New York Discount Camera Companies

Internet lesson # 137

Just in case you hadn't figured it out yet, New York seems to be the gateway for gray market, refurbished and other assorted electronics which otherwise would not make it into the country and into the hands of consumers.

I deduce this by the correlation between [cheapest prices for any particular electronic item you might want to look up online, on a site like Yahoo! Shopping], and [that company's geographical location- which nine times out of ten is somewhere in New York City or Manhattan.] You can tell you're dealing with 'pro' scam artists, their website lists no physical address, or lists a PO box or apartment.

I suppose the other possibility the stores are all there is that nowhere else in the country is there such a font of pushy, aggressive assholes to use up and throw away.

Here's how it works. You order something from their website. They either call you, or make you call them, and once on the phone, they hard-sell you extras for your camera. And many times they don't ship the item you asked for, they ship something which is broken, they ship it missing parts, they don't ship it at all...

I dealt with these bozos about 3 years ago and got by ok. They managed to upsell me on a case, memory card and card reader, but all in all I was going to buy those anyway, and the price was reasonable. My camera arrived intact and still works (knocking on desk).

I think that's called luck.

But just you try to order something from them without playing along with their upsell.

Here's a link that illustrates pretty well one particular establishment's practices:

Broad way Cam er a

(I broke up their name so as to not give them any more credit as a web presence than they already have)

Age old wisdom always seems to bite you on the ass when you think you're going to be clever and get away with something... and now the internet is here for us all to cry to, and record our whining for all eternity.