why do local camera shops.....

Not carry any canon accesories and try to push the 3rd party stuff? After i got my 40d i picked up the bg-e2 and said screw it i'll get a aftermarket battery here at the store. They had promaster batteries. Got it and said I need a hand strap also. They didn't have any canon, but plenty of promaster. I bought it but quickly returned it.
I then went to another store and asked if they carried the canon strap, again they said no and tried to push the promaster straps. I said thank, but no thanks and walked out.

By me there are not that many camera shops in the area that I can goto. These 2 shops i went to are the only real good ones to goto. I could order it online, but im impatient. Oh and dont say b&h, they're O.O.S.

Do these stores purposely push the promaster for a reason? I rarely see any canon/nikon type of accessories besides really small stuff. Just promaster for everything else.

The reason is markup....there is a much better percentage in off-brand products than there is in stuff from the big boys...that's why Ritz pushes Q-Ray crap so hard.

What the consumer has to do is to make sure that they let these retailers know what they want and why. They will carry these things if there is the demand and the 3rd party items don't move. There is no sense in carrying stock of items that won't move. That is why the 3rd party items are carried. We are willing to spend lots on the bodies themselves but when it comes to accessories we cheap out.

When all else fails, you can try the Canon e-Store. They usually have stock when others don't.

http://estore.usa.cano​n.com …AT=ACC_CAMERA_A​CCESSORIES

I was able to find the Canon E-1 hand strap at my local store with no problems.

tried another store today and they didn't have any straps. Said they'de order me one, which was nice, cause it was the only store that even offered too.