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Is B&H photo an authorized Leica dealer?


hassiman

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You may look on the Leica Website where you can find Leica Stores and dealers: http://us.leica-camera.com/Stores-Dealers/Leica-dealer-locator

 

The Stores are part of the Leica Camera AG or have a privileged status as they exclusively sell Leica items. All other dealers are independant and sell other brands as well, but I don't think there is anything like an "authorization" for any dealer.

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All other dealers are independant and sell other brands as well, but I don't think there is anything like an "authorization" for any dealer.

 

 

I don't think that is correct. As far as I know, Leica still operate on the basis of supplying directly only to dealers that are "authorised". These dealers have to meet certain conditions and agree to purchase/stock a certain number of products, etc. Non-authorised dealers are obviously free to sell Leica products but they will have to source their stock via grey channels. I believe that B&H are authorised dealers.

 

As for Leica branded stores, I think these vary in their ownership. Some, like the Mayfair and City branches in London, are company owned whilst others are independently owned and managed (for example, I think the Leica Store in Manchester is essentially a rebranded version of Stephens, a long time Leica dealer). All are obviously "authorised".

Edited by wattsy
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Yes, both B&H and Adorama are.  I had to buy and return two Leica Q cameras due to the once well know System Error messages.  In both cases, each camera that was sent to me by both companies was enclosed in an unopened, secure plain Leica box, which when opened, led to the real Leica box with contents. 

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Henry, I have been told B&H is the single largest volume sales Leica operation in America, and I have no reason to doubt it. Do you think it's true? 

I cannot confirm this. If we're not the largest I'd speculate we're near the top.

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I'm new on this forum and after reading and researching for a while (especially on this great forum), I'm seriously considering buying the Q (only interested in brand new). Since I live in NJ I could just go to NYC and buy it in B&H physical store. However, taxes are high (even higher then if delivering from B&H to my house in NJ). Are there any downsides to buying the Q from Amazon instead (and therefore possibly not paying any taxes)? Also, if going that route, does anyone know how much safer it may be to buy via 'Fullfilment by Amazon" stores (where supposedly you deal with Amazon directly if you need to return or have issues), vs buying from stores that are not listed under "Fullfilment by Amazon"?

And one last question, what is the downside of not buying from autorized Leica dealers (assuming buying from Amazon or online stores is not autorized)? Is the warranty treated differently in those cases, or if not what exactly is the difference?

Thanks for listening and any info/advice.

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Personally I would buy from an authorized Leica dealer. There are plenty outside of NY and NJ where you can save the taxes. Tamarkin in Chicago is a good one. There are several on the west coast. Most will ship for free.

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Personally I would buy from an authorized Leica dealer. There are plenty outside of NY and NJ where you can save the taxes. Tamarkin in Chicago is a good one. There are several on the west coast. Most will ship for free.

 

Thanks for advice. By the way, I just checked the online Manhattan Soho Store and it looks like I can order the Q from there with no tax and free shipping, and if I order the exact same item from B&H online store they charge almost $300 tax (in both cases to deliver to NJ). Wonder why this is the case given both of these vendors have physical stores in Manhattan.

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Thanks for advice. By the way, I just checked the online Manhattan Soho Store and it looks like I can order the Q from there with no tax and free shipping, and if I order the exact same item from B&H online store they charge almost $300 tax (in both cases to deliver to NJ). Wonder why this is the case given both of these vendors have physical stores in Manhattan.

 

Our retail store and offices are in NY so we have to charge sales tax for every order shipped to a NY address. We have a warehouse in NJ so we have to charge sales tax for every order shipped to a NJ address.

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Our retail store and offices are in NY so we have to charge sales tax for every order shipped to a NY address. We have a warehouse in NJ so we have to charge sales tax for every order shipped to a NJ address.

 

I see - now it makes sense. Thaks for clearing this up for me.

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Thanks for advice. By the way, I just checked the online Manhattan Soho Store and it looks like I can order the Q from there with no tax and free shipping, and if I order the exact same item from B&H online store they charge almost $300 tax (in both cases to deliver to NJ). Wonder why this is the case given both of these vendors have physical stores in Manhattan.

 

I just purchased the new black Q in the Soho Store and it was a great experience (cool store, very helpful staff, etc). I was able to purchase it there on the spot but to be delivered to my house in NJ (which waived NY taxes). By the way, while I was chatting with the staff (told them Q looks like almost a perfect camera with exception of not weather sealed), they to my surprise jumpted right into sharing some rumours/speculations:

 

1. New Q will not come before new M is released (will probably share same sensor)

2. Weather sealed

3. Most likely lens will be 35 or 40

4. Maybe a tilt screen

 

All sounds great to me except that I would prefer they stay with 28MM and up the sensor from 24->36 to help with ocasional croping.

Another nice thing they told me is that down the road I can upgrade to new version in their store. I mentioned that I usualy buy at B&H and they said nice store, but not as nice as Leica SOHO :)

Edited by tgdinamo
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I just purchased the new black Q in the Soho Store and it was a great experience (cool store, very helpful staff, etc). I was able to purchase it there on the spot but to be delivered to my house in NJ (which waived NY taxes). 

 

 

Having put it 'out there', hope it is legal!

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Having put it 'out there', hope it is legal!

 

That is very common here, if a business ships a product out of state they normally don't have to charge taxes. I buy my Leica gear in Illinois and have it shipped to me in Missouri, no taxes are paid that way.

 

If you take possession of the item in the store, even if you are taking it out of state, they have to charge taxes.

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That is very common here, if a business ships a product out of state they normally don't have to charge taxes. I buy my Leica gear in Illinois and have it shipped to me in Missouri, no taxes are paid that way.

 

If you take possession of the item in the store, even if you are taking it out of state, they have to charge taxes.

 

Exactly - I asked about this earlier in the thread and B&H replied (it is because they have physical warehouse in NJ I would have to pay NJ taxes for online B&H purchase). Leica SOHO does not so buying there to deliver to NJ is tax free and perfectly legal.

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Exactly - I asked about this earlier in the thread and B&H replied (it is because they have physical warehouse in NJ I would have to pay NJ taxes for online B&H purchase). Leica SOHO does not so buying there to deliver to NJ is tax free and perfectly legal.

 

Technically you have to pay NJ use tax. NJ asks on your state tax form which you sign and submit under penalty of perjury. Should NJ determine you owed but did not pay this, they can ask for the tax plus interest and penalties.

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