <b>Run now!</b> And avoid bridge salespeople.<br><br>Look in the section on this site dealing with <a href="http://www.photo.net/equipment/where-to-buy#screwed">how not to buy a camera</a> to illustrate why this is a probably a scam.

It's not probably a scam, it is a scam. You're not going to buy a new 20D for $700 or $800 anywhere! Jeez, these kinds of posts are showing up almost daily. Why would you want to give your credit card number to somebody you already think might be a crook?

J,

 

the current answer to your question appears to be: no

 

While I agree with the above posters that you don't want to experiment with these outfits, I too wonder if SOMEONE maybe hasn't actually gotten what they ordered

 

BTW, I was lucky on my Scamera Store orders years ago: they never charged my card, but also never shipped the items at those prices

Here's how it works:

You call them up and order the camera. They are the nicest people you would ever want to talk to. Helpful, considerate, and make thoughtful suggestion on accessories to compliment your new purchase.

 

Some people buy the accessories, some do not. You hang up, excited about your new purchase and the terrific price you paid.

 

Couple of weeks go by and you begin to wonder why your camera has yet to arrive. You call the store on the phone. The guy commiserates with you. Explains the person with whom you originally discussed your purchase no longer works there because the idiot routinely sold items that were not in actual stock, all without informing the customer.BUT, the store will be happy to honor your awesome, just as soon as that particular item arrives.

 

By the way, the store does have that camera, though not in the configuration you purchased, nor at the price you paid, but it is in stock and can ship immediately. Regrettably, the price is just slightly higher than B&H. Also, regrettably, you cannot purchase said camera form B&H since your credit card has been hammered for this purchase already.

 

Let's face it, if you go to these outfits, you are probably one of those, who tend to ride your card at or near its limit. Not a judgment, just a fact, and one upon which these outfits count.

 

You either bite your tongue & purchase the new rig, at the higher price, or you do not. If not, then this kind & friendly store person suddenly turns into the "Closer Extraordinare", from retail sales Hell.

 

He verbally beats you. Knocks you around, and either closes the deal or ticks you off to such a degree that you vow never to make another purchase. In your entire life, from anyone.

 

You are now going to make your wife do all the grocery shopping and will probably defecate all over yourself, the very next time you see a Girl Scout selling Cookies.

 

You call your credit card company and explain the situation.

Wait for a couple of months for you billing OT get straighten out. Probably calling the credit card company to complain about the higher minimum payment they require, based upon the money yet to be credited to your account, from that crooked store.

 

The credit company kindly explains that you must pay the new minimum amount, BUT, it will be straighten out, within a month or two , at most.

 

The very next week, your intended camera purchase drops in price dramatically. Unfortunately, you cannot take advantage of this price drop, due to your credit being maxed out by this unethical company.

 

Your camera brand manufacturer comes out with an awesome new body,which essentially replaces your intended purchase but it is full bore, double retail priced. While your original intended purchase takes yet another steep drop in price. This causes a "run" on that camera and you are still waiting for your Credit Card situation to get squared away.

 

Your credit card statement finally arrives, showing a refund from that horrible store and you can now purchase. You have your wife go online and attempt your purchase for you, since you are still slightly leery about the whole process, only to find out that your intended camera is now out of stock Adan discontinued.

 

However, you can now purchase the replacement body, from Dell.com since every other source, with a better price, is suffering from a back-log of orders and currently have a two month waiting list.

 

Good news is has recently dropped in price to just a few hundred dollars more than your original intended purchase.

 

Then, you notice a store that has your camera for almost HALF the price of everyone else and begin to look at it closely ...

good luck my friend. you are going to lose a lot of money.

 

call up USA Photo Nation and ask them for a cheap canon 20D http://www.usaphotonation.com/

 

you will find the special price is for the 'chinese' version, which doesn't really exist, of course. the full USA version is full price - $1300 or so. duh!

 

but if you insist of the chinese version, they say that they are all out.

 

classic bait and switch.

 

any camera that is advertised for sale below wholesale price is an obvious scam.

 

these places also make big money on accessories - look at photo nation usa's memory cards - a 65 meg 'professional' card for only $70! wow! that's above the price that B&H has a half GIG card.

 

photo nation usa won't even give me an address. total scam.

So is the one for $899 advertised right here on the Photo.net site any better? Or is it also a 'too good to be true' deal?

Things that show up in the Google Ads on this site are not under control of the site's owners.

 

And Google doesn't go after the advertisers themselves, so there is nothing to gauge those ads by, other than the old "if it seems to good to be true, it probably is."

 

Best price for a 20D body-only is hovering around the $1199 mark, at the moment (from a reputable online dealer). When the recent triple rebates were in force, then if you tripled the $100 rebate (by buying two other qualifying items, like lenses/printers), then the end cost would be $899AR (after rebate).

 

So, the ad you saw *might* be legit, as Obiwan would say, "from a particular point of view." It could be your end price after a fully-tricked out triple rebate. HOWEVER, the purchasing period for those rebates has expired, so anyone that is still advertising an 'after rebate' price of $899 for a 20D body-only is just showing how much slime they have under their belly.

 

You can certainly do whatever you want with your money, but if you go for one of these deals, don't say we didn't warn you.

If you can't afford to spring real money for a real camera, then get the Rebel XT, which can be had from a reputable dealer for your price range. You probably won't notice the difference in the resulting image.