Buying a D-100; Is Royal Camera a scam?

[rachel k.]

Hi,

 

I'm all set to buy a D-100 after pricing them, comparing every

vendor in the back of the photo mags. I'm still a bit apprehensive.

I called Royal Camera today to ask why the D-100 was only $1,108.

They about accosted me over asking if it was some type of

international version. Then he told me that if I bought it from him

he'd knock $20 off. I declined then called BH to see if they priced

matched and I was about accosted again. The man was quite unfriendly

and laughed at me when I mentioned Royal photo and said BH only

makes $200 of the camera at $1699 so they won't go lower. Has anyone

heard bad things about Royal? Does a friendly company with decent

prices exist?! I would appreciate any response, I want to place an

order w/in 10 days.

 

Thanks!

[jason michael]

B&H is trusted and true. I would avoid other dealers especially ones without an

international reputation.

 

Also think about the implications of what you heard...if B&H receives D100s at $1500

wholesale how can another company sell them for $300 less than that? Business is

business and profit is necessary. It looks like for $1100 you will receive a damaged/

faulty/used/something else terrible D100.

 

Lastly, the D100 is digital thus it has a much greater possibility of needing it's

warranty. Save yourself a bad experience and go with B&H.

 

Cheers,

[tcb.photo]

Hi Rachel

 

I agree with Jason, B&H is exceptional to deal with. As my Grandfather once told me, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

 

You might get that NY attitude from B&H, but if you have a problem or want to send it back there is never an crap about it.

 

IMHO, Deal with the guys who have a track record of service. At B&H it will be a USA model, and with Nikon that counts. They won't even touch Grey.

 

Happy Shooting

 

Rob

[ShunCheung]

You can bargain with B&H a bit, and they might knock off $50 or $100 if their competitors are really selling the D100 for a bit lower. But a $1108 D100 probably doesn't include the viewfinder or CCD sensor. :-) Or if you are willing to wait another year or two, DSLRs can become below $1000 in the future.

 

B&H's prices can be beaten, but in most cases it cannot be more than a few percent.

[don_cooper]

A pretty low rating at http://www.resellerratings.com/

[erick_lamontagne]

Yes, Royal camera is a scam. Check the N-to-N section. They also operate under one or two other names. A co-worker placed and order for a 1500$ video camera, and with all sorts of other costs, the bill went up to 4000$ My co-worker called to be answered by an arrogant sales person who said he didn't care about the price about advertised on the store's website. When a seller asks if you want to do it the easy way or the hard way, I think there's a problem.

[NK Guy]

Trust your instincts. And have a look at this interesting article:

<P>

<A HREF="http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,107855,00.asp">http://

www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,107855,00.asp</A>

<P>

You'll notice that Royal Camera and CCI Camera City, the same operation under

different names, are mentioned therein.

[shawn_rahman]

There are only two operations that are consistently honorable, IMHO. That is B&H and Adorama. Although I have heard good things about KEH as well, B&H and Adorama are the places to go.

[ken_mai]

To add my voice to the chorus, Royal Camera is a scam. It is unfotunate (for B&H) that they were rude to you on the phone. An explanation (but not an excuse) may be that they get many calls every day with people trying to price match to scammers. Some of these people may know that Royal Camera et al. are scammers, but still try to get B&H to pricematch.

 

As for other companies to deal with, try Adorama, KEH, Penn Camera, Arlington Camera, or Norman Camera. All are legit and will sell you a D100 for approximately $1700.

[yossi_gofman]

Also be aware that many of the smaller operators give you the price for the body only. Then when you try to place an order they tell you that you also need the battery and the strap an oh the usb cable and yes the charger and god forbid don't forget the CDs. Eventually the overall deal at B&H is better.

[zoeica images]

Here's the scoop. A USA Nikon D100 costs dealers $1475.00. Minimum advertising USA price is $1699. If you want to deal with Nikon, a dealer cannot advertise the camera for any less than $1699. Buy from B&H, Calumet, Adorama, or your local Nikon USA dealer. Feck these dumbass grey market dealers that tell you the camera is $1,100. Where's it come from? Back of a truck in Singapore?

[rachel k.]

Thanks a lot for the responses and the helpful links. I'm so glad that I decided, on a whim, to post this question before making a purchase.

 

Thanks again.

[fred_sun1]

$1100 is way too low. The D100 in Singapore is about US$1650, that's from a reputable store. Not sure about prices from out-of-breath guys selling cameras on sidewalks. Haven't met any so far.

[Jerry_]

Check the reader feedback area on Photo Net.

Then Check the reader feedback area on Photo Net.

 

 

If you go for the low price, please put a note on the transaction on Photo Net: my guess is Royal Camera will send you a camera body -- everything else will have a price (the battery, the instruction booklet, the body cap.)

[david_kelly1]

Rob Helm is wrong about one point: B&H frequently sells gray market Nikons side-by-side with USA models, always

clearly marked "imported", and covered by their one year store warranty. I bought a gray market FM3a from them last

fall for more than a hundred bucks less than the USA equivalent and I have bought lenses that way in the past; but I

don't think I'd take that risk with a digital SLR...........................

[larry_s1]

Shipping cost is another scam. I bought stuff from Samy's in LA and Camera World in Oregon and my shippng was $10 to $15 depending on weight. Thats an honest amount reflectiing actual shipping costs. These other places will charge very large amounts to make up the low cost.

 

Since every dealer has been advertising $1,699, I would be curious to see what they did ship (if they ship anything). A would guess you would get an imported F100.

[ShunCheung]

In the US, are there any grey-market D100 yet? I know B&H wouldn't sell grey-market versions of certain items, such as scanners, because some included components are different (e.g. software, video output format).

 

I have a friend who bought a D1x directly from Japan a couple of years back when the D1x was quite new, and he mananged to save like $1000 from the going US price at the time.

 

However, it looks like there is currently a shortage of D100 and places such as B&H are backordered. I see no reason why they would give any discount at this point.

[barry_parish1]

The lowest legitimate price I could find on my D100 when I bought it three months ago was $1625.

[klix]

Royal is a bait and switch scam.<p><p>

<a href="http://resellerratings.com/seller1895.html" >Here </a>are some reviews from consumers.<p><p>

Like most others, I usually start (and most times end) with either B&H or Adorama.

[loel_skoch]

I called them because they had the "lowest price" and was turned off because of shiping costs.

-called back because nobody had it in stock.

-had everything done with guy on phone but the credit card#

-salesman says "you know this wont ship for about three weeks"

-I reply you said you have it in stock?!?

-he says "yeah but we wont be able to ship for three weeks.

-I said no thanks

 

I think it's a scam

[bobar57]

Loel, that is an old trick used by them and other stores in NY. It happened to me a while back while shopping from my now stolen Nikon FM3A.

Well,I found,and is not a secret that with the exception of Adorama And B&H, most if not all other camera stores in NY are scam business. And sometimes two, three and four of them are under the same owner,surprised?

The funniest thing is that some magazines as Popular Photography and Petersen's Photographic have in theory an strictly rule to categoryze the trusted business, among them the complaint of readers and subscribers. They're supossed to take at first the seal of trusted business, and if many complaints are received no ads will be placed.

Well it looks like money rules.

[klix]

And to echo a couple of previous posts -- Royal Camera also does business as CCI. Go to the Internic WHOIS database and lookup the registered owner of the royalcamera.com domain -- it's CCI Camera.

[bobar57]

CCI Camera? Go figure!!! It doesn't have a good reputation. I even think that CCI was really pulled out of the ads on the magazines.Not really sure, have to check on a couple of them.

[dparrish - SW Florida]

I've had salesmen try the "upsell" pressure on me several times. When they do, they immediately lose the entire sale. I will not tolerate high pressure salesmanship. I have found both Ritz Camera, and B&H to be honest, and good places to deal with.

 

Dick Parrish

[jason_eitelbach3]

Now this may have changed in the recent past, but when I was selling Nikon cameras a few years ago, Nikon had a strict policy of not repairing grey market equipment. Not only would Nikon USA not honor any warranty, their repair centers here WOULD NOT fix any non US market camera period. I once had a customer come in with an F5 she had bought a a camera store in upstate New York for $1500 new, insisting that it as covered under warranty. We sent it in with the receipt and it was returned unrepaired. Turns out it was not a US camera and Nikon USA would not touch it for any amount of money. So caveat emptor, with grey market stuff, make you understand what the manufacturers repair policy is before you buy.

 

Oh, and KEH is a great place to buy used equipment.

I just bought a FE2 and a 35mm f1.4 from them. I found them to have equipment in better condition, a better warranty and a better price then I'd been able to find on ebay or any local camera shop.