Ordering from Amazon?

Is Amazon a certified Canon dealer? I've ordered from B&H and Andorama in the

past, but wondering if I should go ahead and use Amazon this time? Thanks!

I don't think they're a dealer. If nose around a bit, you might see that Adorama fulfills a lot of Amazon's photographic orders, so they are affiliated. Unless the price is considerably on Amazon, I'd probably order directly from Adorama or BH -- assuming you were satisfied with them previously. But I don't see any drawback to ordering from Amazon either. Adorama supports this forum.

Most of the time when I try to buy camera gear on Amazon it gets routed to Adorama, so I just order directly from B&H or Adorama (depending on who irritated me more recently;) ) when I need something.

 

It really weirded out a few weeks ago when Adorama e-mailed me about an order having shipped, because I didn't notice Adorama was the Amazon marketplace seller, and the e-mail didn't describe the item.

As far as I know Amazon are an authorized dealer. They sell Canon items directly (as well as via 3rd party sellers) and the stuff comes with a normal Canon USA warranty. I know because I've bought both cameras and lenses directly from Amazon.

 

It's obvious if you're ordering from Amazon or someone else. Just read the order page. Amazon usually give you a free shipping option and a 30 day return. Most 3rd party sellers don't give free shipping and have a shorter return period.

 

If you order from Amazon itself, the order is filled by Amazon. They don't hand the order off to someone else. If you order from Adorama via the Amazon website, the order gets filled by Adorama.

I ordered a sigma 8mm fisheye from amazon and they redirected it adorama. I think they carry the low end lenses/cameras. For the high end, they redirect you to BH or adomrama.

When you buy, it *always* tells you "shipped from: ACME Camera Company" or somesuch, unless it says "In Stock," in which case it's coming from the Amazon warehouse itself. That information is immediately under the product title/name.

 

Incidentally, I had my eye on a 16-35mm L from Amazon (didn't want to buy @ Adorama - NY taxes) - and it's now out of stock for the next two months (!).

 

-mcs

Yes they are an authorized dealer and the claim they only sell low end gear themselves is nonsense. Their selection doesn't include everything but a good deal of "popular" high end stuff is available.

 

My experience using Amazon for camera equipment is that pricing is generally not bad but sometimes can be great. The few times I've had problems with orders they've treated me spectacularly well.

Yes, Amazon is an authorized Canon dealer. However they also operate as a front for

indepedent dealers such as Adorama and JR. When you do a search you get long list of

venders selling the same thing at different prices. You can choose Amazon or whomever you

please. However Amazon normally has one of the lowest prices--but not the lowest--ships

for free, is really fast and has an excellent no questions asked return policy. I bought the EF-

S 17-55 2.8 IS USM from Amazon and saved about $60 over B&H, mainly because Amazon

ships to Hawaii for free. Of course you don't have a complete photo inventory like B&H or

Adorama, but really popular stuff like a 5D or EF 70-200 4 L IS USM are always in stock.

I advise that no one take Amazon's free shipping offer unless you are in no hurry for the product.

 

From my experience, their free shipping equates to DELAYED shipping. If you pay for shipping, the order will likely go out sooner.

 

Gone is the caption under Amazon products which use to say "Most order ship within 24 hours"

 

I ordered software, free shipping. 6 days AFTER the "in stock" order was placed, I received a ship notification.

 

If the difference in price is small, I'd buy from B&H.

Confirming some of the above. Amazon is a certifed dealer and you can always tell whether the order is coming directly from Amazon or others. Incidently, one of the easiest ways to tell is if there is a free shipping offer. That free shipping option relates only to Amazon stocked and shipped items. I have found Amazon's regular shipping charges to be less, which ships the same mode as the free shipping, but there isn't the delay. Just have to remember to cancel the free memebership!

 

Last time I was on Amazon I was offered a free trial of Amazon Prime which got me free second day and 3.99 overnight. I am thinking about getting the Epson 2400 and that will save $75 in overnight shipping charges and its $20 cheaper than NY On-line.

 

Good luck.

 

Eric

Mary,

 

Bob and the others are correct, Amazon's website does label stuff sold by other merchants via their site, but I disagree that it is usually well labelled. If you look at the page I link to below, you can see how small the note is that the product is "shipped from and sold by Calumet." They snuggle it in with the in-stock message. Granted, you should probably be checking the stock status...

 

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000089JKR/ref=s9_asin_image_1/102-7049040-8172113

 

J. Harrington,

 

It says right on their site to "[p]lease note that your order will take an additional 3 to 5 business days to ship [with SuperSaver Shipping.] So take note that it WILL take longer just to ship.

So I guess my point is, just read that small line and make sure you are actually buying from Amazon, although I'm pretty sure I haven't seen a seller pop up that wasn't a certified Canon dealer, anyway.

J&R (jr.com) is pretty good, too. They will match competitors' prices and they have a 30 day

return policy, which is better than B&H or Adorama. Their shipping time is quite fast as well.

I've purchased direct from Amazon (a lens) at least once and had no problem, for example,

including the lens in a rebate application.

 

(Getting the rebate was another story, but I did succeed in the end.)

I should also mention I have NEVER had a problem with an order from Amazon. I highly recommend them.

Amazon ships for free authorized dealer Canon products they sell. Stores they front for will

charge for shipping. And also will charge tax if you happen to reside in the same state that

the camera store ships from. I have gotten rebates for Canon goods I bought at Amazon.

I bought my 1Ds II from Amazon. At the time, all the online stores showed them out of stock; so did Amazon. But I placed my order with them because a big holiday was coming up and I knew many of the NY stores (B&H, Adorama) would be closed. I received an auto-confirmation that it was backordered and might take up to a month. I received the brand new camera in less than a week. Good luck!

I've bought some electronics and optics (24-70L, just ordered 500D) from Amazon, and continue to buy inkjet cartridges and Hahnemuhle papers for my HP B9180 printer from them on a periodic basis. They've always provided great customer service, though I've rarely needed it.

 

Once they couldn't ship me part of a larger order as the item was on back order, and the system wouldn't allow me to cancel that portion of the order because of some malfunction. I called and they said that if the item still arrives by their mistake, they'll automatically credit me for it - treating it as essentially free (a $65 item). I did receive it in a few weeks, and Amazon kept their promise. Perhaps they treat me well because I've easily bought over $10K worth of stuff from them over years. I certainly have no complaints.

The do it right, regardless the amount a person spends. (I only bought a few things) -

especially if the goods are sold directly by Amazon. Recently, I bought a G7 from Amazon.

Later, I saw an Amazon price reduction and asked for the difference. They sent it to me.

Later, the camera had an issue and Amazon paid both ways to replace with a new camera.

End to end, they provided exemplary customer service.

"I advise that no one take Amazon's free shipping offer unless you are in no hurry for the

product.

From my experience, their free shipping equates to DELAYED shipping. If you pay for

shipping, the order will likely go out sooner."

 

I've ordered dozens of products from Amazon using the free shipping. I've never had a

product delayed or out of stock. They ship First Class Parcel Post and generally takes 4-5

workings day to my doorstep in Honolulu. UPS 2nd day air is faster but generally takes 3

working days. I'm not going to wet my pants over a couple days. Sometimes USPS is

actually faster than UPS as they deliver on Saturdays.

If you look at the product page, Amazon presents the CHEAPEST price as the default option. Other retailers are listed on the right hand column. Can't ask for better than that.

 

If I had a choice to order from Adorama directly or Adorama through Amazon, I'd order through Amazon (given the prices are the same) simply for their return policy.

 

Free shipping is slow... but what do you expect... it's free! Overnight shipping is reasonable and not total gouging like even some of the respectable camera shops online.

 

Good luck!

 

 

aaron

Aaron,

 

If you look at the page showing a product for sale by Calumet through Amazon, you can see that the actual seller, NOT Amazon's, return policy appears to govern. Scroll ALL the way down, below the reviews, and in a tiny box between the Feedback box and your recent history, there are links to Calumet's Privacy, Shipping, and Return policies.

 

It appears (confirmation?) that Amazon's return policy does not apply to products purchased through fronted sellers, in this case, Calumet.

See image...

Hey Josh,

 

Looks like you are right... for some reason I thought the returns passed through Amazon but I think a storefront retailer does ship directly from that retailer. Thanks for the correction.

 

I still wouldn't hesitate ordering from Amazon. I WOULD hesitate on the private sellers (selling used/new) items on Amazon. Those have been known to be scams and have to be policed same as eBay.

 

aaron

I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon; the most recent, relatively large-ticket items were a Canon Pro9000 printer and an Apple iPod Video 80GB. I always use the free shipping option, because (so far) there's nothing I need in a hurry.

 

However, my experience has been that the actual delivery dates almost always beat Amazon's promised delivery dates. For example, I ordered the iPod on 2/2, and they said it would ship around 2/12 and be delivered on 2/15 or /16. It was delivered on 2/6!