At 12:03 5/5/02, Pete asked:
Anyone want to comment on used goods bought through the
"big three"? I've heard that KEH can almost be conservative
in their grading, but their prices are at the high end of the scale.
B&H seems to have the best reputation of all online or catalog
photo shops. I am most interested in whether the grading was
accurate as advertised.
Pete
Been my observation (not scientifically studied in detail with data) that
B&H, while very competitive with new prices, runs high with used
prices. Could be the used items I've looked at compared to KEH and Adorama
pricing. KEH is very conservative with its grading. B&H runs 2nd with
definitely above average and Adorama about 3rd ("slightly above
average"). I've done business with all three. KEH and B&H seem better
organized, at least in dealing with through web ordering. Adorama is
reliable and I've never encountered any problems with any of
them. Order-to-ship on "in stock" items seems slightly (emphasis on
slightly) faster with KEH and B&H.
Watch the Jewish religious holidays for B&H and Adorama though. If it's on
or near one of the high holidays they'll be closed and an on-line order
will wait until they're open again. Both announce this on their main page,
but some people miss it in eagerness to get to the product listings.
Finally, no business is perfect. It's what they do when they're not that
also counts. Do enough business with a firm and something will eventually
go awry. Both B&H and KEH have been very easy to work with on the couple
rare occasions in this regard (I've done a *lot* of business with
both). No experience with Adorama; I've done less business with them.
-- John
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