Tri-state camera.com

Has anyone bought from the business listed in the title? Some of the prices I’m seeing are to good to be true for new glass.

jlstan wrote in post #18822962
Has anyone bought from the business listed in the title? Some of the prices I’m seeing are to good to be true for new glass.

I bought a whole Beseler 4x5 enlarger and color head outfit from Tristate back in the 1990's...I know that doesn't necessarily mean they are reputable or not today!

jlstan wrote in post #18822962
Has anyone bought from the business listed in the title? Some of the prices I’m seeing are to good to be true for new glass.

The margins on cameras and lenses are tiny, tiny, wafer thin. That is why many retailers try hard to get you to buy the vastly over priced extended warranty, extra batteries, over prices filters etc etc.

Now it is entirely possible that this is just a company that wants to make people happy by selling for no profit, but I doubt it. The most likely option is that it is a grey import with no manufacturers warranty, or they will push hard to up-sell on useless over priced stuff; or it may just be a bait and switch... "Sorry that item is out of stock. Wont have it again for 8 weeks but we have this more expensive one in stock".

By all means buy. Just make sure you do your due diligence first. Check what the warranty is (and double check when the lens arrives) and pay by credit card so that you can do a charge back if a problem occurs. Also make sure to google "[company name] reviews" and "[company name] scam" and have a good read.

https://www.resellerra​tings.com …amera_Video_and​_Computers

Lou

Example of a to good to be true. What am I not seeing. I buy everything from B&H normally

jlstan wrote in post #18823631
Example of a to good to be true. What am I not seeing.

The reviews Lou linked too mention grey market goods and an attempt to upsell add-ons. Provided you are comfortable with grey market give them a try.

I am skeptical of this. Reseller Ratings can be "skewed" at best. Look at the number of Yelp, Yahoo and Google review that are not anywhere near 9.XX out of 10.

TSC website has address of Sullivan St. Here is Google Street View of the location:

I’m sticking with B&H

He chose - wisely!

I prefer to shop at a local big name B.B. retail electronics store for my L lenses. They order them for me online for store pickup and offer interest free financing to boot.
Update: One sales person dropped a $1000.00 lens 5 feet to the floor and attempted to sell it to me. Even said the boxed lens would be just fine. I demanded a different box with a different serial number or a full refund. I suggested they put the dropped lens aside to have it inspected by a service center.
There are a few camera stores from the 1970's and camera magazine days still around and now advertising and selling on the internet.
Its sometimes good to call any on line camera store's telephone numbers and try to speaking to someone.
Know what your looking for before calling any on line photo store.
Some online photo stores have actual customers waiting and shopping at the retail store and the sales person may place you on hold.

I had a buddy that attempted to buy a 70-200 from them a while back. They called him and said he was getting a grey market lens, and asked him to pay a few hundred more for a USA version, which is warrantied. Guy basically lied about actually having a warranty with the upgrade, because they are not authorized. Luckily, my friend was smart enough to decline after not liking the warranty related answers.

Oh and forgot to mention, after 10 days of not shipping his grey market lens and having his emails ignored, he went through his CC company to get his money back.

y2nicco wrote in post #18842137
I had a buddy that attempted to buy a 70-200 from them a while back. They called him and said he was getting a grey market lens, and asked him to pay a few hundred more for a USA version, which is warrantied. Guy basically lied about actually having a warranty with the upgrade, because they are not authorized. Luckily, my friend was smart enough to decline after not liking the warranty related answers.

y2nicco wrote in post #18842139
Oh and forgot to mention, after 10 days of not shipping his grey market lens and having his emails ignored, he went through his CC company to get his money back.

So the classic bait n switch it is then.

Yup!

Many of these merchants are that way, unfortunately. I do know of people that had similar experiences with 6ave and deals all year, but their items ultimately shipped. They call, you decline and say thats all you can afford and you know its grey market, and they ship.

I have never personally shopped with them, though.

Good luck!

For anyone looking for a small local business as an alternative to places like B&H or Adorama, check out these guys:

https://allenscamera.c​om

Their pricing tends to be in line with the big guys and they have a great reputation for personal service.