Where to buy a 40D in or around Cupertino, CA?

[gtx2]

Guys,

Hope this is the right place to ask and someone here will be able to point me

in the right direction... I'll be in Cupertino for a couple of weeks from next.

I want to pick up a 40D while I'm there. I've thought about ordering one from

amazon to be delivered to the hotel..The preference is to go down to a shop,

either local or in the SF area and pick one up. I hear there are Sales tax

issues in CA which will drive the prices up? I might be travelling to

Springfield, OR while I'm there are well. What do you think I should do? Are

there any decent shops which might stock them around these areas? Any help

would be much appreciated.

Cheers, George

[alan_myers]

Hi George,

 

There is Keeble & Shuckat in Palo Alto, it's a great photo shop, but I don't imagine their prices on 40D will be anything special. Throughout the Bay Area there are a lot of other photo stores, plus the usual Best Buy, Circuit City. Also Fry's Electronics. Also several good photo stores in San Francisco. But you might check availability of 40D at any of these in advance. They are no more or less likely to have it in stock than any of the big NY stores. The prices are pretty much the same everywhere, except some online places that were trying to ask higher prices when it was so scarce initially.

 

Me, I buy as much as possible online and out of state. I think you'll find at least 8.25% sales tax in the Bay Area, more in some cities. Sale tax here will add at least another $107 to your purchase price for a 40D. I can get a camera shipped here from NY or Georgia for $25-35.

[zackojones]

Check for a Best Buy store in that area. They only sell the 40D with the 28-135 lens though so if you want to buy body only you'll need to look elsewhere. Since you're not traveling for a couple of weeks why not order it now from Amazon or B&H or your favorite online vendor?

[john_davids]

Calumet SF is good. You'll probably get a better deal than at Best Buy, plus its always good to support true photo stores.

[Spearhead]

Bear Images in Palo Alto should have it. Bear is a little bit different than other camera stores, they aren't looking for the average consumer (I don't think they have any p&s cameras, for example), they have a lot of equipment that is fairly specialized, but they also have cameras. They are good to deal with and generally have reasonable prices.

[brandon_lowe]

I looked around for a little while and every where seamed to have near the same price so I decided to just get mine at Bestbuy. Yes I had to pay tax but got to see it before buying it so did not have to worry about getting a bad camera and I also spent an extra $160 for a 4 year warranty that cover accidental damage. If I drop it or anything it is covered. I have used these same warranties with them for different items and it has worked out real weel. One of my kids went through 3 ipod nanos with his warranty and at one point because of price changes he even got an upgrade for free. So I figure I have 4 yesrs not to worry about the camera.

[gdanmitchell]

Cupertino? I'm IN Cupertino as I write this... :-)

 

Frankly, for a commodity item like the 40D I'd probably just see who has the best price at one of the big box stores - Best Buy, etc.

 

Keeble and Schuchat (as mentioned above) is a great photographic store and I patronize them for pro-level gear. They'll definitely have the

40D (and tons of other fun stuff - its worth a trip if you have some free time) but if you are shopping on price they _probably_ won't get you

the best price.

 

San Jose Camera (oddly, in Campbell, at Winchester and Hamilton) also sells at decent prices and would almost certainly have copies of the

40D in stock. The pricing situation will likely be similar, though you can check them out on the web at www.sanjosecamera.com before

going over. Actually, their prices may be a bit lower than K&S (but check) though their employees are sort of known for sometimes surly

attitudes. Part of the experience... :-)

 

You will end up paying California sales tax if your item is shipped to a California address - just like you will if you buy from one of these

shops or others in the Bay Area.

 

By the way, I'm a faculty member at De Anza College in Cupertino. Wave if you drive past. :-)

[mike_young1]

If you can get Adorama in NY to ship it to you at a hotel or a friends house you will save the most money. No sales tax and no shipping. Put it on your card and you will get an extra year warranty for free. Spending 280.00 extra for sales tax and insurance on a 1400 item makes no sense to me. Also if you buy at BestBuy you are forced to buy a lens you may or may not want. good luck

[Brad_]

I'm another fan of Bear Images in Palo Alto. Neat store, and in the past I've received a 5%

discount on lenses.

[gtx2]

Great stuff guys. What a great place for fast responses :) Looks like buying online doesnt really make a difference as I'll probably have to fish out the extra $100. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still saving a lot of money ( euro conversion etc: I'm based in ireland)

I certainly will check out these stores, online first) And yes, will definitely wave Dan if I pass your place :) I'm just there for a conf and a bit of training. Thanks again folks..much appreciated

[vivek]

Dan,

 

I am local too and I have never paid CA sales tax for internet purchases. I think that B&H etc. would not charge it anyway, even if it is shipped to a CA address.

 

<rant> Also, calling the SJ Camera employees "surly" is an understatement. For most part they treat you as if you have no idea what you are buying. I have been there once and I will never set my foot in there unless there is absolutely no other option! These folks are down right rude, and I am probably not using a word strong enough to describe their aversion to potential customers. </rant>

 

George,

 

Good luck with your purchase. Also pay a visit to "Fry's Electronics" in either Sunnyvale or Campbell (close to SJ Camera if you go there). This place is a huge electronics store and all of my out of town friends like it. Do NOT expect any service since you would probably know more about the camera than the min. wage sales person. Also do not buy their extended warranty.

 

Have a good time in the valley.

 

-- Vivek

[KenPapai]

I've never shooped at Keeble, it has a good rep.

 

In SF you can get the 40D at Adolph Gassers, a pro shop. I frequent them a lot. They are on 2nd St., near Howard. Gassers ain't cheap.

[marc_crumpler]

George,

I got lucky a couple of weeks ago and found one at Circuit City in Pittsburg,Calif.(East Bay Area).Paid $1318.00 including CA. tax for camera and 28-135 lens.Camera was 75.00 off regular price in the store(not advertised),plus 5% off coupon from their website,and 10% off by using a AAA coupon that was available because I'm a AAA member.Looks like its 50.00 off regular price this week if you can find one.Good luck!

[gdanmitchell]

Vivek wrote: "I am local too and I have never paid CA sales tax for internet purchases. I

think that B&H etc. would not charge it anyway, even if it is shipped to a CA address."

 

Sorry, I had a moment of Friday brain freeze. You are correct that if you purchase from a

company that has no business presence in California you won't have to pay sales tax. Sorry

for the error! :-)

 

Fry's is fun to visit, given its history as the Silicon Valley's largest (and arguably strangest)

tech store. However, when I've glanced at their DSLR prices in the past they didn't impress

me at all.

 

Dan

 

George... Conference? In Cupertino? Are you visiting Apple? I have some friends there...

[Spearhead]

<i>You are correct that if you purchase from a company that has no business presence in California you won't have to pay sales tax.</i><p>This is absolutely, completely and totally wrong. You are liable for sales tax if you purchase over the internet, and if you are audited for any reason, they will find the purchases and you will owe taxes and penalties, assuming it's not $12 in a year.<p>For correct information, see <a href="http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/pub79b.pdf">this document.</a></a>

[gdanmitchell]

OK, let me try this again - in more carefully constructed legalese: Vendors must charge sales

tax on sales in a state where they have a business presence. If they don't have such a

presence, the vendors will not add sales tax to the bill.

[gtx2]

So here's the story so far guys..

I went down to Wolf camera the other day. They didnt have it in stock but could get it for me in 3 days. Bad news was that tax brought the total price to over $1400. Checked things out and yes you guys are right, you dont have to pay tax if the supplier doesnt have a biz presence in CA. Most online stores were selling it for $1299. So went onto amazon and got it from Ritz's store on the site. Will check out the stores you guys recommended over the weekend(going to fry's tomo vivek..cheers). Dan, no I dont work for Apple! otherwise I would've been asking about stores which stock the 1dmkIII :) Cheers Guys for all the help and hope the online info comes in handy for future purchases.

[ShunCheung]

George, Keeble and Shuchat in Palo Alto is having their "Canon Days" this weekend, and they'll pay for the sales tax on Canon cameras and lenses. Since they are not open on Sundays, tomorrow (Saturday, October 27) is the last day with this deal:

http://www.kandsphoto.com/media/ads_store/kspac-1018.pdf