>>and the non-street wise consumer who walks in off the street (to the ones who actually have store fronts).

Those places generally do about 100% with tourists. Most NY'ers shop at generally reliable local chains like P. C. Richard and The Wiz. (The Wiz is now defunct.) Best Buy and Circuit City have only recently got into the NYC market.

One NY electronic store that you can buy from with confidence is J and R Music World. They are kind of like B and H at the consumer level, but they deal with all kinds of electronics from humidifiers to a Panasonic DVX100A. Amazon uses them as seller. If you buy a DVX100A, from Amazon you are getting it from J and R. It's an interesting store, if you ever get there. It's down by Ground Zero. Very Old School. It started as a single store, but as it grew it bought all the rest of the storefronts. So if you are shopping for CD's you go to one store, for a TV you go to another and for computers a third.

It's the last vestige of Radio Row which was a
"warehouse district in lower Manhattan, New York City. It held several blocks of electronic stores, which spread out both ways from a central axis along Cortlandt Street. The used radios, war surplus electronics, junk and stuff was piled so high that it would spill out onto the street. It was a scrounger's paradise."

NPR show on Radio Row

"When City Radio opened on New York City's Cortlandt Street in 1921, radio was a novelty. Over the next few decades, hundreds of stores popped up in the neighborhood: Metro Radio, Blan the Radio Man, Leotone Radio, Cantor the Cabinet King.

"The six-square-block area in lower Manhattan became a bazaar of tubes, knobs, hi-fi equipment and antenna kits. It was the largest collection of radio and electronics stores in the world.

"Then in 1966, the stores were condemned and bulldozed to make way for the new World Trade Center"

I didn't read every one of the notes on this thread; however, the ones I did look at were generally very negative about the idea of buying gear from any place other than established, but higher-priced, companies.

I'm sure that the concerns are very real--if consumer remarks say over and over again that a sales staff will be pushy and try to sell you stuff you don't want--well, it is probably true.

But my fairly recent experience would argue that there are not necessarily absolutes in dealing with companies whose prices are low but whose reputation worries you. I can deal with a certain amount of pushiness if it means saving $300 - $400.

I found "new Panasonic AG-DVX-100A, factory sealed + manuf. supplied accessories" at US1Camera for $3099 in Spring of this year. This was many hundreds of dollars cheaper than most other companies. (A couple of companies actually had a cheaper price, but when I called those co.'s and dragged the facts out of them it turns out that these bad people were actually selling only the camera body. To get the accessories, one would then need to spend even more than what the est. co.'s were charging.)

But I sent an e-mail list of "demands" to several places--including name and direct tel. number of a manager-level sales person with whom I could deal, e-mail confirmation that the item was currently in stock and would be shipped without delays, e-mail confirmation of exactly what I was ordering, and e-mail confirmation that a tracking number would i.d. my order. Only US1Camera responded with all of the information. Yes, the sales guy was somewhat pushy but, no, he did not end up selling me anything that I didn't already know I wanted to buy.

Long story short, I received the camcorder + accessories on the schedule they promised and everything was entirely satisfactory. I have to admit that, even after all of the precautions I took, I still felt relief that the purchase worked out well.

The funniest part of the story, though, was the general reaction to my account of this purchase on a website dedicated to the purchase and use of dvx 100 series camcorders. I.e., the general tenor of the responses was, "You got screwed and you didn't even realize it, there is NO WAY that this story is true, etc." One joker even accused me of being the owner of US1Camera in disguise. Another guy went through the exercise of avoiding every bit of factual information that I provided, actual part numbers mind you, while providing "evidence" that weird stuff from e-Bay was what I had actually received in my order. Complete and uncritical baloney. Then the thread eventually disappeared...

Oh well.

Best regards,

Lee A. Flippin

The bottom line is to shop around. B&H is a name anymore - sort of like Avid. "You want to be a pro editor than you need to know Avid" "You want to buy pro gear in NYC than you need to go to B&H" I don't agree with either comment.

Fact is that thanks to the internet the age old concept of brick and mortor has gone out the window. How many of the people reading these forums "work at home"? Does that make you less of an editor? Less of post production person? Does the fact that you can now afford to do things on your own, and technology allows you to put "broadcast" material on a few hard drives that you have hooked up to your laptop make you less of a person than someone who works in a 'studio'? I know many many people who all of a sudden are web designers and graphic artists. I know a lot of pople who now will custom build PC's for you. Most of these people work out of their homes.

Yes, there are scammers out there. There always were, but thanks to the internet they are all over the place and far too easy to find. It is not the same as someone walking up to you on 42nd street and asking if you want to buy a new "rolex"....but almost the same. But it does not mean that every single business using a "Mailboxs, etc" for a mailing addy is a fraud...the produciton company I worked for out in Burbank used one because they did not want people stoppping buy the "office", which was also someones house, to drop off reels or headshots.

As for shopping around. Very recent B&H story - about a month ago JVC had some B-Stock items. One needed to talk to their JVC rep. So I contacted B&H. There response was that they had no B-Stock. I said you need to get a hold of JVC. The pro store that B&H is said that JVC has no B-Stock. Meanwhile another company - Full Compass - was on the ball and within 5 hours had one on the prices for one of the B-Stock items. This was about the same exact time frame that B&H was telling me that JVC has no B-Stock available. With in 3 days they had talked to JVC and gotten all the prices on all the B-Stock items I had asked about.

Want another B&H story? Ok - they always have these little "Call because the price it so low we can't say" type of hype. You get a low price and than go to B&H and they tell you a higher price than the lower price from another place. Why do you really think that might be? Well I am sure rent and taxes in Manhattan are not cheap for a brick and motor builing that size. Obviously you figure in commisions for the sales people and the cost of going to all those trade shows all over the country. Yes they do big business, but they also have a higher overhead than some other places might.

When I got a Panasonic Mini-DV camera about 5 years ago I got a quote from B&H and another quote form an "Authorized" dealer that promised they would beat B&H's price. I also got a quote from BuyDig. B&H had the highest price at somehting like $1,100.00 for the camera. The other place said they would go $100 less. However when I told them the quote from BuyDig was something like $750.00 the guy went off...telling me how it was not a NTSC model, that it wouldn't have any accesories. So I said "Well you say you will beat any deal, so why can't you beat this?" and he said they they were not authorized dealers...and the deal was they would only beat an offer from an authorized dealer,like B&H. After that call I was a bit freaked out so I called Panasonic and asked them about their authorized dealers...and if BuyDig was one. BuyDig was indeed listed as one. Panasonic also said that "authorized dealer" or not the standard warrenty that came in the box would be honored no matter what, but the differance was that an authorized dealer would accept the return where as if the unit came from an "unauthorized" dealer you would have to pack up the camera with the sales receipt and send it off to the nearist Pani factory...they call it a "factory" warrenty for a reason, just that an authorized vendor would probably replace the unit right there or send it out to an "authorized" repair facility. Bottom line I got the camera, with no hassle what so ever, from BuyDig. It came in a sealed box with everything it should. Never had any problems. I have since sent other people over to them, and they have never had any issues either.

If you want to shop around you may find you can get more or the same amount. I can't say that B&H has ever impressed me with their prices or willingness to help beyond the basic "In stock here is the cost" or "Nope. Don't have it". I can't count the amount of times I have been placed on hold for longer than 15 minutes. One time I was placed on hold for 30 minutes when the line finally went dead. I called back and got a recording saying the store was closed. Depsite all of that B&H has lots of stuff and they have a real store than you can go into and play with gear. And clearly the 'industry' loves them...so you know, if that is what matters than awesome, go for it. If someone asked me for where to go I would say BuyDig and Full Compass are great places to start. Get price quotes and go to B&H and see if they will match the prices if you feel more comfort going with them. I have never once seen B&H come close to some of the other prices I can get elsewhere. (My JVC SR-VS30 I went to B&H to get a price quote on - it was around $1,000.00 so I went and got it from PC Mall for $700.00)

Sorry - this wasn't meant to be anti-B&H but it sort of sounds that way. My bottom line is one should shop around and that B&H is not the only place in the universe to get gear from.

One reason our views are so divers here is that the old experiences need be reviewed in the internet age. Many of the sleezy NY dealers who advertised in the back of pho mags have done so well in the internet age they have become main stream. Their service, morals and reputation has got a lot better. They have now big investments in their business and are not fly-by-nights any longer. They have a reputaion to keep up.

Who here, despite all the tales of woe, has been riped-off in the last year? If anyone has please post us the companies and the full details. I stick by what I have said many times, these guys give you what you want at the best price. I have never had a problem and the only real gripeI I hear is from the authorised dealers (who are the real rif-off merchants) and a few customers who found out they just paid too much.

"1. Get a map of the Eastern United States.
2. Get a compass and set the radius to 5 inches.
3. Stick the point of the compass in the middle of Central Park
4. Draw a circle
5. Don't buy anything from within the circumference of the circle."

Wow! Does it matter what is the scale of the map? :)

Richard Hunter

If i did that on the map i print out from maps.yahoo.com i'd be blocking out everything east of Montana and north of Havana. Hmmm, I could still shop in California though.

Wow! Does it matter what is the scale of the map?
-------------------------------------------

I knew someone was going to catch me on that one, but I thought it was going to be the same day. That's what I get for being a wise guy.
Actually it wouldn't be a circle anyway because the farther north you go from NYC the more honest the vendors become as well. It is really the greater New York/New Jersey metropolitan area that is the problem.

Also, one of the posters above mentioned Full Compass. They are my main supplier for audio equipment. I have also purchased some video equipment from them as well. They are great to deal with and you can haggle with them. Also very good for audio equipment is ZZounds. BuyDig (Worldwide Direct) runs hot and cold and falls within my no scale map zone. They charge your credit card immediately even if the item isin't in stock. If it isn't in stock you have to make a lot of phone calls to find out. Then if you cancel the order, you will have to fight with them endlessly to get a credit back on your card. If the item comes in while you are battling with them they may or may not ship it anyway. If you call them they may give you the nasty New York Metro area abrupt and curt brush off. Sometimes, if everything goes right people are happy with their transactions with BuyDig. Who needs to take a chance though? Why must trying to get a good deal involve taking abuse from useless people with a bad attitude and no sense of human decency.

John

Royal Camera is selling (or so they say) the NEW Canon GL-2 for $1309!

Anyone know how they do this or is it a bait and switch? Check it our:

http://royalcamera.com/cangl2digcam.html

They dont come with a manufactures waranty. Manual may or may not be in English. Click on the "About Royal Camera Tab"
For low prices, I have not found better then BuyDig.com

http://www2.buydig.com/shop/home.aspx

Carl

mhbstevens, I was tracking this thread for a few days last month, and from what I read, I thought you had your mind made up about sites like royalcamera.com.