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So as everybody knows, I’m picking up a 400d soon and have been doing some research on it to locate the best deal around. Since I’m getting it with a pretty basic kit lens I figured there would be some deals lurking around on the net… such as ebay.

So after unsuccessfully bidding on a henry’s ebay listing, I decided I would either order from BH, or from this online ebay store Digital Shopping Network (DSN). The prices are around the same but somehow the DSN deal came with a load of miscellaneous crap like a camera bag, tripod, lens filters, lens cleaning kit, card reader and a 4G CF card (the CF card was the only thing that was probably most useful). I actually called DSN twice to confirm that the camera and lens are both new and not refurbished and comes with full manufacturer’s warranty. Seems like such a good deal!

Now I have always been aware of bait and switch techniques with cameras, but I figured with a ebay store that is a power seller with 13018 positive feedback – nothing can go wrong right? I even read some of the ebay feedback – seems like the only “catch” is after you win the item you’ve to call them to complete your payment, upon which they will try to sell you some extended warranty and accessory (probably overpriced) etc. Like most of the responses are similar to this:

I bought a Canon XTI Camera/Lenses and accessory package awhile ago. The order arrived very speedy and was packaged well. My only complaint if any was that when I phoned to complete my payment, I was put on with a rather pushy salesperson who tried to upsell me on a Warranty and battery. Other than that it was a good experience.

No big deal right? I mean I can always say “no” to a salesperson no problem. Even the not so happy experiences are related to delayed shipping to Spain or some obscure place in the world – but I’m not in a super hurry to get the camera either. But before I decide to place the order… I decided to google for some reviews on the store and apparently it is cross listed with “Sunshine Electronics” and to my horror…

I purchased a Nikon D80 SLR digital camera bundle package offered through their ebay store. Pushy last minutes sales for overpriced accessories as well as EXTREMELY OVERPRICED shipping insurance (Market shipping insurance fee is 1.1% of the merchandise value, vs. 4.7% FORCED by this store – according to the web page “…Shipping insurance is an option offered…” ??). Received all items in 3 days. The D80 user manual was of poor quality (looked like photo copied), there was no Nikon USA warranty. Called Nikon USA and confirmed that it could be a GRAY market camera…Called customer service…I was told that for an extra $82, I could get the Nikon D80 with a VALID Nikon USA warranty.

Well, there goes my trust with this DSN ebay store. Browse more…. and saw a “Barclay’s Photo” offering precisely what I want for an extra $1 (compared to DSN) – body, lens and 4GB CF card. Checked out the store webpage a bit, seems pretty legit… and Barclay’s Photo seems to be a big name seller right… NOT… you’re thinking of Barclay’s Capital, the UK bank. Again, good thing I researched on the store before ordering – apparently Barclay’s is the renamed PriceRite Photo :|. And here’s the most horrifying online buying story I have ever read. Its apparently pretty infamous – the most dugg story in 2005. The story is long but not THAT long – I think there must be 5000 replies to the original post, the actual post probably only took up 1/20 of the scroll bar length. Just to quote from the start of the story to captivate you…

“I will make sure you will never be able to place an order on the internet again.” “I’m an attorney, I will sue you.” “I will call the CEO of your company and play him the tape of this phone call.” “I’m going to call your local police and have two officers come over and arrest you.” “You’d better get this through your thick skull.” “You have no idea who you are dealing with.”

These are all direct threats that I received today from an individual who identified himself as Steve Phillips, the manager of PriceRitePhoto in Brooklyn, New York when I called to inquire about my order with them. My crime? Telling him that I planned to write an article about my unfortunate experience with his company regarding the camera order I had placed with him yesterday.

(Oh and did I mention the blogger was buying a cheap 5D?)
Anyhow lesson learned from online shopping – if the deal looks too good to be true and it is from a “store” – check with BBB on their reliability first – yup if the US does anything better than Canada, BBB is one of them.

The highly anticipated bag has arrived, so I post some pictures.
Enjoy

70-200mm f2.8 ….. i would post a photo, but its so troublesome everytime….and you all know what it looks like…

sidenote: MCAC, may 4, 2007, 7pm!!

Thanks guys! Now to decide what to use it for.

I’m not a huge fan of birthdays.. don’t really see the big deal about them. Maybe because some people make them out to be shows of popularity.. or maybe it’s the dryness if you were to try to host some big thing and then no-one were to come. I guess at the end of the day, as any other person, anytime people come and celebrate with you, it makes you feel warm inside. So, thanks 🙂

Haha.. as with anyone else, I’m not a huge fan of telemarketers or door-to-door salespeople.. so yesterday upon hearing the doorbell, I of course first check my window to see if there are any cars.. no cars.. then its probably not important =p.. Out of curiosity I waited a little bit just to see who would walk out, whether it was some real estate agent, some artist selling his paintings (have had a couple), or someone selling cookies. Anyway, Sam convinced me to go down.. and so I walked down the stairs, and halfway down saw some candles outside.. so the first thing I thought was.. ah some crazy mormon good friday vigil thing.. so I turned back to walk upstairs.. until Sam kept telling me to get the door.. so I finally got it =p I figured it out about 3 steps from the door =p

Bored.. so decided to photochop some pedals.. No cheaper way to mod =p…..NOT.

Here’s a progression of more and more mods which I’d like to do to my pedal. They’re all OEM parts from BOSS.. since the ME series and GT use the same base chassis, they can share a lot of parts.. however, they don’t vary a lot around the world.. so it’s possible to mix and match various parts! I have seen this exact combination.. which I think looks sweet yet still clean.

Ignore the ugly color mismatch.. I can’t paint the color of one series to the other series so they look very different. I’ve decided the last photo.. the second last one with more separated look makes it look a bit more.. DIY. The last one makes it look complete.. since the whole face is the GT face.. the last one looks the most aggressive too.. but sometimes i look at it and think its almost a bit much….NOT.