over the counter pro body availability?

[bluphoto]

Guys,

I've been considering upgrading to a 1Ds series body for some time, and I

think I'm going to wait until the Mk3 is out before snapping one up.

 

I am travelling to Houston (from the UK) around January next year, and I'd

very much like to pick one up while I'm there. I realise that I will get a US

warranty for a body which I'll mainly be using in the UK, but for the charger

power adapter, and potentially an unlikely repair or shipping charge if

something does go wrong in the first year, I'm willing to risk it to save

upwards of GBP?2000 (USD$4k).

 

My question is this. Judging by previous models, and If I'm in Houston maybe

6-10wks after launch, how likely is it that I'll be able to walk into a camera

store, hand over my credit card and walk out with a 1DsIII without having to

either pre-order it, or have it shipped to me at a later date?

 

Are there generally some stores which are better than others for carrying

high end stock? Would I be better getting a cheap flight from Houston to New

York and picking one up there? - or maybe somewhere else?

 

I just want to start putting my finances in place now so that I am in a

position to buy when I make the trip.

 

Alternatively, I realise that many stores don't like shipping an item like

this to an address not registered to the credit card, but do you think I'd be

able to buy it before travelling, over the telephone or internet, for example,

and pick it up in store.

 

Bottom line is I want to hand carry it back with me to the UK. I don't want

it shipped to me at a later date.

 

best regards

Guy

[bluphoto]

By the way. the retail price in the UK appears to be around GBP6000 (USD12k), so a USD8k price tag at Adorama is very, very attractive to me.

[fmueller]

If that was me wanting to do that I'd contact B&H, Adorama, and KEH well in advance, and tell them what I want to do, in the hope that at least one of them would be willing to work with me. I'd be happy to pay them in advance, ie let them take the money out of my credit card account before I even travel. That way they should have no concerns shipping the camera to a hotel, and with a bit of luck it could be waiting there for you when you arrive. The great advantage of buying at one of those three stores would be not only a competitive price, but also that you can rely on your warranty; ie if there is anything wrong with the camera, you can mail it to those guys and they'll make it right for you. If you just walk into any old store in Houston, even if they stock a gazillion Mk3, you just don't know about that.

[fmueller]

One more thought, KEH requires a signature at delivery for all shipments over $500, and their standard shipping is by UPS. I have occasionally had problems with that, because I am often not at home when UPS comes by. The way I got around that was to have UPS deliver the parcel to my local UPS store, and pick up the parcel there. Apparently not all UPS stores offer that service, but mine does - there is a $3 fee for the pickup at the store. If nobody wants to deliver to your hotel, maybe that might be a way around that.

[bluphoto]

Thanks Frank,

I think these guys main concern about shipping to hotels etc is credit card fraud. Someone could imagineably buy a 1Ds3 on a stolen or cloned credit card and have it shipped to a hotel. That would make it tough to track down the theif. If it was shipped to the address on the credit card, at least the guy who didn't order it gets the product and can raise the alarm.

 

Same worry applied that if I pay in full before collecting in store, then I could be anyone walking into the store, I could even have a fake ID prepared.

 

Maybe it's better to just put down a deposit and pay the balance on pick up, even if just for that reason.

[dalayo]

Be careful with the warranty, this is textual from US canon customer service:

 

"Please note that our U.S. Factory Service Centers are unable to accept packages from or return equipment to addresses outside the United States."

 

So maybe you're going to have to fly to the US if something goes wrong with your new camera... Is your budget ready for this?

[bobatkins]

My guess is they won't be "on the shelf" in most stores by January. It was many months before you could find anyone with a 1D MkIII in stock after it was announced and the first few trickled out to the retail market.

[ralph_jensen]

Note that if you pick it up in person or have it delivered to the same state in which it is purchased, you will pay a state (and often city) sales tax; in Houston it's 8.25% and in New York it's 8.375%. (If you stay in New Jersey however and have it shipped a few miles from Manhattan, you can avoid this.)

 

There is no way to avoid this tax (except being in a different state from the seller), as it applies the pickup/delivery location and NOT to the home address of the purchaser.

 

I know you'll still be saving a ton of money (assuming you can skirt UK taxes!) so the 8% is relatively small, but still something you should be aware of.

[damian_tinsley]

Guy,

 

I've said this before here, but a while ago. B&H shipped some lenses to a Washington hotel a few years back for me. As Ralph said, this avoids state sales tax, but you offset against shipping costs. What B&H would NOT do was to take the money from a credit card and ship to the hotel. To verify your bona fides, they will (or at least did)want to you to organise a money transfer direct from your bank. This costs a little, but the good news is you'll get a far better exchange rate buying the dollars like this as opposed to a tourist exchange rate deal (and for the sums you're talking about you'll save overall). Can't comment about availability, as the 1 series is a lot above my pay grade (or abilities)!

[donald_gerbino1]

I use a tax resale# and dont pay sales tax if it is a buisiness trip use a resale # and also here

we have no vat tax wish i could afford a 1ds mk3 I just picked up a 1d mk3 maybe i will trade

up to one in dec cheers

[bluphoto]

I wasn't aware of that about canon USA warranties, I guess if they receive it from, and return it to Adorama, B&H or KEH, though, then that would be okay.

 

I hadn't throught about that sales tax thing. I wonder if this would be easier me sending the money to a colleague in the US and having him buy one for me.

 

Jeez... Why is life so bleeding complicated!

 

Would I be right in assuming that Adorama, B&H and KEH would be the only places really worth considering?

 

I could well be visiting these other cities/areas over the course of the first six months of next year...

 

Shreveport LO. Garden Grove CA. Casper WY. and potentially stopping over in either Seattle, Chicago or Minneapolis on the way to Calgary and Anchorage. I'm afraid my work doesn't have much business along the east coast, being in the oil industry.

 

I'll also be travelling a lot to Singapore over the next year, so maybe I should check that out. Chances are I'll be visiting China too, and having to pick up my visa in Hong Kong. I just figured the States was cheaper because of the >2:1 exchange rate just now.

many thanks

Guy

[bluphoto]

By the way, I apologise for my "State abbreviations". I'm afraid I'm a lowly Scottish lad and I'm not sure if LO should be LA or something like that - either way it was quicker than writing Louisiana. Wish I had now, it would have been quicker than writing this!

[alfred_maragh]

On the subject of sending a camera to Canon's factory repair service in the US from an address outside the US, my experience is that it can be done easily. I have shipped Canon equipment from Kingston, Jamaica (via DHL) to Canon USA for repairs without any hitches. Canon will NOT return the item to an address outside the US but they will ship it to a US address after repairs are complete. I normally ask them to ship my equipment to a Miami address and either have it brought to Jamaica by relatives or friends who are traveling or just fly up and collect it.

The only issue is that they will communicate with the resident at the Miami address if they need any additional info. That can a real problem if very technical info is required.

[joelh47]

Instead of getting a cheap flight from Houston to New York as one of the options you considered, on your flight from the UK, could you arrange for a stop-over in New York, then continue on to Houston the next day? That might cost a bit more than flying directly in to Houston, but I would think it would be less than a round trip flight from Houston.

[bluphoto]

Yeah,

For some of the trips, I guess I could arrange a stop over in NYC. Would be nice to avoid that sales tax talked about earlier though. Maybe I'll pay by bank transfer and have them deliver to a colleague of mine in Houston. I think that would simplify things a bunch. I'll have to run it by them to see if they would do that though.

 

thanks,

Guy

[bobatkins]

I don't know if Texas and New York have a reciprocal sales tax agreement or not. Some states do and if you live in one of those sates (or maybe even if the lens is delivered there), you are still legally obligated to pay the sales tax to the state in which you live (or where the lens was delivered).

 

They do audit accounts and from time to time send out bills for unpaid sales tax (plus interest and penalties). I know NY and NJ have a reciprocal agreement and have done audits on stuff bought from B&H and Adorama in the past. Those living in NJ who bought from NY and who hadn't paid the tax to NJ got themselves a tax bill!

 

Given it's NY and TX, I doubt they are on speaking terms, but you never know where tax revenue is involved. Money talks to anyone...

[fmueller]

Bob - even if New York and Texas had a reciprocal tax agreement, did an audit, and discovered that a UK resident had evaded that tax, it would be near impossible to collect that money from somebody in the UK - so much so that I doubt they'd even bother sending out a second letter asking for it! There are millions of Americans who are not even aware of that tax, so the tax agencies have enough to do chasing up the ignorant, let alone those who purposefully ignore it, without chasing somebody in the UK over a few bucks.

 

Sounds to me like you should ask B&H, Adorama and KEH if you could wire the money to them in advance, and have the camera shipped to your Houston Hotel. For what it's worth, B&H and Adorama are in NYC, while KEH is actually in Atlanta, GA.

 

If that doesn't work, maybe you could wire the money to your colleague and he could order the camera on your behalf using his credit card. Other than having to trouble your colleague, that might actually be the easiest way to go.