Where to buy Nikon gear in NYC (and USA)

[dugave_bla]

<p>So, a friend is coming to USA (New York) for a month and since the prices of photo gear are a lot cheaper there than in Croatia where we live, it's time to do some shopping.<br>

What would be the best store to buy Nikon gear? Put together we'll be buying a D700, D90 and a cople of lenses.<br>

I know adorama or B&H photo are the obvious choices, but as far as I could see, you can get better deal on ebay. A lot of ebay sellers ships only to USA, but since he will be staying there for a month, we could have it shipped to his NYC address.<br>

Also, I have absolutely no experience with US postal services. For example, what happens if you're not at home at the time of delivery? I heard that in some cases the postman leaves the package on your doorstep, is that true?<br /><br /><br>

Anyway, I'm not really sure what to do, I'm of course looking for the best possible price.</p>

<p>Any suggestions?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p> </p>

[manrique_molina1]

<p>Hi dugave. I do not live in the US but I constantly am shopping online an in person when I am on business trips. I can tell you that after trying a lot services and shops I tend to stick with the most reliable ones even if the price is not the best (although usually they are not that bad). So in NY they would be B&H, Adorama, 47th st photo, 17th street photo and J&R. A visit to B&H in person is also an experience in itself! Its an amazing place and the salespeople are corteous and knowledgeable.<br>

Your friend will also see A LOT of stores with electronics at AMAZING PRICES. Please tell him to AVOID THEM LIKE A PLAGUE. They are mostly scam and bait & switch outfits. Stick with the ones above and he won't regret it.<br>

Regarding online purchases make sure to time them. For instance if he is close to the departure date tell him to avoid any USPS regular shipping. It could not make it on time, specially if its coming from thee west coast. I've found that 2nd day shipping in amazon is VERY reliable, haven't missed a package yet. Items that say "sold and shipped by Amazon.com" ship faster than those from 3rd parties that sell through amazon because they need to process them first. Usually they will leave them with the doormen, front desk if there is one. If its a house they may leave them at the porch or entrance if theres no one. If its an apartment complex with no front desk or doorman and they can't get to the apartments door they may take the package back and try again a few times. Not sure what they do if they try several times and can't make it though.</p>

 

[dugave_bla]

<p>Thanks a lot for the repply.<br>

I just found out, browsing the net, that if you buy localy there is an extra sales tax, right? Something like 9%. For D700 that comes to over $200. That's a lot!<br>

So maybe it would be smarter to order online? As I understand if you order from different state than you don't pay that tax?<br>

Hope somebody from USA will unwser this about what's done if you're not at home at the time of delivery.</p>

<p> </p>

[kfoster70]

<p>Dugave,</p>

<p>B&H and Adorama are your safest NYC retailers for camera equipment. I have spent $$$$$$$$$ with the 2 of them and have never had an issue. You will get the best prices that are out there. Sure, you can go ebay, but and I mean but, you never really know what your getting. Since your not from the US, a USA warrantied Nikon may not mean a big deal to you, those of us who do live here it is a big deal. Many ebay retailers deal in grey market items that cannot be warrantied by Nikon USA. B&H and adorama give you the choice if you want grey market or Nikon USA products.</p>

<p>As far as the US postal system goes. If the item does not require a signature for delivery, and it will not fit in your mail box, then yes they may leave it at your door. This is also true with UPS and FedX. However, on most items through B&H, Adorama, and even ebay sellers, if the item is worth more than say $100 (this number depends on the retailer) they will require a signature for delivery. If you are not home, postal carrier may ask a neighbor to sign for the package, or may leave a note on your door telling you that an attempt to deliver was made. You can then either pick the package up from the carrier or wait for next day delivery. You can also leave a note on your door if you know your not going to be home with instructions of what to do with the package. Since I live in an apartment complex, I have all signed deliveries go to the rental office.</p>

<p>Kevin</p>

[kfoster70]

<p>Dugave,</p>

<p>You are correct about the sales tax. NYC is something like 8.75%. Typically if you buy from another state you can avoid the sales tax, however, if that company ships the item from the state your in you may still have to pay the tax. I found this to be true with Dell since they have a warehouse in Pennsylvania which is where I live.</p>

<p>You can check with Amazon for your D700. You may be able to avoid the tax by using them.</p>

[kerry_grim]

<p>I live in Pennsylvania and have had a lot of equipment sent to me. I was never charged sales tax. If they are now charging tax, it must be very recent. I've always used standard UPS and still get it one or two days after shipping. Can someone who lives in Pennsylvania comment on recent purchases whether tax has been charged or not?</p>

[senthil1]

<p>Also, please check whether US states refund sales tax for out of country persons purchasing here when visiting. I have seen this in many other countries. Typically it involves filling out a form at the airport while international departure. However, US may not do this. For ex. Canada used to refund until 2-3 yrs ago; they changed the rule now, and no sales tax/VAT refunds are done. In that case, best way is to check the prices from reliable stores outside NY, such as Amazon (make sure it comes from them directly and not 3rd party), buy.com, etc.</p>

<p>Cheers.</p>

[kfoster70]

<p>Kerry,<br>

I was speaking of Dell, not B&H or Adorama.</p>

[dugave_bla]

 

<p>Thanks guys for all the answers!!<br>

This is what the B&H says about tax:<br>

<em>We do not collect tax for orders shipped out of New York State. Purchases in our store are subject to an 8.875% local sales tax. This tax is not a VAT, and cannot be recovered by non-USA visitors when returning home.</em><br>

So there is no chance to get that money back, right? Looks like the best option then is to order online. Glad to hear that the postman won't leave the package on doorstep. Here in Croatia you get a notifier in your mailbox that the package is waiting in post office for you. If it's FedEx or some other more expensive courier, you can call them and request delivery on some other location or at some other time.<br>

Ordering online has another problem for me. My credit card has Croatian address. A friend is a student, not sure if he has one, but even if he does, he would also have Croatian address on it. (He was planing on buying with cash.)<br>

A lot of shops don't ship items to different address than the one on the credit cad. I have a verified paypla account, but most stores still don't except paypal.<br>

But I think amazon does let you ship to a different address, right?<br>

And yes, US warranty doesn't mean much to me. It's a shame that Nikon doesn't give international varenty. :(Some other camera manufacturers do.</p>

<p>Looks like amazon might be my best choice, what do you think?</p>

 

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>B&H is an amazing store. Check it out. I've never been to Adorama.</p>

<p>I say, be a good citizen and pay the tax already, but that's me...</p>

[dugave_bla]

 

<p>I really don't care about the look or 'the feeling' about the store. I just want to get the best price I can, of course, without any kind of scams or problems of that kind.</p>

<p>There's no way I'm paying $200 extra for a camera if I don't have to.</p>

 

 

[ShunCheung]

<p>Dugave, when you are in New York City, you can go to the B&H or Adorama store to purchase the items in person. When you buy, you can ask them to ship it to an out-of-state address so that you only pay for shipping instead of sales tax. And since you are there shopping in person, they can clear the credit card issue in person and verify that it is indeed you. E.g. bring your passport. You'll also get to inspect the very items you are buying.</p>

<p>Since you are not a US resident, there is no reason that you should pay US sales tax.</p>

<p>The current B&H store is indeed amazing. 2 years ago I couldn't believe that they added an entire 2nd floor doubling their space. I have not been to Adorama in over 10 years since I moved away from the US East Coast.</p>

[kfoster70]

<p>Hey Shun,</p>

<p>Thanks for the tip about B&H expansion, I havent been in the store in a few years myself. But since Im getting ready to leave for the city in about 20 minutes, I'm definitely putting a stop at the store on my to do list for today.</p>

<p>Kevin</p>

[dugave_bla]

<p>Actually, a friend is travelling to NYC, not me. But he will be staying in NYC so he couldn't ship it outside the state. Sure, we could have them ship it to Croatia, but the whole idea is to avoid customs fees.</p>

<p>Are you sure that a non US citizen doesn't have to pay sales tax? </p>

 

[ShunCheung]

<p>Dugave, please keep in mind that both Adorama and B&H are closed on Friday afternoons and all day Saturday. Please ask your friend to time his/her visit accordingly.</p>

<p>If you buy something in New York City and take it with you, you have to pay NYC sales tax. It does not matter whether you are a US resident or not. However, if you go to B&H and purchase it, but you ask them to ship it out of state instead of leaving the store with it, you only pay for shipping.</p>

[dugave_bla]

<p>He'll be there for 6 weeks, it won't be a problem. But thanks for the info!</p>

<p>And thans for clearing the sales tax. It's just as I thought, if you buy something there, even if you're not US citizen, you have to pay the tax.</p>

[manrique_molina1]

<p>My billing address is not in the US and I have not had problems with Amazon. You might want to try it by buying something cheap (for instance a $1 item). You will know if the order goes through probably the same day.. If the credit card does not go through you will get an email. Once I had to call 17th street photo, seems some NY stores are picky about international buyers. No problem with Amazon, Adorama. Haven't tried B&H online.<br>

For stores that require a US billing address I use my other card. I just called my credit card company and made them change my billing address to a friends who lives in Miami. It was done very easily, just with a phone call. You might want to ask your credit card company if they can do that. In my country it is actually advertised by them so they can generate revenue from internet buyers.<br>

Regarding sales tax refunds no luck with NY. I know they do that in Louisiana. I've also heard that taxes are lower in New Jersey but I don't know of a good camera store there.</p>

[john_tran14]

<p>How about warranty? If three months later, it is broken, will Nikon USA or Nikon in his country will take care of that?</p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>How about warranty? If three months later, it is broken, will Nikon USA or Nikon in his country will take care of that?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That is something the OP needs to figure out about his local policy.</p>

<p>I have bought a dozen or so new Nikon SLRs in the last 33 years, incluidng 5 DSLRs. Exactly none of them has ever required warranty repair. Given the generally high prices in Europe, if I can save 20% from the cost, I really don't care about warranty. I know as a fact that the possibility of needing it is very low. If I get unlucky once, I'll be glad to pay for that. I still come out way ahead on the long run.</p>

<p>If this visitor is staying for 6 weeks, I would buy the items with at least 2, 3 weeks remaining so that he has a chance to test out everything and make exchanges if necessary.</p>

[andylynn]

<p>B&H is huge - it's like Walmart for photography stuff. Adorama is smaller but has excellent selection, and both have knowledgeable sales people (which sets them apart from, say, Best Buy). There's also a Calumet on W. 22nd.</p>

<p>WRT the sales tax, it's becoming a bit of a contentious issue - in most states you're actually supposed to report mail order purchases you didn't pay tax on, and pay an equivalent "use tax". Since web stores are not (currently) required to help states enforce that, and states hardly do anything to enforce it themselves, most people end up not paying tax, but technically it's often not a legal way to avoid taxes.</p>

<p>Wouldn't your friend have to report the purchase to customs when returning to your country, and pay an import duty anyway?</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>I live in NYC and I'm sorry to say that there are a lot of ripoff stores in the city. In NY stick with B&H and Adorama. I've dealt very well with Abe's of Maine in NJ. I go to their retail store but I have never ordered from them. They will ship to NY without sales tax and it should only take a day or two to get the camera via UPS.</p>

<p>Their prices are usually competitive with B&H and Adorama.</p>

[henryp]

<blockquote>

<p>Since you are not a US resident, there is no reason that you should pay US sales tax.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>If you buy something in a NY store and take your merchandise with you, you will pay sales tax and non-citizens cannot get it refunded when they leave or after they've returned home. It's sales tax, not VAT. This applies equally to US residents, visitors, tourists, etc. It's tax - everybody pays.</p>

<p>The only ways to avoid the tax is to have a government-issued tax exempt status or to have your merchandise shipped to an out-of-state address where the retailer does not have a physical presence. For B&H, that's NY. For Adorama, it's NY & NJ.</p>

<p>If you'll be visiting this Autumn you should know B&H and Adorama are closed several days during September for various Jewish holidays. The information is in our site's Help->Holiday Closing Schedule section.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Folks, you are quoting me out of context. This was what I wrote, and you need to read the whole thing:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Dugave, when you are in New York City, you can go to the B&H or Adorama store to purchase the items in person. When you buy, you can ask them to ship it to an out-of-state address so that you only pay for shipping instead of sales tax. And since you are there shopping in person, they can clear the credit card issue in person and verify that it is indeed you. E.g. bring your passport. You'll also get to inspect the very items you are buying.</p>

<p>Since you are not a US resident, there is no reason that you should pay US sales tax.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>If one is a US resident and if your state has sales tax, even though you ask B&H to ship it to your address outside of New York State so that B&H won't collect sales tax, you are still supposed to pay sales tax to your home state later on, usually when you file your state tax return for that year. The sales tax rate will be your local rate, not the NYC rate.</p>

<p>However, in this case the OP and presumably his friend are not US residents, they don't need to file any state income tax and hence they don't need to pay any sales tax if the items are shipped outside of NY. That was the point I was making.</p>

<p>If you visit B&H in person, buy something and take that with you when you leave the store, you always have to pay NYC sales tax, regardless of citizenship, as we pointed out earlier.</p>

[frank.schifano]

<p>Here's the deal with online and mail order purchases and NY sales tax. If the vendor is from out of state, NY does not collect sales tax. zIf you live in NY and the vendor is in NY, then you do pay sales tax. I know it's screwy, but there it is. I buy a lot of darkroom supplies and film from Freestyle in Los Angeles, CA and don't pay sales tax but I do pay shipping charges. If I mail order from B&H or Adorama, I pay shipping charges and sales tax unless I opt for in-store pickup. Then I only pay sales tax.</p>

[dugave_bla]

 

<p>Thanks a lot for the answers everyone!</p>

<p>I think in the end we will try to find an online dealer that is outside the NY state since it seems that is the only way of avoiding extra cost. 10% is not 1% and it's worth the effort.</p>

<p>The customs here in Croatia usually regard photo gear and laptops as 'personal luggage' and you can usually slip by without paying customs. I know that we wouldn't have international warranty, but as somebody here said, it's worth the risk. Just as example, D700 is about $2400 in US, here, bought from authorized Nikon dealer it goes for about $3150. That's a huge difference, more than 30%.</p>

<p>Also, I found some people on ebay who offer new Nikon gear, with US warranty and also offer in person pick up in Manhattan. You can pay in cash when he gives you the gear. What do you think about that? </p>

<p>Thnaks again!</p>