local suppliers - staggering price differences.

[Bascule]

I am refreshing my bodies in March, adding one lens, and this selection of items adds up to a decent price. Clearly, even if buying some higher end equipment, none of us can afford to pay any more than we have to for the same items, so it always makes sense to shop around.

For this type of kit, I don't do mail order, and I don't do grey imports. I like to purchase bodies/lenses from local quality suppliers that I can talk to in person, get my hands on the equipment, discuss it sensibly with those that actually know what they're selling. Over the last seven years, most of my kit including studio lighting etc has come from any one of just three businesses local to me. Yes, it always costs a little more than some of the deals available online, and so it should. The ongoing support from these suppliers has been excellent, even to the step of lending me a lens when I was uncertain. The prices do differ between suppliers, but usually not by a significant amount, especially when taking fuel costs into consideration. This time however - very different story.

Last weekend, I emailed all three with the list of items planned, which was
- Nikon D4 body
Eyecup
Spare battery for D4
- Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 lens
- Nikon D800 body plus Grip
Spare battery for D800

In addition, I discussed some tripod options etc.

The responses are in, and I'm actually staggered at the difference. Expecting to see maybe a couple of hundred pounds difference between the suppliers.. what I actually got, was a two THOUSAND pounds difference!!

The best price I have for all the above is £7333.. and the worst was £9383!

I totally get that bare minimum margins can be tough on a supplier. But - How can any supplier in this economy afford to be £2000 out on a kitlist this small?

Its not that they don't want the business - they stock all these items, as well as Zeiss kit etc. I'm an existing customer who has spent loads with them in the past - but there's no way I'm handing over an extra £2k.. Thats enough to take all that kit on a very nice foreign holiday..

Just really surprised, is all. They're great people, very supportive, and long term suppliers of high end stuff - but you've got to be really confident to hope your customers don't bother to check out alternative suppliers.. Bear in mind theres maybe three miles distance between the best price and worst price dealers..

Oh, and a big thumbs-up to Castle Cameras in Winton, for the best price. I've had a few nice bits from them over the years, also great people, and it will be a pleasure to deal with them again.

 

[f1charlie]

I've probably misunderstood, but are you asking for a price now, but you are not going to buy until March? Perhaps the more expensive shop is covering itself in case of price rises.

 

[gramps]

I've probably misunderstood, but are you asking for a price now, but you are not going to buy until March? Perhaps the more expensive shop is covering itself in case of price rises.

£2k in two months?
On the D4 I can only find £474 difference in pricing from a top-price premier Nikon dealer local to me and a well-used UK 'grey' dealer.

 

[f1charlie]

Using camerapricebuster, the D4 ranges from £4000 to £4695 (I excluded the most expensive at £5290 as it is out of stock).

£2k in two months?

You never know, there might be another earthquake or tsunami.

 

[DemiLion]

I'd query Robert White as to why their D4 body is so expensive. That seems to make up the bulk of the difference.

On the other hand, Castle are great to deal with. The only reason that they don't rank as professional dealer status is that they don't want to keep all of the required kit in stock. Frankly I don't blame them!

 

[Bascule]

Price changes in the meantime are an accepted risk, I'm simply at planning/budget stage, and getting everything into place.

Whites are out on all of it tbh. A shame, I like them, but I also like the service from Castle, so I'm happy to go that way, I don't view it as a lesser choice at all.

From Whites, the prices look ok-ish, not brilliant but ok, til you remember that its all then plus VAT - Whites pre-vat price is still more than Castles inc vat price..
Quote: "Nikon D4 Digital Camera Body £4,408.00
Nikon EN-EL18 Spare battery D4 £108
Nikon D800 body £1787.00
Nikon MB-D12 Battery Grip for D800/800E £315.00
Nikon EN-EL15 Battery D800 £55.00
Nikon DK-19 Rubber Eyepiece Edit £6.50
Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 G ED AF-S Lens £1,140.00

Total Excl. Tax £7,819.50
VAT £1,563.90
Total Incl. Tax £9,383.40"

It seems bizarre tbh. A car dealer that was £2k more expensive for the same new car than another same make dealer a few miles away, wouldn't last long. We'd all drive quite a long way for a £2k saving! 2 or three hundred, we'd probably go with the 'convenient' local option. That's really where my surprise is, its just too big a disparity.

For me, just on these responses, I know where I will now be going to inspect tripod options, possibly grab another peli case, and discuss some other options including the WT-5.

 

[f1charlie]

It seems bizarre tbh. A car dealer that was £2k more expensive for the same new car than another same make dealer a few miles away, wouldn't last long. We'd all drive quite a long way for a £2k saving! 2 or three hundred, we'd probably go with the 'convenient' local option. That's really where my surprise is, its just too big a disparity.

Perhaps not everyone would, hence the disparity in prices. If the dealer can get away with it, they will. There are some people who value convenience over saving money - probably because they've got plenty of it or can't be bothered shopping around or are just daft!

 

[PJ S]

Is there a point to this thread or am I missing something?
You've two resellers whom you've used in the past, been happy with their prices at the time (obviously) and the service given - but now one is asking for more than the other.

I'm still not seeing where the problem lies, unless there's a subtext I've overlooked!
Are you wishing it was Whites who were the better deal?
If you prefer them for some reason more than Castle, wouldn't the prudent thing be to ask them to confirm their pricing is correct, in light of another dealer in the country offering the same kit for £2050 less?

I really don't get the premiss of this thread, other than some sort of ego massaging exercise because of the amount of coin being dropped.
Your car analogy is wrong too - it's not all that difficult to find the same car on sale at different prices due to a number of factors, admittedly moreso (but not strictly) on used than new.

 

[Bascule]

Yes you're missing something.

The point was an observation of surprise, in the current climate, that any business can afford to be that far wrong on pricing, when it's a true like-for-like quote. A little bit would have been fair enough, could even possibly be justified either by convenience or after-sales care.
It therefore is simply a dramatic reinforcement of the need to shop around!

( The car analogy specifically stated "the same 'new' car" - and unless they are adding value in a different way (particular servicing deal etc) to differentiate, then no, a £2k difference is too much even at the price of a new car, let alone a couple of cameras.)

I didn't mind which dealer of the 3 ended up best price at all, they're all good to deal with. (The third was LCE in Southampton, which were a few hundred out, but thats all - pretty much as expected.)

Ego massage?! lol, hardly, there's many people with waaay more kit than I have! I'm a long way from being wealthy enough to disregard a £2k difference. F1Charlie summed it up well,

"There are some people who value convenience over saving money - probably because they've got plenty of it or can't be bothered shopping around or are just daft!"

Daft, completely daft.
I don't change hardware that often, so it's something that I take time over to be certain. Your opinion/experience may vary!

 

[PJ S]

I'm still baffled by your surprise that different stores offering the same things, decide to sell them at differing prices.
Granted £2K does seem quite a large spread, but here's a few thoughts:

1) Whites doesn't see the need to go in hard but prepared to move if you entertain haggling with them
2) Whites haven't been as successful as Castle, so need to make more profit when/where they feel it can be made - a big spender being one such possibility
3) Castle have had a bumper year, so can afford to be generous
4) You caught Castle/Whites on a good/bad day with the right/wrong person replying
5) Castle remember your name/able to look it up in previous sales records, Whites didn't/can't place your name
6) Whites have become used to wishful dreamers using them to get a better deal elsewhere, but will offer a better price face to face


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/...esearchad/used,nearlynew,new/price-from/10000 - there's your £2K difference right there.
And before you claim ex-demo doesn't count, yes it does since you're comparing like with like, and for all intent purposes it's a new car.

But all that aside, why don't you just phone or call into Whites and see if they'll offer a better price in light of other dealers being more competitive from the off. They might offer something extra to persuade you to spend your £7.5K with them, then again they may tell you the price is the best their prepared to offer - at least then you'll know you've given them a chance to compete, but they've chosen not to.

 

[gramps]

I think O/P has very valid concerns and I would feel the same surprise.

 

[Studi0488]

Is there a point to this thread or am I missing something?
You've two resellers whom you've used in the past, been happy with their prices at the time (obviously) and the service given - but now one is asking for more than the other.

I'm still not seeing where the problem lies, unless there's a subtext I've overlooked!
Are you wishing it was Whites who were the better deal?
If you prefer them for some reason more than Castle, wouldn't the prudent thing be to ask them to confirm their pricing is correct, in light of another dealer in the country offering the same kit for £2050 less?

I really don't get the premiss of this thread, other than some sort of ego massaging exercise because of the amount of coin being dropped.
Your car analogy is wrong too - it's not all that difficult to find the same car on sale at different prices due to a number of factors, admittedly moreso (but not strictly) on used than new.

Out of order :nono:

 

[PJ S]

Out of order :nono:

Ha.....that's rich coming from smoke machine boy!
That's how it could've been construed, and is a bit, by me.

I don't know about you, but the last thing I'd do, is come on here and express incredulity at one reseller being more expensive than the other, and going into detail about how much, and a full list of the planned purchase.

I call it as I see it - if that's too much for you to handle, then please feel free to skip past my comments, rather than pass remark on them.

As is often typical these days, somebody is offended on someone else's behalf....what an absolute joke - especially as Ben's previous reply has (seemingly) accepted that I saw his intentions differently to how he meant them to be conveyed.

 

[Bascule]

Actually, I also found it to be an offensive comment - just didn't bite.
You've had clarification of the point of thread, which others have also understood.
You still don't get it, so in your own words, "..please feel free to skip past my comments, rather than pass remark on them."

 

[dod]

Ha.....that's rich coming from smoke machine boy!

Why is it you find it so easy to be aggressive? Now would be a good time to stop

 

[PJ S]

Actually, I also found it to be an offensive comment - just didn't bite.
You've had clarification of the point of thread, which others have also understood.
You still don't get it, so in your own words, "..please feel free to skip past my comments, rather than pass remark on them."

I say this not to be rude, offensive, or "aggressive", but if you seriously took offence at my surmising the point of this thread was a bit of ego massaging, then you need to grow a much thicker skin.

Don't kid yourself that anyone else reading or commented hasn't thought something similar, but said nothing. As stated, I just call things as I see them.

As for getting it - oh I get it alright, it's just that we don't share the same thought process about starting a thread on how dealer A's price is different from dealer B's and C's, no matter what the commodity being sold happens to be.

So at the end of all this, have you decided to just stick with Castle or are you going to give Whites another chance to offer a more competitive price?

 

[PJ S]

Why is it you find it so easy to be aggressive?

Depends on which definition of aggressive you're implying.
Assertive? No more difficult than breathing, but please don't presume to know me or think you've me pegged through reading 8 words!

Then again, as a former mod on another forum, I'd have chosen to ask that question through PM - guess we all don't think alike?

 

[gramps]

"aggressive: Inclined to behave in an actively hostile fashion"

Seems to fit well from so many of your posts, I would suggest you post in a less hostile fashion if you don't want to come across in the way others see you.

 

[dod]

Depends on which definition of aggressive you're implying.
Assertive? No more difficult than breathing, but please don't presume to know me or think you've me pegged through reading 8 words!

Then again, as a former mod on another forum, I'd have chosen to ask that question through PM - guess we all don't think alike?

My question wasn't based only on those words, they just happened to be the latest and most convenient.

It's very easy to confuse assertiveness and rudeness. Assertive is fine, no issues with that. Rudeness however.....................

In terms of how we mod your comments have been noted.

 

[JohnN]

Then again, as a former mod on another forum, I'd have chosen to ask that question through PM - guess we all don't think alike?

I think I see why you were a former mod.. anyway onto the ops point.

Unlike some I do find it amazing theres such a vast difference, I too would have expected a couple of hundred quid - when you were doing the test were any of the items on sale - is that the reason?

 

[PJ S]

I think I see why you were a former mod..

Oh really?
I just love assumers......care to enlighten the rest of the group with your assumptions as why I no longer moderate on the forum?

I see both mods dod and cowasaki have visited my profile page, and funnily enough so too has CalumetUK.
Find anything of interest?
I'll leave you all to it chaps - I'm done with explaining myself. Have fun discussing me amongst yourselves, and don't hold back!

 

[Bascule]

Nikon are doing a voucher scheme on some of this kit. So, for example, a discount on the 14-24 when buying the d4 from the same dealer.

These discounts add up to approx £250 of discount, iirc - but are 'Nikon' vouchers and available at any dealer. Other than that, no, it's simply the pricing they're choosing to sell at. Castle had the best price on the 14-24 according to camerapricebuster anyway, so I expected them to be good. Last sizeable purchase (85mm 1.4) was between them and LCE, they were better by about £40 - again, a normal dealer-dealer disparity.

At this stage, next steps are refine the list a bit to include final choice of tripod, and a WT-5, and then simply wait til march for a final sanity check before pressing the button.

Am looking forward to it, haven't had a new body in quite a while, and looking forward to some experimentation with the 14-24..

Thanks for the feedback, all.

 

[Davec223]

I like the service I get from Robert whites, and for that and the advice they have given me in the past I am willing to pay a premium, in actual fact they stopped me spending 1k as they felt I didn't need to, which was very kind of them when they could have just taken my money, this was just after I started with digital.

 

[JohnN]

Oh really?
I just love assumers......care to enlighten the rest of the group with your assumptions as why I no longer moderate on the forum?

I see both mods dod and cowasaki have visited my profile page, and funnily enough so too has CalumetUK.
Find anything of interest?
I'll leave you all to it chaps - I'm done with explaining myself. Have fun discussing me amongst yourselves, and don't hold back!

Sorry missed that reply - in a word attitude, anyway I'm done too - take care and have fun.