Buying local- ?????

[texag93]

I am fairly new to the high end camera stuff and have been spending quite a bit of money of late. My question is, how many buy from local shops instead of the big box stores or on line? I bought my D90, 50mm F1.8 and my 80-200 F2.8 lens locally and between the three, I could have saved over $250 by buying from B&H....and B&H isn't the cheapest around. I know about the imports vs. USA stuff. I am comparing apples to apples here. Just like with bow shops, I want to buy local but the prices are a little ridiculous.

I will say that their knowledge is great at the local stores but so is knowledge I can get from Ken Rockwell and a host of people on here.

What to do?????

[Casey]

but the prices are a little ridiculous.

...and the selection is usually sub-par....at least around Houston it is.

I buy online because I know I can find what I want, at a respectable price and right now.

[texag93]

The selection has been great at the Odessa store and Armadillo camera in Lubbock. They have never not had something on hand for me to at least play with. They will let you try any lens or what ever at either one. The prices are what is killing me.

[Nitro1970]

Ain't no local shops here. B&H or Adorama for me.

[Snakelover]

So far, the only thing I haven't bought online was my camera bag. The one time I took my camera in to a shop to have the sensor cleaned, they took my battery out and didn't return it. When I said something to them, they said there was no battery in the camera when I brought it in and acused me of trying to get a free battery.

[scotty]

If I can wait a few days, I buy most of my equipment from B&H. I buy from Precision Camera in Austin when I absolutely have to have it now. Some items are more expensive through Precision, but others are the same price,(tax not included).
All my purchases are thoroughly researched ahead of time, so store knowledge doesn't come into play. I know exactly what I want when I go to "pull the trigger".

[M38A1]

I purchase from Precision here in Austin for a couple of reasons. First off, I know the GM, Gregg Burger, from a local motorcycle riding group (AMRG on meetup dot com). We receive a nice discount when we mention the group.

Secondly, every item I've wanted they had in stock and I walk in with the B&H price and every time they've matched or beat it. So shopping locally has worked well for me and I'd like to support the local businesses where and when I can.

[Shane]

I buy mostly online too. I did buy a couple filters from Armadillo a while back when I was driving through Lubbock. I told the girl that I'd buy 2 if she'd drop the price to XX. She went and got the owner. He didn't agreed to my price, but he came down a reasonable amount so I bought them both. The marked prices were pretty high, but I did want to have the filters right then.

[Hillary]

I have bought everything I have through B&H or Ebay.
Haven't had a problem yet.

[texag93]

I buy mostly online too. I did buy a couple filters from Armadillo a while back when I was driving through Lubbock. I told the girl that I'd buy 2 if she'd drop the price to XX. She went and got the owner. He didn't agreed to my price, but he came down a reasonable amount so I bought them both. The marked prices were pretty high, but I did want to have the filters right then.

I have not met the owner yet. He was in Wyoming last time I was there. I may have to start haggling on price some. I want to support them but I'm not gonna bend over to do it.

[grassmaster]

B&H is a respectable outfit. There are plenty of shady outfits based on the upper east coast that try the "bait and switch" deal where you try to buy something for the price listed only to find out they don't have it in stock. But they would love to sell you X that only costs a little more and will do better than what you originally wanted.

Before you buy anything from a website, check out their reviews. I'm with Casey and believe the local guys around Houston don't have the greatest selection and there is plenty of good advice out there on what to buy and why.

[scotty]

I purchase from Precision here in Austin for a couple of reasons. First off, I know the GM, Gregg Burger, from a local motorcycle riding group (AMRG on meetup dot com). We receive a nice discount when we mention the group.

Secondly, every item I've wanted they had in stock and I walk in with the B&H price and every time they've matched or beat it. So shopping locally has worked well for me and I'd like to support the local businesses where and when I can.

Thank you, Scott!
I had no idea that they matched B&H prices. I will definitely give that a try with my next purchase. I would much rather buy locally as well.

[Bill M]

I wouldn't mind buying local but all we have is Ritz in College Station and I'm not even sure they will be around much longer. They have nothing I'm interested in although I have bought a filter or two from them.

I purchase from Precision here in Austin for a couple of reasons. First off, I know the GM, Gregg Burger, from a local motorcycle riding group (AMRG on meetup dot com). We receive a nice discount when we mention the group.

Secondly, every item I've wanted they had in stock and I walk in with the B&H price and every time they've matched or beat it. So shopping locally has worked well for me and I'd like to support the local businesses where and when I can.

I bought my Bigma from Precision online. Wish I had known about the price match, I would have called them to see if they had a better price.

I buy primarily from B&H but also have bought from Adorama and they are very good also.

[M38A1]

I'm not trying to imply they have a policy about matching the B&H price. However, my experience has been every time I go in with one, they've done so. In fact, Gregg has told me that they will try their best to match, but they can't do it on every request. He even spoke about that at the PhotoExpo in Austin a few months ago. But they try.....

I've been very pleased buying locally with Gregg.