CN FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: Camera Puchasing Recommendations-Avoiding Scams

Camera Puchasing Recommendations

Why We Wrote This

This thread is not intended to give advice as to what camera to buy; rather it is intended to advise on selecting a reputable vendor. It has been written because of the existence of unscrupulous vendors in the camera market who operate in the US according to what is, by now, a well known strategy to dupe buyers. (If you're buying outside the US, as far as we know you don't have to worry about this particular issue).

Since these businesses change their names frequently, there is no comprehensive list provided here. Instead there is a description of the methods they use and an explanation of how to spot such businesses.

The method works like this: advertise a camera at an impossibly cheap price, and when an order is placed, the vendor calls the buyer and pressures them into also purchasing accessories at vastly inflated prices. If they refuse, they will be told that the camera is on backorder and will take a long time to arrive, or the order will be cancelled. This is if you're lucky. They may claim to have already shipped. Don't believe them. They haven't. If you finally insist on cancelling the order they'll tell you you've been "blackballed" and will never be able to order over the internet again. Don't believe it.

How to Spot a Deal You Should Consider Ignoring

These are the primary clues that the camera offer you're looking at might be worth avoiding:

1. The camera is significantly underpriced. Check the price at a reputable dealer, such as B&H Photo, and use that as a reference. If you see the same item offered for much less than that (say, more than 20% less), it's probably too good to be true.

2. The same vendor offers accessories such as CF cards, batteries and lenses at grossly inflated prices. Again, look at a reputable online seller to get a reference and compare prices for, say, a 1GB flash card. Check a few such items. This is usually a quite reliable indicator, since it's a principal component of the scam.

3. Check online for reviews, but don't necessarily trust "seller ratings" websites. Your favorite search engine will be quite reliable here. Search for the name of the website plus the word "scam". If the website is one of the described businesses, you'll quickly recognise reports of the selling method described above.

The above was written mostly by Duncan Kitchin with a tiny amount of input by me. We also have a list of "reputable dealers," but wanted to run this list by moderators first.

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"The truth rarely gets in the way of a good story. ~ R. Woods