Samy's disapoints

bfjr

Well I went to Samy's in Venice to see what I could see.

there in the case two lenses I want

45P & 300f2.8 afsII not VR

Ok they want
45P - $350 (new 329) this lens new but customer backed out so they can't sell it as new. I asked if they could make a better deal, NO they said!!

300 - looks good glass and exterior, but no hood, they want 3G's

Ok I said I'll take both lens but give me a hood for the 300 and I'll pay your price, NO they said!!

Ok how about both lens, I'll buy the hood but make the 3350.00 including tax, NO they said!!

Well thanks but no thanks I said, Geeeezzzzz that hurt to walk away :cry

Do you think I was right ??

ScottMcLeod

bfjr wrote:

Well I went to Samy's in Venice to see what I could see.

there in the case two lenses I want

45P & 300f2.8 afsII not VR

Ok they want
45P - $350 (new 329) this lens new but customer backed out so they can't sell it as new. I asked if they could make a better deal, NO they said!!

300 - looks good glass and exterior, but no hood, they want 3G's

Ok I said I'll take both lens but give me a hood for the 300 and I'll pay your price, NO they said!!

Ok how about both lens, I'll buy the hood but make the 3350.00 including tax, NO they said!!

Well thanks but no thanks I said, Geeeezzzzz that hurt to walk away :cry

Do you think I was right ??

Find a different salesperson (look for ones that look like they're bored, and not trying to get ALL the sales), or try to find the manager.

That, or continue wasting their time until they give you a deal.

( I've done that at work to get rid of friendly (but annoying) customers ^_^;; )

HeldDown

You did the COMPLETELY right thing in my eyes. Back in the day, when I bought my original 300D, I refused to pay full price, kept badgering the (very rude) sales guy for a deal. He kept saying no. I walked, much to his surprise and regret. I came back 24 hours later and pointed out "Listen, you can sell it to me for what I want to pay, or it can sit on the shelf and not make you ANY money." Knowing that 300Ds weren't exactly FLYING off the shelves at that point, my ploy worked. I got my deal.

Good memories, eh Scott?

mercphoto

HeldDown wrote:

"Listen, you can sell it to me for what I want to pay, or it can sit on the shelf and not make you ANY money."

I had a motocross customer try that same ploy on me about getting a CD-ROM of some of his images. Normally I have a set-price for all images of one rider at one event. I had about 10 of him. He only wanted 4 and was looking for a price break. "It saves you work... I don't think its worth your price for only 4 files... etc.". I stood my ground and he didn't buy. From my perspective I did the right thing, even though those images are just sitting on the shelf not making me any money.

So, things can sometimes look differently when viewed from the other side of the counter...

I don't know whether the price that Samy's was asking is a good price or not, so I don't know if you should have walked away or not. You didn't like the price so you walked, which is fine. But there are probably reasons why Samy stood their ground.

DoctorIt

you had every right to walk on used equipment. It'd be one thing if both were new from the factory. When they're singing happy-birthday to their inventory, they'll wish they had dealed a little bit.

Bob Bell

I like Samy's in general. They offer really good deals on specific items each month. Not everyone has the same price point as B&H nor do they have the profit margin of B&H.

You can't ask them to sell you something below their cost or whatever is the case. If you don't like it then move on but insulting them is a bit childish I believe.

There are other camera stores in LA County go to another one, ya know.

ScottMcLeod

HeldDown wrote:

You did the COMPLETELY right thing in my eyes. Back in the day, when I bought my original 300D, I refused to pay full price, kept badgering the (very rude) sales guy for a deal. He kept saying no. I walked, much to his surprise and regret. I came back 24 hours later and pointed out "Listen, you can sell it to me for what I want to pay, or it can sit on the shelf and not make you ANY money." Knowing that 300Ds weren't exactly FLYING off the shelves at that point, my ploy worked. I got my deal.

Good memories, eh Scott?

Good memories indeed.

Also, a note to people, go to camera stores near the end of the day. Sales clerks are more desperate to make their daily quota.

I know, because I do it. I cut deals near closing time to keep my managers happy when they see the daily numbers.

ScottMcLeod

mercphoto wrote:

I had a motocross customer try that same ploy on me about getting a CD-ROM of some of his images. Normally I have a set-price for all images of one rider at one event. I had about 10 of him. He only wanted 4 and was looking for a price break. "It saves you work... I don't think its worth your price for only 4 files... etc.". I stood my ground and he didn't buy. From my perspective I did the right thing, even though those images are just sitting on the shelf not making me any money.

So, things can sometimes look differently when viewed from the other side of the counter...

I don't know whether the price that Samy's was asking is a good price or not, so I don't know if you should have walked away or not. You didn't like the price so you walked, which is fine. But there are probably reasons why Samy stood their ground.

I disagree. I would've charged him more per photo, but not as much as the full 10.

You get a deal, he gets a deal, everyone's happy.

I work on both sides of the counter. I know how the games work.

MarkM6

Samy's Camera in Santa Ana
Well... I went in and asked, "Hi, I want to trade in my [Canon L f2.8] 16-35 for a 24-105. Can you tell me how much can I get?"

My lens is in the original packaging and about 3 months old.... I got offer for $600!

I told myself not to go to that store again unless I am really bored.

However, The Samy's Camera in LA is a completely different story.

Some camera salesman reminds me of car salesmans, especially those high end cars....

ScottMcLeod

MarkM6 wrote:

Well... I went in and asked, "Hi, I want to trade in my [Canon L f2.8] 16-35 for a 24-105. Can you tell me how much can I get?"

My lens is in the original packaging and about 3 months old.... I got offer for $600!

I told myself not to go to that store again unless I am really bored.

However, The Samy's Camera in LA is a completely different story.

Some camera salesman reminds me of car salesmans, especially those high end cars....

Yup. Some camera sales men are complete jerks. Those are the guys who are out to make a career out of it.

Me, I'm just there to have a part time job that I enjoy, and to get the customer what they want, and teach them how to get the most out of it.

L-glass is like, the best used dream for stores. They offer very little for it, but they'll sell really high, and tell the customer, "hey, L glass holds it's value."

johno

It's always ok to ask, "Is that the best you can do?"

peace.
johno~

Pezpix

I've built up a rapport with a number of staffers over at the Samy's in Santa Ana. A couple of them are really good guys and have helped me quite a bit over the past few months as I basically harrassed and made myself a nuisance asking eleventy billion questions on every subject in the camera world.

Being a lens tech geek, I really enjoy talking with a couple of them about the different performances of Canon lenses and their real-world performance. Plus, if you go in enough they give you their "good guy" discount which basically amounts to their bottom line price more or less. ( I knoq its cheesy sounding but hey, its better than paying full price right?)

Sure, there is always a downside by the way. Sometimes they get real busy and finding a helpful person behind the counter is a pain on busy days... They have an outrageously low offer they give on used equipment and sometimes, you run into employees who care only about that precious commission or dealing with a one-time customer who spends beaucoup money on a camera that is way too much power in the hands of a point and clicker. And the managers sometimes let power go right to their heads when it comes to customers.

But, I dont know how that is different than any other retail store to be honest. And I'd rather deal with them than the Ritz-Wolf Camera crowd. Ugh. We wont even get started with that nightmare.

Its all about knowing who is trying to sell you stuff. If you dont like what they are doing, walk away and find someone else right? Good luck!