Amazon order

[Indeepthought]

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Over the years I have bought lots of high end items from Amazon, watches, lenses, cameras (other than Leica). Leica cameras are imho best bought from a Leica dealer.. Lenses, batteries and most other items:- Amazon or generally on the web..

I had a Nikon camera (brand new) that stopped working on day 1, the Nikon store in Vegas were most helpful, they recognized the issue but couldn't fix it, so they offered me good price on my faulty Nikon body and I bought a new body and another lens due to the excellent service.. 

 

[bobtodrick]

5 hours ago, Indeepthought said:

Over the years I have bought lots of high end items from Amazon, watches, lenses, cameras (other than Leica). Leica cameras are imho best bought from a Leica dealer.. Lenses, batteries and most other items:- Amazon or generally on the web..

I had a Nikon camera (brand new) that stopped working on day 1, the Nikon store in Vegas were most helpful, they recognized the issue but couldn't fix it, so they offered me good price on my faulty Nikon body and I bought a new body and another lens due to the excellent service.. 

 

Yup…even though I work at a Leica dealer, my 1/2 case, spare battery, and some of the cool off brand lens hood have been Amazon purchases.  No problem at all with that.

Gotta admit the 1/2 case for my Q off Amazon was even better than the Leica (at that time $200)…at that time you had to remove the Leica case to change battery or memory card, whereas the Amazon one ($45) had the little snap flap to do that.  I’d like to support Leica 100% of the time, but hey that was a weeks groceries (sadly not now with inflation).

Again, the only time I won’t buy Amazon is on tech stuff I think I may need after sales service.

Edited March 20 by bobtodrick

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Anbaric]

6 hours ago, Mikep996 said:

Amazon will refund in full/take anything back immediately if you are not happy with the product.  I wouldn't worry about that aspect at all.  Paying more than you should is a different issue.

It sounds like these are third party dealers operating on Amazon, not Amazon itself. In that case you talk to the dealer first, and Amazon only steps in if the dealer doesn't resolve the problem and if certain conditions are met (see the 'A-to-Z Guarantee').

Edited March 20 by Anbaric

[Indeepthought]

26 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

It sounds like these are third party dealers operating on Amazon, not Amazon itself. In that case you talk to the dealer first, and Amazon only steps in if the dealer doesn't resolve the problem and if certain conditions are met (see the 'A-to-Z Guarantee').

I sent an email to one of the Leica sellers on Amazon, I straight asked- are these Leica cameras ‘Grey Market’ reply -they are new.. Buyer Beware…

[fotografr]

On 3/7/2024 at 3:09 PM, ALScott said:

Its OK to order a Q3 from Amazon right?  They are an authorized retailer or so their site says. 

Might get a Russian fake.  😉

[fotografr]

49 minutes ago, Anbaric said:

It sounds like these are third party dealers operating on Amazon, not Amazon itself. In that case you talk to the dealer first, and Amazon only steps in if the dealer doesn't resolve the problem and if certain conditions are met (see the 'A-to-Z Guarantee').

Also, if you use PayPal, they will also protect you. 

[Indeepthought]

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11 minutes ago, fotografr said:

Also, if you use PayPal, they will also protect you. 

Avoid aggravation:- buy a new or used Leica from a Leica Dealer. 🍷

Edited March 21 by Indeepthought

[fotografr]

1 minute ago, Indeepthought said:

Avoid aggravation:- buy a new or used Leica from a Leica Dealer. 🍷

Agree. 

[ALScott]

Appreciate all of the input here, really.  I did overpay but couldn't wait.  Plus, once you reach $6K what's a few hundred more dollars to get something when you want it?  I looked at Facebook groups and I wasn't going to save much if anything on a used one and with Leica I quickly learned here that there is no way to tell how used it is.  You can easily reset the pic numbers.  Some recommendations were made for FB groups but that is iffy at best IMO.    I would rather take a chance with Amazon on what is sold as new.  Everything about the camera and packaging looked untouched by human hands.  I watched unboxing videos and it looked exactly as the ones in the videos did.  I was going on a  trip to see family and really wanted to get the camera for that and I am super glad I did as the quality of the pics far surpasses my expectations.  Also, I am in the southeast US with no Leica store anywhere near me so any issue is going to be a major hassle no matter where I buy.  Even if I buy from a Leica store dealing with me over the phone, email, etc probably will not get the attention of someone standing in front of them.  Not a knock, just fact and I get it, maybe i'm wrong.  It's registered and had the correct markings for my region, first thing I looked for.  I am glad I have it, shot with it tonight at a favorite watering hole, will post pics next.

[coleica]

On 3/20/2024 at 5:52 PM, Indeepthought said:

I sent an email to one of the Leica sellers on Amazon, I straight asked- are these Leica cameras ‘Grey Market’ reply -they are new.. Buyer Beware…

Hmmm... I don't think they are mutually exclusive, at least not from my perspective.  Not sure if the definition has changed over the years, but "grey market" meant a new item imported into the USA directly instead of being shipped via the official/licensed/legal USA distributor.  The issue was warranty service.  If the item was not purchased via the licensed USA distributor, then such distributor would not honor the warranty of the item. 

I remember B&H, Adorama, and others would post two prices for cameras in their web sites.  One price reflected the price if obtained via the official USA distributor (exclusive rights), and the other price (lower $$$) via a grey market source.  Let's say a Canon camera.  So Canon USA would not honor the warranty, or provide any kind of support for the grey market item (in case of repairs, the customer would have to send the item to the original country where the product originated or send it to the mother ship), but B&H (and others) got around it by providing their own in house warranty.  

[Indeepthought]

10 minutes ago, coleica said:

Hmmm... I don't think they are mutually exclusive, at least not from my perspective.  Not sure if the definition has changed over the years, but "grey market" meant a new item imported into the USA directly instead of being shipped via the official/licensed/legal USA distributor.  The issue was warranty service.  If the item was not purchased via the licensed USA distributor, then such distributor would not honor the warranty of the item. 

I remember B&H, Adorama, and others would post two prices for cameras in their web sites.  One price reflected the price if obtained via the official USA distributor (exclusive rights), and the other price (lower $$$) via a grey market source.  Let's say a Canon camera.  So Canon USA would not honor the warranty, or provide any kind of support for the grey market item (in case of repairs, the customer would have to send the item to the original country where the product originated or send it to the mother ship), but B&H (and others) got around it by providing their own in house warranty.  

Absolutely correct. 🍻

[ALScott]

8 minutes ago, coleica said:

Hmmm... I don't think they are mutually exclusive, at least not from my perspective.  Not sure if the definition has changed over the years, but "grey market" meant a new item imported into the USA directly instead of being shipped via the official/licensed/legal USA distributor.  The issue was warranty service.  If the item was not purchased via the licensed USA distributor, then such distributor would not honor the warranty of the item. 

I remember B&H, Adorama, and others would post two prices for cameras in their web sites.  One price reflected the price if obtained via the official USA distributor (exclusive rights), and the other price (lower $$$) via a grey market source.  Let's say a Canon camera.  So Canon USA would not honor the warranty, or provide any kind of support for the grey market item (in case of repairs, the customer would have to send the item to the original country where the product originated or send it to the mother ship), but B&H (and others) got around it by providing their own in house warranty.  

I seem to remember the same.  When I was a poorly paid newspaper photographer we all fought to find grey market deals.  I distinctly remember the "deals" and they made a big deal of USA Warranty.  Also, as I understood it, manufacturers did not know what was grey market and what wasn't.  Maybe they do now.  

[Indeepthought]

11 minutes ago, ALScott said:

I seem to remember the same.  When I was a poorly paid newspaper photographer we all fought to find grey market deals.  I distinctly remember the "deals" and they made a big deal of USA Warranty.  Also, as I understood it, manufacturers did not know what was grey market and what wasn't.  Maybe they do now.  

Serial numbers and some variations in info on the boxes. Believe me, the manufacturers know where every camera is shipped.. The camera is not grey market until  it is sold outside it’s selected marketing area..

Edited March 22 by Indeepthought