Retailers in Las Vegas

[Mikey-2u]

My friend is visiting Las Vegas in October and I want to order a 20D now so that he can pick one up from the there - Does anyone know of any reputable retail outlets. (You may already know, but there is only VAT to pay on digi camera and NO duty)

[rsnadel]

FYI (in case you were not aware)...assuming your friend can find one to buy, he will be charged a Nevada state sales tax of 7.5% on the purchase price. I suspect that's still better than whatever import tax you might pay...but just thought you should be aware of the additional tax. One of the reasons many people buy online is to avoid the sales tax that must be paid in many states when you purchase a product and carry it out the door.

[jukas]

As rsnadel mentioned, if he walks into a store and buys it, he'll have to cough up another 7.5%.

However, if you were to order it from someplace like B&H that ships out of NY, you wouldn't have to pay any sales tax, just shipping, and could have it sent to your door, in time for your friends visit (assuming the 20D's are shipping obviously).

The only downside is it would require you to pony up the cash upfront, or your friend to find a way to transfer funds.

[johnleveritt]

My friend is visiting Las Vegas in October and I want to order a 20D now so that he can pick one up from the there - Does anyone know of any reputable retail outlets. (You may already know, but there is only VAT to pay on digi camera and NO duty)

There are several shops here in Las Vegas, the problem being they will charge full retail, and tax. Does your friend know where he is staying, and for how long. He could get here order the camera mail-order, and have it delivered to his final destination (hotel, motel, private residence). Then he may get the camera cheaper, and avoid the State sales tax.

Of course, that's a lot of trouble for a little savings, I suggest your friend check out all of the reputable mail-order houses, before coming, just to check out the savings on the camera.

I called Sahara Camera Center, and they are expecting delivery in mid September.

Some shops here are:

Sahara Camera Center-702-457-3333
Casey's Cameras-702-736-0890
Lamb's Camera Inc.-702-876-0966

These are the Canon dealers listed, of course there are several Ritz/Wolfe Camera shops listed.

P.S. I just called the above listed Canon dealers, and here's what I got:

Sahara Camera Center - mid September with a cost of $1500.00, body only.

Casey's Cameras - mid September with a cost of $1500.00, body only.

Lambs Camera, said they weren't going to stock it for a while (I presume to get rid of current stock of 10D's, but I don't know)

Ritz/Wolfe Camera- didn't even know what I was talking about. I prodded him a little, and told him to get on his computer and check, after 5 minutes of waiting, he came back and told me $1499.00, with no projected time of delivery.

I hope that this helps your friend.

[johnleveritt]

As a follow up on the 20D, the only mail-order house that even lists it yet is Canoga Camera:

http://www.canogacamera.com/e/env/0001dbNKaI9ywWogAs9y0d0/index.html?link=/index.html

They have it listed for $1499.00. They are in California, and I have ordered several things from them with no problem. UPS ground from them is a 2 day ride, and a lot cheaper than sales tax.

$1500.00 plus 7.50% sales tax $112.50 = $1612.50. Bought in Nevada.

$1499.00 plus $15.00 ground shipping = 1514.00, delivered. B-T-W I talked to Derek, and they expect mid September delivery too.

Now it's up to your friend

[Vegas Poboy]

Backing up Johnleveritt's statment it's going to be very hard to find a 20D on the shelf locally. Vegas has many pro's and just photo nuts with $$$. Best bet is to order online, I put in my special request on Friday @ one of the local shops and they was unaware until I showed them the Canon's news release.
Even today a 10D or the Mark II has a shelf life of maybe twentyfour hours in most of the camera stores.