At 10:38 AM -0800 2/25/00, Johnsonpa@xxxxxxx wrote:
I figured more than one of the list would probably be interested in hearing
this, so I decided to post this message:
I recently purchased a lens from Adorama (not yet received). Stating that I
had seen the lens on their website, I asked the salesman if the item was
still available. When he said it was available, I said I wanted it. Then he
asks ME what the price was! Sensing an opportunity, I said I didn't have the
price in front of me and asked what he had. Well, he quoted a higher price
than the website, and I quickly chimed in with the web price. He didn't
hesitate to accept the price I said, and I wonder if I could have given him
any reasonable price and he would have accepted it. I'm thinking about
calling and seeing they will sell the 250/2 for a few hundred dollars and
then saying I must have misread the website if I am corrected.
Seriously, is this common practice among mail order companies? Can prices be
negotiated at large companies like Adorama, where the salespeople obviously
only take orders?
Nuh-uh. The web price is pretty much the bottom, and the salesmen do in
fact have the list on their screens. Or at least that was my
experience when I went there in person. An item for which I didn't have
the web numbers turned out to be about $30 higher ($135 vs $105) than
the web price when I got home and checked it. (And the item for which the
quote was only $1 more than the web price turned out to be lost in the
store-room.
It's possible there's some negotiating room on the web prices as well,
but no steals...
paul
ps I gazed longingly at the 250/2 lying in the bottom of the display case,
but no way...
--
Paul Wallich pw@xxxxxxxxx
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