I`ve just spoken to Currys today to order my Nikon D300 at the price they gave me 3 weeks ago on offer AWOFF70 as per the website at the time, £899.00, apparently I am NOW being told I was given the wrong information and they dont sell D300 body`s only??? but can sell me one with a lens on for £1400.00??, Do these people know what they are doing?, Does anyone know whos doing the best deal at the moment?
Do they go above or below Jessops on your list of most hated camera dealers then, Monk?
Frustrating isn't it?
We went to Currys a couple of months back to order a Fridge/freezer they had in stock. They had a price beater promise on it and we told them the same sized fridge/freezer was on sale in Comet for £30 less. They looked up both on the web and guess what? Different model numbers so, not the same fridge they said, but the overall size was identical, the inner space was to within 2mm and the furniture was exactly the same.
NOT TO CURRYS, so we won't be going back again.
Monk will know of Dinsmores, a tackle manufacturer. He produces all of his goods for different stores, multiple outlets and ALL with different product codes even though they are the same identical product. This is Curry's get-out clause and one they will probably insist on. So don't believe the hype, it's bullshine.
No jessops are still the biggest pratts, currys second bunch of idiots, they both now had their chances, first person to offer me one for £900 gets the bisuness as long as its not Jessops or currys, I`d sooner pay an extra £50 than give the business to those pratts
You may remember when I had that problem with jessops recently and removed all my business and they had to make huge redundancies and closed stores down, let this be a warning to Currys
Some thirty years ago I found out that there is a definate fix by the large dealers and the manufacturers of white goods as they are called. We wanted a washing machine and looked for the best price. A company called Trident (Currys) had what we wanted but was ten pounds dearer than Comet. We asked them to price match Comet because we had seen the same machine there. Just as you were told Woody they said it was a different model number.
The Machine was a Hoover automatic washing machine. Hoover, according to their pamphlets and lists made only two models of the machine we wanted. One had just one spin speed, where the one we wanted had two.
Further they both sold Bosch washing machines. Where as Comet were cheaper on Hoover, Trident were cheaper on Bosch by exactly the same amount of ten pounds.
So that led me to firmly believe that they are supplied with model numbers so as to run arranged cartels. Even more so today. Nothings new. Manufactures will get around and consumer law.
Been wondering about cash back offers by manufacturers. Are they putting these offers up so as to keep artificial pricing high. Why don't they just get on and lower their prices at dealer level so as to bring about fair competition. Why is there a huge immediate drop in secondhand cameras of high quality?????????????
Tripod asks - "Been wondering about cash back offers by manufacturers. Are they putting these offers up so as to keep artificial pricing high. Why don't they just get on and lower their prices at dealer level so as to bring about fair competition."
Take a camera with RRP of £650, with a £50 cashback you pay £600.
Reduce the trade price by £50 and - first of all you have to take VAT off the £650 - £553 (yes,the Chancellor takes nearly £100). Now say the dealers are on 40% (£221 - might be less though) Profit On Returns (official term for the percentage he keeps) brings trade price down to £332. Now take £50 off that for a new trade price of £282.
Now, build up the price again to retail - the dealer adds £188 and VAT adds £82.25 making new total - just £552.25.
GEE, YOU JUST SAVED ANOTHER £47.75!
However, dealer has lost £33 of his profit as well. Just shows though, how cheap the camera would become. In summary though, if instead of giving £50 casheback they took £50 off the trade price and allowed it to work up, you would benefit by a saving of £97.75 and not just £50.
(I'm saying this not knowing if the £50 cashback deal would also nclude a VAT reclaim, sounds to me like it can't, but I stand to be corrected.)
Cash back is pure and simple. What ever the cash back is thats what you get. So the Manufacturer could be the ones paying the VAT............Or are they. Hummmmmmmmmm
The manufacturer won't pay any VAT on a Cashback anyway. The question is, do they reclaim any VAT and are they allowed to reclaim any? I don't know because for all my years of dealing with H.M. Customs and Excise (as they were then) I have never run a scheme like a cahsback.
So do they give you £41.25 out of their pocket and £8.75 out of the Chancellor's?
You would still get a better retail deal if they stripped £41.25 off the trade price though.
Answer to C&E would be something like "Sorry but we overcharged in the beginning and just to show goodwill we won't claim back the VAT as we didn't pay it in the beginning. Or something on those lines.
What a ball of Wool, and one with loads of legal knots in it.
Regards John. ( with three legs as advised to avoid shakes ) lol.
D300s still appear to be holding there price although I`m told Nikon have a back log on production at the moment. I phones 5 shots in Manchester yesterday and offered £950 for one, and only one shop agreed but didnt have one in stock
Maybe you should just buy one, all this hanging around means less shooting time. There will always be a cheaper price tommorow, when is the best time to buy? "Never" just buy it!!!
I have had mine (Bought on-line from Purdy's) three weeks already, complete with MB-10 Grip and three lenses from someone else and the Flashgun again from someone else. I just decided to set what I had price-wise in stone and go for it...
yes cheers mark, I just bought one over the weekend, £949.53 pence, thats all the change I had left from Macdonalds haha, lovely camera, I just need the battery pack and cable release now,. my old flashgun works on it, I have the SB800. I like the D300 a big improvement on my D200, the D100s redundant now, shame these battery pack were not transferable
I have gone third party with Battery Packs, I used the Grip for a few days with the standard AA Cartridge and it just chewed through them, mind you I did have the Grip set for Primary power usage, so I have bought 5 spare EN-EL3 Batteries (It never pays to be too careful!!) I prefer the weight and size now with the Grip (I'm thinking I should have gone with the D3 from the start, but I have other Hobbies to service too!) and am pleased with the quality. As for the Remote release I went with one of those Photixx Wireless Jobbies (Why Can't Nikon come out with something so sweet?) and I have to say it's brilliant...
One recommendation, (I know that you have bought a card already, but...) If you can go for it, go for UDMA Compact Flash at the highest speed, it's amazing how quick they are on NEF Images. I have one 8GB Lexar and another on the way (You can get them at about £77.00 on some sites, I paid £102.00 "oh well, some you win, some you lose" and if you are not all that familiar with Capture NX (Another package to learn?) buy a book on it, I bought Nikon Capture NX by Ben Long from Amazon, it has saved me hours...
thanks for that mark, sorry being a bit fik here but could you run past me again;
have gone third party with Battery Packs, I used the Grip for a few days with the standard AA Cartridge and it just chewed through them, mind you I did have the Grip set for Primary power usage
Monk, I went on a photo shoot today, I was the model.
YES, I know what you are about to say, but it is true. They wanted an old fart in there and I was it. 150 poses pulling faces and two hours later I was away with a large pay cheque! (PS No, I wasn't naked! That's another job I do, sometimes.)
Anyway, key message from the real PROFESSIONAL. I was interested why he kept filling cards so quickly.
He was shooting in RAW and JPEG (same time) and using 1 and 2 gb cards only, that's all, nothing bigger. The reason, he said, was that if a card goes corrupt he only loses 12 or 24 pictures whereas if he uses BIG cards, he could lose the whole shoot.
And at MY prices he couldn't afford me back again! Something to think about when buying cards!
Sorry Monk, You can set the Battery preference to use the Grips power source first, followed by the Cameras and Vice-Versa. As I have the Grip on the Camera all the time (I like the weight and size as I have big hands!) it makes it easier to use the Grips power source first as it is easier access. By Third party Batteries, I mean Non-Nikon (But Grey in colour as D200 I believe or was it the D100? used Black coloured Battery, with a slightly different voltage) they are much cheaper and in my opinion last just as long.
I hope that clears this up, as for the larger sized Compact Flash, I find it easier this way, I always buy more capacity then I need. What are the odds on Card failure for a non-pro? Millions to one!!!
Monk, I went on a photo shoot today, I was the model.
YES, I know what you are about to say, but it is true. They wanted an old fart in there and I was it. 150 poses pulling faces and two hours later I was away with a large pay cheque! (PS No, I wasn't naked! That's another job I do, sometimes.)
Anyway, key message from the real PROFESSIONAL. I was interested why he kept filling cards so quickly.
He was shooting in RAW and JPEG (same time) and using 1 and 2 gb cards only, that's all, nothing bigger. The reason, he said, was that if a card goes corrupt he only loses 12 or 24 pictures whereas if he uses BIG cards, he could lose the whole shoot.
And at MY prices he couldn't afford me back again! Something to think about when buying cards!
doing a bit of modelling eh mate, well it takes all sorts i suppose, but yes i`ve always gone fior the small cards for the same reason, I`d hate an 8 gig card to go down on me.
Sorry Monk, You can set the Battery preference to use the Grips power source first, followed by the Cameras and Vice-Versa. As I have the Grip on the Camera all the time (I like the weight and size as I have big hands!) it makes it easier to use the Grips power source first as it is easier access. By Third party Batteries, I mean Non-Nikon (But Grey in colour as D200 I believe or was it the D100? used Black coloured Battery, with a slightly different voltage) they are much cheaper and in my opinion last just as long. I hope that clears this up, as for the larger sized Compact Flash, I find it easier this way, I always buy more capacity then I need. What are the odds on Card failure for a non-pro? Millions to one!!!
thanks Mark
yes i understand now mate, sorry about that,
On the D100 its the Nikon EN-EL3, Li-ion 7.4V 1400mAh, the D300 is the Grey Nikon EN-EL3e 7.4V 1500mAh, the D200 was marketed with both, all fit all of course, I think the technical term is LOB, (a load of bollox)