Beware of online camera scams

Looking to buy a new digital camera? With so many places to purchase one it helps to shop around. But beware, since not all online retailers are legitimate, especially in this industry. It's wise to do your homework not only on the camera, but the retailer you get it from.

One price shopping site, www.streetprices.com, shows some great deals prices on new digital SLR cameras from Nikon, Minolta, and Canon. For example, the Nikon D50 which typically retails for $799 (with basic lens) was listed at a couple of online retailers for around $500.

After seeing one of these "great deals" I decided to contact the that camera store directly. It was found that they were only open certain days of the week, and when they were open it was hard to get someone to answer the phone. When a person finally took my call, I asked them about the Nikon model and if it was available. They said they were OUT OF STOCK. Well since it made no sense to order an out of stock item, I stopped there. It was still rather frustrating since it was listed as "In Stock" on their website.

The next store, with the second best price, also had limited hours and was hard to reach by phone. Upon finally getting a call answered they said they had availability and urged me to give them my credit card to place an order right at that time (rather than on the web site). I asked some other questions. Like, "how are you able to provide such great prices?". They replied, "because we are a wholesaler". And I asked about their return replicy, and they mentioned they do allow returns. (some low price dealers sell as-is without returns so I had to ask)

That wasn't so bad, and at the time I was ALMOST ready to order.

Before proceeding forward with a major purchase of over $600 I decided to do a search for ratings of online stores. That's where I found www.resellerratings.com. What a relief that I didn't make any purchases! There were an overload of negative reviews of each of those stores mentioned. And as it turns out there were everal OTHER online retailers offering camera deals at rock bottom low prices as well - and ALL SCAMS!

When looking at these so-called deals, it's hard not to point and click to buy at that time. But it's evidently clear, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

BUYER BEWARE!

According to various online reports, there are an abundance of online scammers running a multitude of ever-changing on-line camera stores. These places appear to be based out the same areas - Brooklyn, New York and New Jersey.

Here is a "partial" list of such stores found to have fraudulent and deceptive practices. (as noted from reseller ratings.com). Click on rating for a new window about the store reviews.

Infinity Photo (www.infinitiphoto.com)
0.12/10 rating
- a.k.a. Infinity Cameras (www.Infiniticamera.com)
0.44/10 rating
- a.k.a. Mr. Accessory www.mraccessory.com

Genius Camera (www.geniuscamera.com)
0.49/10 rating
(aka Save Here Distribution, Express Cameras, Jack's Photo, Photo King and Photo Distribution)

Royal Camera (www.royalcamera.com)
1.84/10 rating
related article

USA Photo Nation (www.usaphotonation.com)
.71/10 rating
related article
(a.k.a. www.radioactivedeals.com)

Note the decimal point, most didn't even get 1 out of 10.
And these people are still in business because?

Again, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

FOR MORE INFO

Check out these pages providing further documenting of these cases.

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,107855,00.asp
http://www.viewonline.com/pages/editorials/cameraincident.htm
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=0juf3vkhatjsr6tnnineu41nnvrce1d562@4ax.com
http://www.donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/
http://www.donwiss.com/pictures/ManhattanStores/
http://www.photoreporter.com/091800/features/the_way_it_is.html

Here are some product review sites to help find the right camera for your needs:

www.epinions.com
www.resellerratings.com
www.cnet.com
www.mysimon.com