Has B&H been exposed?

dtsang wrote in post #7890944
I did the same and picked it up from J&R, a comparable store to B&H and Adorama.

I had my credit card in hard and was ready to pull the trigger on the 100-400L then I noticed that B&H raised their price from $1,360 to $1,400 so I guess I was a few days late. So I did the same thing and sent my business to J&R who were nice enough not to raise their prices.

Like everyone else here I am disappointed that B&H / Adorama did this since they are usually my go to retailers. To your defense, I hope you had to raise the price out of necessity and not out of the need to get greater profit.

Kudos to J&R (Hope you guys keep this up)

Just Be wrote in post #7890650
....I'm beginning to think that "Rebates" are NOT something to look forward to anymore.

I've notices that since Canon switched to instant rebates, pretty much all of the retailers jack up the price a few weeks before the rebate kicks in. But to do so after just plain sucks.

I'm with those that said "why not just buy somewhere else?" As consumers we have a choice as to where we spend our money so if you don't like that a store raises their prices so often then just don't buy from there. Having worked in similar retail stores before I can tell you guys that sometimes there are just things that we can't/shouldn't tell customers. Those are considered trade secrets or sensitive information. It's like if they respond we would have more questions and demand more answers. But if they don't respond we would think that they're hiding something. It's a no-win situation so if you don't like their prices, then buy your gear elsewhere.

With that said, I can see where the rest of you guys are coming from. If Canon has raised prices then shouldn't all retailers feel the same affect? Sure it could be argued that different dealers get different rates. But B&H is one of the biggest retailers so based on that they should get a pretty good rate from Canon as well. So that begs the question: Canon prices have been raised for a while now, why is it that only some stores (and major ones to note) only raise their prices when the rebates are in effect? What's weird is that other stores such as Beach Camera have fluctuating prices. I mean if Canon increased prices then howcome they go up and down from time to time? The only reason I can think of is that some stores are buying from suppliers or other stores and not necessarily from Canon directly. Thus prices could fluctuate depending on the quantity as well as how many orders those suppliers can fill.

Now I don't remember shopping with B&H before but have heard a lot of good things about them. So I'm not attacking nor defending them- just playing devil's advocate here. I just feel that it's a little unfair to attack just one store.

The answer seems quite easy - unless you really NEED the new lens/camera or whatever, just hold off and wait for the prices to come down - it is after all a question of supply and demand. It seems quite obvious that Canon decided to cut the supply side of the equation (just look at all the out of stock lenses) and now B&H and Adorama try to screw us on the rebates! I for certain will not buy anything in the near future. I only have a wishlist, not a must-have list.

BigBlueDodge wrote in post #7888930
Christopher, Canon raised those prices at the beginning of the year. Any price increases have already been reflected in the inventory of the online sellers months ago. This is NOT a result of the price increases Canon announced last year. This is a result of greed from B&H and Adorama and other companies.

The joys of certainty, based on ... nothing.

Can anyone say, "Tempest in a teapot?"

B&H is the largest and most recognizable, therefore becomes the primary target for "victims." Just like Walmart.

There's a reasonably simple explanation why some retailers have not raised their prices--they have old stock purchased at the old wholesale price. Whereas high volume, high turnover places like B&H and Adorama are constantly replenishing stock and should be the first place to feel the effect of any change in the wholesale price.

Of course, the other inconsistency is that no one whines too much about Amazon--whose pricing on some products can change within minutes depending on supply and demand. It's as if all these companies "owe" them the "right" to the lowest prices and the best service. Or note that even Sigma lenses, and Nikon equipment have all gone up in price in the recent weeks.

A lot of malignant narcissism and victim mentality going on here.

I would encourage people who aren't happy with B&H to simply buy somewhere else and spare the rest of us the constant barrage of charges in thread after thread of some conspiracy to "stick it to you." If you don't buy from them, they can't "stick it to you" now, can they?

I pointed this out the day the rebate was released. My FIL was in the market for his first DSLR. B&H & Adorama were charging (after rebate) $850 for the 55-250 and XSi package. If you bought the camera $700 and the lens $250 separately that would be $950, take off the $200 and it should be $750. So they packaged it into a "deal" and sold it for $850.

Amazon priced it correctly at $750. Add both to your cart, go to the checkout page and it was $750. So guess where he bought from?

I love both Adorama and B&H and the service by both, but I agree it is kind of sleazy. Canon backed it though, if you look at the PDF, it shows a bundle rebate price of $850.

M3Rocket wrote in post #7892145
Can anyone say, "Tempest in a teapot?"

I can, and did in post #19. The price rise on the lens I was interested in occurred last January.

When wholesale prices rise, retail prices must rise if the retailer is going to make a profit.

Geez, what a bunch of whiners.

-js

number six wrote in post #7893533

Geez, what a bunch of whiners.

-js

I thought that at first but then I realized that if people don't do something about it, sooner or later every retail store will do it. Then we will run out of the "go shop at another store" option because all their prices would be raised. I am for once on the fence about something.

Prices rising is all part of the game and I don't believe anyone is complaining so much about rising prices as to the timing of this particular price increase. A manufacturer (Canon) offers hardware with an instant rebate thus they are selling the lens cheaper to the retailers so that they can pass the savings along to the consumer. The intent was to entice consumers to buy more hardware from the manufacturer. It seems that the timing if the retailers price increase coinciding with the rebate program makes it look as if the retailers are taking the rebate for themselves and not passing along the savings. Whether that what happened or not, it sure looks that way and once again Canon is getting burned by a poorly run rebate program.

gjl711 wrote in post #7893752
Prices rising is all part of the game and I don't believe anyone is complaining so much about rising prices as to the timing of this particular price increase. A manufacturer (Canon) offers hardware with an instant rebate thus they are selling the lens cheaper to the retailers so that they can pass the savings along to the consumer. The intent was to entice consumers to buy more hardware from the manufacturer. It seems that the timing if the retailers price increase coinciding with the rebate program makes it look as if the retailers are taking the rebate for themselves and not passing along the savings. Whether that what happened or not, it sure looks that way and once again Canon is getting burned by a poorly run rebate program.

Sums up the sentiments here nicely I think. Thanks

[QUOTE=gjl711;7893752]​Prices rising is all part of the game and I don't believe anyone is complaining so much about rising prices as to the timing of this particular price increase. A manufacturer (Canon) offers hardware with an instant rebate thus they are selling the lens cheaper to the retailers so that they can pass the savings along to the consumer. The intent was to entice consumers to buy more hardware from the manufacturer. It seems that the timing if the retailers price increase coinciding with the rebate program makes it look as if the retailers are taking the rebate for themselves and not passing along the savings. Whether that what happened or not, it sure looks that way and once again Canon is getting burned by a poorly run rebate program.[/quote]

plus BH has done this before. and last time they trotted out a couple of stories and when that didn't work they rescinded the price hikes and blamed the computer.

that time the economy was humming along just fine.

coincidence? capitalism 101? hose job?

of course we'll each believe what we want .

ed rader

Ed is right. I think it was three years ago, B+H raised the prices then apologized, saying it was a computer error. It's pathetic, every spring rebate either Canon or the merchants try to raise prices after the rebates start. Why do they do this so overtly? Don't they realized that people will be upset when we see the rebate vanish.

Many people wait months for the rebate while they save up some cash and then poof. That just gets you all psyched up for a new lens only to find that you are $50 or $100 short. It's like, they think we won't even notice because they were so cunning about the price hike.

What these dealers are doing is basically stealing from us. It's money that was supposed to be given to discount Canon purchases. Instead, these dealers raised prices to offset the discount and are keeping the money. Some folks are supporting their decision and they can float whatever excuses they want to try, but I'm not buying it. If they needed to raise prices they would have - oh that's right, prices were already going up. They've been passing the prices increases along. It's not like these "nobble" retailers have been holding onto the 2005 pricing.
Another suggestion they make is that maybe sales are down and they're keeping the rebates to make up for loses - do the folks who are cool with that use coupons, or buy items on sale then return the discount to the retailer? If not, then why is ok for our "esteemed" dealers to keep our money? Sales may be down, but it's still NOT THEIR MONEY!

I think consumers and Canon are getting hosed by the retailers. I've said it before, this solution (trusting the retailers) is a failure. Canon is getting hurt by bad PR and their rebates aren't helping sales like they'd hoped. Consumers are getting hosed by their only source for their gear. Canon needs to slap these dealers around - I'd like it if Canon refused to honor any of the rebates claimed after the dealers raised prices. And, in the future Canon needs to handle the rebates internally then mail them directly to the consumers.

dan

dan j wrote in post #7894694
What these dealers are doing is basically stealing from us

Don't let them do it! Buy somewhere else! Or don't buy at all until they lower their prices.