BH vs. Adorama

Les Wilson · May 30th, 2012, 05:31 AM

@Greg... take a look at all the DVinfo sponsors for outfits that have been vetted.

Henry Posner · May 30th, 2012, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Game

I have been a loyal B and H customer from Canada. But with the new fees that B&H is charging it seems like they are gouging their Canadian customers.

I am sorry you have developed this misapprehension. In fact since we began using Purolator shipping and calculating cross-border fees for you, the cost to ship most goods from us to Canada has fallen. I'd be happy to explore this further. Use henryp[at]bhphoto.com. Thank you.

Bill Bruner · June 3rd, 2012, 03:31 AM

I am a huge fan of both B&H and Adorama. Most differences between them are minor - so I end up shopping on price and availability.

There are a couple of minor differences, though. In the past couple of years, B&H has stopped offering discounts through Ebates, Mr Rebates or Big Crumbs, while Adorama continues to do so (up to 2.8% at BigCrumbs). This has made a price difference for me in several cases where B&H had the lower listed price, but the discount gave Adorama the edge.

And for the small minority of us who are bloggers, there is another difference - Adorama will partner with you if you have a free blog on Wordpress, Google Blogger, etc. Sadly, B&H will not (they require partners to have their own domain names). Asking their partners to have some 'skin in the game' does make business sense, and almost certainly reduces the risk to B&H's reputation, but for those of us who are reputable, and whose revenue models don't support paying for a domain name, it's a little frustrating.

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

Jase Tanner · June 4th, 2012, 12:03 AM

@ Greg

Which new fees are you talking about? I placed an order a few days and didn't see anything different. The option to pay customs at the time of purchase is great and the Purolator delivery seemed good the one time I've used it so far. In the past, the only inexpensive delivery option was the post office and that always took longer than the indicated time.

Dave Hardy · June 4th, 2012, 12:53 AM

Thanks Henry for using Purolator. Not only is the delivery much faster & less, but none of the price gouging brokerage fees of UPS & Fedex. When purchasing from the U.S. I only consider B&H due to this very considerate policy. I can't thank B&H enough for taking the pain out of buying from a U.S. company.

Absolutely wonderful. Thank you B&H.

Dave Hardy
Vancouver B.C.

Greg Clark · June 4th, 2012, 09:03 AM

As a Canadian customer we need to evaluate the TOTAL shipping charges to see if they truly are the most cost effective choice. I will in the future take more time deciding which company gets my order based on the transparency of the fees charged by that company.

Dylan Couper · June 9th, 2012, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Posner

I am sorry you have developed this misapprehension. In fact since we began using Purolator shipping and calculating cross-border fees for you, the cost to ship most goods from us to Canada has fallen. I'd be happy to explore this further. Use henryp[at]bhphoto.com. Thank you.

Henry, I'll support this 100%. B&H has made a very good decision (for us Canucks!) to do this. Though it -sometimes- seems like you're tacking on extra fees when an order gets added up, it's important to know that they aren't your fees and that UPS and FedEx would also be charging those fees and more.

I'll also add that I support B&H over Adorama for the reason that the Adorama Ebay store still has issues shipping to Canada and often don't answer emails.

(ps, did you fill that crate of Pelican cases I just ordered with $100's like you promised? ;)

Helen Oster · June 10th, 2012, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

...... I support B&H over Adorama for the reason that the Adorama Ebay store still has issues shipping to Canada and often don't answer emails.

We would love to be able to ship Ebay items to Canada; the reason we aren't at this time on our eBay store is not because of Customs & Duties nor is it a Purolator issue. It is simply due to eBay's Shipping Calculator which is not working 100% as they have errors. Some Canadian zip codes don't charge correctly while random items with FREE SHIPPING in the U.S. carry over to Canada. So, this is somewhere between EBay and Channel Advisor. Over the past year and a half our Ebay manager has been trying to work it out... eBay / Channel each played the Blame game with no results. This is one of the major reasons we are getting rid of Channel Advisor.
This new eBay integration implementation should be completed by the month's end. After all the bugs are worked out we will be shipping again to Canada and we'll add the EU and Australia too to start with. Ultimately, we would like to ship to all the countries Adorama.com does.

However, your complaint about Ebay staff not responding to emails is certainly a matter of concern. I would be grateful if you could email me directly with more information about this and I will give it my immediate attention: Helen@adorama.com I know that one member of the Ebay team has been in and out with Medical issues over the past 90 days, however his working from home has been monitored and all the customer service emails should have been responded to.

There are those Product Related emails that he knows nothing about and forwards to sales@adorama.com to complete and they should be done in a timely fashion; we are checking to confirm.

Steve Game · June 10th, 2012, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Posner

I am sorry you have developed this misapprehension. In fact since we began using Purolator shipping and calculating cross-border fees for you, the cost to ship most goods from us to Canada has fallen. I'd be happy to explore this further. Use henryp[at]bhphoto.com. Thank you.

Just noticed this post:
Not quite sure what has gone wrong here but as you can see from my post on 14 May 2011, I'm not from Canada, and I have no problems with the prices and carriage charged by B&H.
I have (last week) received a catalogue from B&H which is a handy reference for what's available on the market outside the UK. I would use it to purchase certain items that were not available in the UK.

Tom Gresham · June 12th, 2012, 10:01 PM

Doesn't matter to me.

Whichever retailer can get me a Nikon D800, I'll buy it on the spot.

Still can't find this camera.

Steven Davis · June 13th, 2012, 04:45 AM

I agree, anyone who can get me the D800

I've been on the waiting list since April 2nd

Terry Martin · June 14th, 2012, 12:22 AM

I have 100% confidence in both B&H and Adorama. B&H tends to get most of my orders because of the world class web site, makes it easy to shop and compare.

When Nikon recently announced the D4 and D800, I placed pre orders within an hour of going live, D4 on Adorama, and D800 at B&H.

...But my local Best Buy had a clever guy in the Camera Department, who took unofficial wait list info and monitored Best Buys internal product imports. As cameras came through customs, I got a heads up to show up in the store and order a camera, with guaranteed delivery within a week. Turns out I got 2 D4's and a D800 from Best Buy before B&H or Adaroma were shipping to non-NPS folks.

May 30th, 2012, 05:31 AM	#76
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	Re: BH vs. Adorama @Greg... take a look at all the DVinfo sponsors for outfits that have been vetted.

June 3rd, 2012, 03:31 AM	#78
Bill Bruner Major Player Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Sunny California Posts: 513	Re: BH vs. Adorama I am a huge fan of both B&H and Adorama. Most differences between them are minor - so I end up shopping on price and availability. There are a couple of minor differences, though. In the past couple of years, B&H has stopped offering discounts through Ebates, Mr Rebates or Big Crumbs, while Adorama continues to do so (up to 2.8% at BigCrumbs). This has made a price difference for me in several cases where B&H had the lower listed price, but the discount gave Adorama the edge. And for the small minority of us who are bloggers, there is another difference - Adorama will partner with you if you have a free blog on Wordpress, Google Blogger, etc. Sadly, B&H will not (they require partners to have their own domain names). Asking their partners to have some 'skin in the game' does make business sense, and almost certainly reduces the risk to B&H's reputation, but for those of us who are reputable, and whose revenue models don't support paying for a domain name, it's a little frustrating. Bill Hybrid Camera Revolution

June 4th, 2012, 12:03 AM	#79
Jase Tanner Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 346	Re: BH vs. Adorama @ Greg Which new fees are you talking about? I placed an order a few days and didn't see anything different. The option to pay customs at the time of purchase is great and the Purolator delivery seemed good the one time I've used it so far. In the past, the only inexpensive delivery option was the post office and that always took longer than the indicated time.

June 4th, 2012, 12:53 AM	#80
Dave Hardy New Boot Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Vancouver Canada Posts: 15	Re: BH vs. Adorama Thanks Henry for using Purolator. Not only is the delivery much faster & less, but none of the price gouging brokerage fees of UPS & Fedex. When purchasing from the U.S. I only consider B&H due to this very considerate policy. I can't thank B&H enough for taking the pain out of buying from a U.S. company. Absolutely wonderful. Thank you B&H. Dave Hardy Vancouver B.C.

June 4th, 2012, 09:03 AM	#81
Greg Clark Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Surprise Arizona Posts: 297	Re: BH vs. Adorama As a Canadian customer we need to evaluate the TOTAL shipping charges to see if they truly are the most cost effective choice. I will in the future take more time deciding which company gets my order based on the transparency of the fees charged by that company.

June 12th, 2012, 10:01 PM	#85
Tom Gresham Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Covington, Louisiana Posts: 179	Re: BH vs. Adorama Doesn't matter to me. Whichever retailer can get me a Nikon D800, I'll buy it on the spot. Still can't find this camera.

June 13th, 2012, 04:45 AM	#86
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Re: BH vs. Adorama I agree, anyone who can get me the D800 I've been on the waiting list since April 2nd __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button? Last edited by Steven Davis; June 13th, 2012 at 07:40 AM.

June 14th, 2012, 12:22 AM	#87
Terry Martin Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Palo Alto, California Posts: 100	Re: BH vs. Adorama I have 100% confidence in both B&H and Adorama. B&H tends to get most of my orders because of the world class web site, makes it easy to shop and compare. When Nikon recently announced the D4 and D800, I placed pre orders within an hour of going live, D4 on Adorama, and D800 at B&H. ...But my local Best Buy had a clever guy in the Camera Department, who took unofficial wait list info and monitored Best Buys internal product imports. As cameras came through customs, I got a heads up to show up in the store and order a camera, with guaranteed delivery within a week. Turns out I got 2 D4's and a D800 from Best Buy before B&H or Adaroma were shipping to non-NPS folks.