dogberry Posted July 7, 2007 Share #1 Â Posted July 7, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have really liked Amazon in the past and have purchased a fair amount of stuff from them over the years. Lately however there seems to be a disturbing trend of highlighting the deals of the price gougers prominently on the product page, so that the customer is forced to search around for the real price. For example, if you look at their current ad for the Leica D-Lux 3 in black, the main product page lists this camera at $1295 from an outfit calling themselves Wall Street Photo. If you search around the page, there is also a small box that says that some new or used examples of the camera are available for as little as $599 (which is the actual recommended retail price for this camera NEW) but the way Amazon portrays this information is somewhat disingenuous since it implies that $599 might be the secondhand price. Only by searching through further pages would somebody realize that $599 is actually the price for a NEW D-Lux 3. Â I'm all for free speech and free markets - anybody should be allowed to charge what they like and if it's too much, people can vote with their feet. But the way Amazon is prominently featuring the price gougers deals definitely has the potential to do its customers a disservice by leading them towards the crappiest deals first, presumably because that dealer has paid Amazon some promotional money. The way these pages are laid out on Amazon definitely (whether deliberately or not) has the potential to obscure the real price of the product and Amazon is effectively playing accomplice to the price gougers. Â For the advertised D-Lux 3 in black for example, the camera is available NEW from reputable dealers like EP Levine of Boston for $599. The featured price of $1295 from Wall Street Photo is quite ridiculous and while I totally agree with Wall Street Photo's right to charge this price, I think Amazon, who have made a business out of getting people better deals online, is betraying its own mission somewhat and damaging its reputation and credibility by leading its customers towards the worst deals first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 7, 2007 Posted July 7, 2007 Hi dogberry, Take a look here Amazon heading downhill. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
johnastovall Posted July 7, 2007 Share #2 Â Posted July 7, 2007 Well have you told Amazon Customer service how you feel about this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogberry Posted July 7, 2007 Author Share #3 Â Posted July 7, 2007 Well have you told Amazon Customer service how you feel about this? Â Yes I have. Â I have no problem with people charging anything they like for their products. My point is that as far as digital cameras and such products go, Amazon is essentially an online aggregator of other merchant's deals and as such, it's selling point - the reason for visiting their site in the first place - is that they can help you get a good deal. If instead, they are leading people to poor deals because the merchants offering the poor deals are paying to have them promoted more strongly, why visit Amazon at all? Hyping the worst deals prominently would seem to be working to get the merchants a better deal, not to get you a better deal! You might as well use another site, do your own research or take your chances on the auction sites. For digital cameras, Amazon is largely just a middleman or a broker and if the broker is working against your best interest, why use him? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted July 7, 2007 Share #4 Â Posted July 7, 2007 Gordon, Â I agree that it's a shame that Amazon appears to be prostituting its good name for a few promotional bucks but I haven't felt that they've offered anything like the best price in the market place for quite some time. Take CDs, DVDs or books for example: I'll normally go to Amazon for research into what's available but then go to a better meta-aggregator like Find DVD - Compare DVD prices from dozens of UK retailers, Cheap CDs, or Fast Book Finder - Fast Search for Cheapest Books Online and Amazon rarely offers the best price because of its high shipping charges. Â If Amazon was to sort out its shipping charges the others wouldn't be able to compete - and in case anybody points out that Amazon offers free shipping under certain circumstances, for this option delivery is delayed and you need to qualify by purchasing a minimum amount. Much of Amazon's competition deliver next day for free with no minimum purchase amount. Â All of the above doesn't make me an Amazon basher because I still like Amazon; it's just that there are better deals out there. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogberry Posted July 7, 2007 Author Share #5 Â Posted July 7, 2007 I agree Pete - I basically like Amazon as well and don't want to be an Amazon basher - but it's because I like them that I would hate to see their service degenerate to the level of some of the worst of the online auction sites. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Mondello Posted July 7, 2007 Share #6  Posted July 7, 2007 Honestly, I have to think that some of the blame rests with Leica and the way they name their cameras.  What genius decided that they should put out cameras named "D-Lux-3" and "Digilux 3" at the same time at vastly different price points? Sheesh  I don't know how Amazon's Marketplace works, but I've seen similar mistakes on the price comparison sites like Price Grabber showing erroneous results for similarly named items like these Leicas.  But you certainly should report this to Amazon as it reflects badly on them.  Caveat Emptor still applies! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted July 7, 2007 Share #7  Posted July 7, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Joe,  Regrettably it's not Amazon mistaking a D-Lux 3 for a Digilux 3: the add names the camera correctly and the accompanying picture clearly shows a D-Lux 3 with a $1,295 sticker. More here: Amazon.com: Leica D-LUX 3 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black): Electronics  Besides, $1,295 seems kinda low for a Digilux 3 doesn't it?  Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted July 7, 2007 Share #8  Posted July 7, 2007 What I find interesting are the statistics on the page:  73% buy the item featured on this page: Leica D-LUX 3 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) $1,295.00  12% buy Panasonic DMC-LX2K 10.2MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) Click to see price  8% buy Leica D-LUX 3 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) $599.00  Could it be that the $1295 camera is shown in black? (Maybe buyers think it is different.)  When you click on the silver one and go to the page where you can buy the camera for $599 you get these stats:  56% buy the item featured on this page: Leica D-LUX 3 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) $599.00  29% buy Leica D-LUX 3 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) $1,295.00  So even when they see it for $599, 29% go ahead and spend $1295! I wonder how many individual purchases 73% and 29% constitute?  Can we trust these stats or are a number of Amazon's Leica D-Lux 3 shoppers this dumb? Why do they go to Amazon if they aren't paying attention to the price?  I am in the wrong business. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrc Posted July 7, 2007 Share #9 Â Posted July 7, 2007 I boiught my silver D-Lux 3 a few weeks ago for $599 through an Amazon merchant, and at that time, Amazon's merchants were offering black D-Lux 3's for (I belive) $967, or something like that. There were people at that time compaling about the extra $300 -- I can't believe they've added another $300 onto that. Guess what camera store just went on my list never to buy anything from? Â JC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted July 7, 2007 Share #10 Â Posted July 7, 2007 Assuming that Wall Street Photo is in New York state, it is not an authorized dealer, according to Leica's dealer locator. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
george + Posted July 8, 2007 Share #11 Â Posted July 8, 2007 For whatever it is worth, there is an old latin saying: caveat emptor = buyer beware. Â As for my own little comment, why would you ever buy a sophisticated camera from an expanded online book emporium? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted July 8, 2007 Share #12 Â Posted July 8, 2007 A fair question, George, but would you buy a headache cure from a gas station? Â (You might argue that it's not the same thing but a 'bad' headache cure could seriously damage your health. Oops - now I sound like a government health warning!) Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommycrown Posted July 8, 2007 Share #13 Â Posted July 8, 2007 I still ike Amazon, but when I purchase Leica, I can't let myself purchase any Leica from Amazon. I guess I feel better when I purchase other items that are less valuables like DVDs, books, or CDs. Â Recently I went to Leica homepage to search for local camera dealers that may have Dlux 3 in stock and I found one. Â It was only 30 min. away from my home and it was very worth it. Â I found Buying a Leica from a Leica certified dealership very helpful in many ways. Â First, nothing can go wrong without any time delay. If you have any problem, they will either refund or exchange the cost. Of course, they will also offer to send the camera to the repair shop in sohm. Â Second, they have more experience selling Leicas than HD-DVDs or watches, they can help you even how to use the camera you are interested in. Â Last but not the least, they won't lose your package while shipment since you pick it up yourself. Â I still do rely on customer reviews of Amazon. Some people review Amazon itself rather than product, but still very helpful. Â Tommy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted July 8, 2007 Share #14 Â Posted July 8, 2007 Tommy, Â I agree, and for the same reasons I purchased my D-Lux 2 and M8 from a Leica dealer. However, I wonder if you might be pursuaded to buy a Leica from a reputable non-Leica dealer such as Amazon if it was, let's say, half the price? Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smg_doug Posted July 9, 2007 Share #15 Â Posted July 9, 2007 I still feel ok purchasing FROM Amazon, but when it's another vendor, I haev no confidence in them unless they are well known, like Adorama. I purchased an L1 from Amazon while they had a DEAL on, it was a good buy, and it was from Amazon. funny thing was, it came up with a big ship delay and I had to take action to continue to wait. So, it was a front, they were hoping you wouldn't be willing to wait I guess, wrong. I waited close to 2 months for the "deal". they delivered too. What they didn't know, was it was for my backup L1. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
george + Posted July 9, 2007 Share #16 Â Posted July 9, 2007 A fair question, George, but would you buy a headache cure from a gas station? Â (You might argue that it's not the same thing but a 'bad' headache cure could seriously damage your health. Oops - now I sound like a government health warning!) Â Pete. Â Yes Pete, in an emergency, I might buy a known brand remedy in a sealed container at a gas station. Â And, ugh, yes, I might be persuaded to investigate an offer for a new M8 at half price from a KNOWN AND REPUTABLE non-Leica DEALER. If such offer ever came - which is unlikely. Â As to Amazon; I buy books, CD-s and DVD-s from them. But not $5,000 cameras. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted July 9, 2007 Share #17 Â Posted July 9, 2007 George, Â I couldn't agree more and I only posed the questions because I feel the same way as you do but I know also that reason flies out of the window when a mouth-watering bargain appears, and I have to stop a part of myself from instantly clicking the BUY NOW! button before I have the opportunity to properly consider the offer. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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