WTB: Canon 10-22mm EF-S

GadgetGav · March 4, 2006

Does anyone know of any good deals on the 10-22mm..? I canceled my order with Dell a while back because I lost my job. Now I've got money coming in again, I'd really like to get one. There's never coupons when you want them, is there..!

photobug · March 6, 2006

GadgetGav wrote:

Does anyone know of any good deals on the 10-22mm..? I canceled my order with Dell a while back because I lost my job. Now I've got money coming in again, I'd really like to get one. There's never coupons when you want them, is there..!

I hear you. Suggestion: Besides inquiring here at DGrin, also plant a "Deal Alert" at TechBargains.com (http://www.techbargains.com/alert.cfm) and you'll receive an email message when a deal pops up for it at TechBargains. They cover Dell quite well, and cover some other sites that might carry the 10-22. I'd use "Canon 10-22" as the keywords, and be sure and check "Frequency of Alerts: ONGOING".

= D

GadgetGav · March 7, 2006

photobug wrote:

I hear you. Suggestion: Besides inquiring here at DGrin, also plant a "Deal Alert" at TechBargains.com (http://www.techbargains.com/alert.cfm) and you'll receive an email message when a deal pops up for it at TechBargains. They cover Dell quite well, and cover some other sites that might carry the 10-22. I'd use "Canon 10-22" as the keywords, and be sure and check "Frequency of Alerts: ONGOING".

= D

Thanks for the tip. I didn't know about that - the internet is a big place isn't it!

photobug · March 8, 2006

Tips for even better prices at Amazon

GadgetGav wrote:

Thanks for the tip [re TechBargains Deal Alerts]. I didn't know about that - the internet is a big place isn't it!

No kidding ... I think someone saw a deal on a 10-22 through TechBargains and also posted it as a "Deal" here in this forum -- $589 at Dell. It was only good for a couple of days, but quite a deal at the time. You never know when something like that will pop up again.

The following became long -- but I hope it helps someone save a few hard-earned $$ on a photo equipment item or three....

Amazon is another place where prices can vary daily. I bought a camera there a few months ago and a week later the price dropped by $50! I immediately sent Amazon email through its web site, citing my order number, and Amazon credited me back the $50 difference. Amazon has an unwritten policy that if it drops its price within 30 days of shipping an item to you and you politely ask for a refund of the difference, it will grant it.

Another (more extreme) example -- I bought a Canon 24-105 "L" lens on preorder last August for $1249; it didn't ship until early December. Within 2-3 weeks after shipment, it dropped to $1187 for a few days. I popped an email to them and viola!, within a few days the difference was credited back to my credit card. I've probably benefitted from this a dozen times over the last 3-4 years. If it's a small amount, say a couple of dollars, I don't know if they'll bother. But for anything over a few $, as long as I was polite, specific about the order# and item, and asked within that 30-day window, I've batted 1.000 on getting the refund of the difference. Amazon always says that it's a "one-time" price adjustment, but it has always granted it.

Why does it do this? IMHO, think about the alternatives. One alternative that I'm sure Amazon does not want to deal with is that you order a new one at the new, lower price and return the old item within that initial 30-day period for the unconditional money-back refund -- which would leave Amazon still out the difference plus with a returned item that it can no longer sell as new. It's much faster and easier (not to mention, customer-pleasing) to just issue a no-hassle refund.

One problem is that prices can change every day or two at Amazon. They seem to drop down for a day or two on outrageous deals, then pop back up. Prices on EOS 20D's, for example, have bounced all over the price. So after you place an order, how do you monitor the prices on the item(s) you ordered for the next 30 days? Here's a trick:

After you order, put a "copy" of the order back into your Shopping Cart. Don't actually place another order, just put them in the Cart. You can even use the "Save for Later" option, so the items aren't in your "active" Cart and you can place other orders.

Then, once per day or so, go back and refresh your view of the Amazon shopping cart (re-visit the page). As of a few months ago, Amazon added a nifty feature that, if the price of any item in your Cart has gone up or down since you last visited your cart, a yellow "Important Message" box will appear just above your shopping cart, telling you which prices have changed, and the old and new prices!

When you see one go down and it's within 30 days after shipment, you can request a refund.

When the 30-days-after-shipment period expires, delete the "copy" item from your Shopping Cart since after that, its price is moot.

The "shopping cart price monitor" feature alone saved me the $50 I mentioned, plus $30 on another item already.

As an aside ... Policies like this (plus a heckuva web site) have make Amazon the "gold standard" of online retailers, in my book. "All other things being equal", I'll send an order to Amazon over anyone else. Sometimes Amazon doesn't carry the item I want, or I find a better price elsewhere, or I need assistance/support from a local retailer ... in such cases, my cash doesn't end up in Amazon's pocket.

GadgetGav · March 10, 2006

Great tips and good advice, thanks.
Funny to see the pricing structure on Amazon's site though. The Canon EF-S 10-22mm is currently $709.94 from Amazon saving an incredible $1,690.05 over the list price which they claim to be $2,399.99. I think it's actually $799, but there you go. Amazon also lists Adorama as having it at $689.95 and Ace Digital Club at $745.00. Presumably the price match doesn't apply when you get it from another supplier via Amazon.
As an aside, I think Amazon got a whole lot more confusing when they started adding these other 'new and used' sources for the products.

photobug · March 10, 2006

Funny to see the pricing structure on Amazon's site though. The Canon EF-S 10-22mm is currently $709.94 from Amazon, saving an incredible $1,690.05 over the list price which they claim to be $2,399.99.

That sure looks like an error; I don't think the list price is that high, either. No serious harm done, but it is misleading if you actually pay attention to the list price or the cited discount. Most folks by now are pretty jaded to "MSRP"s and ignore them.

Amazon also lists Adorama as having it at $689.95 and Ace Digital Club at $745.00. Presumably the price match doesn't apply when you get it from another supplier via Amazon.

No, Amazon doesn't match others' prices -- not directly, anyway. You can report a lower price to Amazon and sometimes you'll see its price drop within a few days, but that's not at all the same as getting a direct competitive price adjustment.

One thing to be careful about, though -- the store listed over the big "Add to Shopping Cart" button on the top right is not always the cheapest one. The "price" may be cheapest, but Amazon may ship free while all the other vendors charge a shipping fee. A 3rd-party vendor may sell an item for $95 but charge $10 shipping, while Amazon sells it for $100 but with free shipping. The 3rd party would be listed at the top. So if you see an Amazon page and a 3rd party is listed as the low-price vendor, it's worth checking what the Amazon price is, too (esp if you plan to use the Super Saver [free] shipping option).

As an aside, I think Amazon got a whole lot more confusing when they started adding these other 'new and used' sources for the products.

Personally, I love having the option of buying new/used items from 3rd parties. For items like books and DVDs, I often buy used (from high-scoring sellers) ... then when I'm done with them, re-sell them back through Amazon. (I find this works esp well for DVD sets, say of a season of a TV series) But I understand that "more options" can sometimes be bewildering.

In any case, best of luck finding a good deal on a Canon EF-S 10-22 lens ... if you spot one, please post it back to this thread?

Scott_Quier · March 10, 2006

Just for grins (and no pun intended), I did a search for this lens on www.nextag.com.

Low price listed ($579.00) was at this link:

http://www.prestigecamera.com/product.asp?id=cn1022usm&l=Nextag

I have no clue about this company. I did a ResellerRatings check and they seem to have never heard of them. So, be careful!!

B&H apears to be listing this lens at $689.

GadgetGav · March 10, 2006

Not sure about that company. The lowest a Froogle search can find is $619 from a company called Express Camera, who have a dire rating...
http://froogle.google.com/froogle/reviews?fq=canon+ef-s+10-22&cid=fa7ba52593bd17b4
Abe's of Maine has it for $658 and has pretty good reputation though, so that's a pretty good deal (especially from Amazon's MSRP!

)

WTB: Canon 10-22mm EF-S

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