I am fortunate. In my metro area of 1.5 million or so people, there are
two good camera stores. The larger one, that does Canon and Nikon, is
about 40 minutes away. The other one, that does Pentax and Minolta and
some Nikon is 3 minutes away. And the owners are knowledgeable and
responsive. I have bought all of my new bodies from them, some of the
lenses. They give a small discount to regular customers and I don't ask
for anything more. A low volume means they need a higher margin per
sale. I don't mind paying a 10-15% premium over B&H to help keep them
in business. I know they will be there for me when I need something...
I saw one owner 4th of July (I was in the parade, he was on the side).
I stopped to talk, said "hey, soon after the K100D and K110D, there
will be a K10D. I want you to order that for me." I went in to see him
soon after the K10D October delivery was announced; he said "hi Stan, I
ordered your camera this morning. I couldn't do it earlier because
Pentax hadn't provided the item-number code until now." That is why I
will use a (good) local store whenever I can. I go to the local
independent hardware before I try Lowes or Home Depot. I will buy from
the locally owned grocery store rather than a big chain.
I think part of what underlies my preferences, and unwillingness to
save a few (or a lot of) dollars is a belief in the essential
advantage of community over individualistic anarchy.
Stan
"There are 10 kinds of people: those who understand binary and those
who don't."
On Oct 25, 2006, at 3:39 PM, John Celio wrote:
> The photographic industry needs your support right now, and I'd like
> to take
> a moment to convince anyone who is willing to listen why you're better
> off
> buying from local camera shops than internet sites or big box stores.
>
>
> When you buy something from a local store, there are two major
> advantages
> for your community (this is from a US point of view, so things may be
> slightly different elsewhere). First, your money is supporting local
> businesses and jobs, and it stays local. It doesn't go to some
> corporate
> headquarters on the other side of the country. Second, the taxes you
> pay
> support your local municipalities, such as schools and fire stations.
> Buying online does not support any of these services, which you may
> need
> some day.
>
> Buying local can also be more convenient in the event you need any
> sort of
> customer service. The fact that you can talk to someone face to face
> means
> you can usually get your problem solved in a more timely manner. At
> the
> very least, having a local specialty shop to go to usually means a
> large
> portion of the staff knows what they're talking about, and since they
> want
> to keep you as a customer they will usually do what it takes to make
> you
> happy (managers especially).
>
> Big box stores (by which I mean places like Fry's, Best Buy, Wal*Mart,
> etc)
> and internet stores don't care about the customer; they usually care
> more
> about sales volume. Their prices are low because they move so many
> items
> they don't need a large profit margin on most things. Their prices
> are also
> low because their staff is often not as knowledgeable about the
> products
> they sell as staff are at specialty shops, like the one I used to work
> at.
> In other words, the box stores tend to hire cheap labor.
>
> A lot of internet stores sell low-quality accessories at high markups
> because they know the customer won't know what they're getting till it
> arrives in the mail ("it comes with a memory card? great!"). I know
> a lot
> of PDML members probably wouldn't fall for that, but it something a
> lot of
> everyday buyers have no clue about.
>
>
> There are plenty more reasons for shopping at local stores and
> specialty
> shops, but suffice to say, if you want local camera shops to exist AT
> ALL in
> the future, please consider buying from them in the present. Yes,
> you'll
> probably pay a little more, but it's worth it in the long run.
>
> Isn't it?
>
> John Celio
> (if it weren't for so many people buying online and at big box stores,
> I'd
> probably still be working at Reed's)
>
> --
>
> http://www.neovenator.com
>
> AIM: Neopifex
>
> "Hey, I'm an artist. I can do whatever I want and pretend I'm making a
> statement."
>
>
>
> --
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> [email protected]
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>
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