Expresscamera.com and the 17-55

Ok, so I am in the market for an EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS. I do a search on the internet and espresscamera.com comes back with a brand new price of $999.00. Too good to be true, but I gotta check it out. I call up the place and ask about the lens, is the price correct, whats the shipping etc. The guy tells me that the $999.00 model is a plastic mount lens and the metal mount upgrade is $99.00 more. He also tells me that the lens has a 1.6x conversion on focal length but it also converts the ISO to F/5.6. Of course he can fix this with another $99.00 upgrade. At this point I am dying laughing. I asked him how many poor saps fall for their scam, he gets mad, tells me to buy it for more money some where else and hangs up. Moral of the story, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

www.resellerrating.com can really help too

Here is another good one, the 17-55 will be 45 mm on a 30D, but if you but the Sigma 17-50, it will be just like using a 17mm wide angle, I am still in awe

Story about a different place (actually probably the SAME place with different Name in the ad!)...I contacted yesterday, they called back today. I am told the lens advertised is a grey market lens (I was prepared for that). I state, but your ad says "US Warranty"...he replies "It is!" (unstated..."when you ship it to our third party service company, not Canon") then he asks if I want the plastic mount or the metal mount lens, as the metal mount lens is added $100 ("ha! ha! ha!" to myself...plastic mount 23oz lens, right!) . I inquire about the grey mount price vs. US Manufacturer Warranty price and he rattles off the numbers. Then he tells me the total, which is about $1100...I remark, "Hey wait a minute...the lens was advertised at $959, plus $30 to ship...what's the additional money for?" his reply..."Insurance". I know better (I later priced FedEx costs for $100 item vs. $1000 item...difference $5.00!). So I say "Let's forget it".

If it's too good to be true, its Brooklyn!

That sure sounds like my experience too, need to get rid of dealers like that

Best Price, Express Camera... different businesses, different locations, similar tactics

I ended up getting mine from B&H with the PSaug code for $1,079.00

Good price, reliable dealer. It bothers me somewhat that 'if you know the code' you get the same price as anyone else!