Buy on-line or not to buy on-line?

[Locut0s]

I'm probably going to purchase a Pentax K20D with the kit lens soon. One thing that has been bothering me though, should I buy it on-line for cheaper or pay more and purchase it at a local brick and mortar store or a specialized camera store? On amazon.com I can purchase it for about $1300+ US which when you add taxes, US-CAN conversion, and shipping is still going to be cheaper than the $1700 CAN price I saw at a local store here. I've also seen it locally at a camera store for something similar. Question is which would you go for? I've never been shy about purchasing anything on-line but in this case having a physical location where I can take questions and complaints and a physical location that warranties the product might be worth the extra $? The dedicated camera store has the additional advantage of having very knowledgeable staff who are eager to help. I've always shied away from paying for warranties and the like because I'm fairly handy with hardware and figuring things out on my own, never had a problem I couldn't fix myself or if I did nothing that a local store could fix either (needed to be sent back to the main manufacturer). But then we aren't talking about computer hardware here.

Which would you recommend?

 

[jpeyton]

How much would it be off Amazon, after taxes, shipping, etc.?

If it was only $100 savings, I would go local. $200 savings, I'd go online.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
How much would it be off Amazon, after taxes, shipping, etc.?

If it was only $100 savings, I would go local. $200 savings, I'd go online.

Well I can get the following:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi...36DL6WLK2RE7O&v=glance

1,416.83 CAD after shipping but taxes don't seem to be included in the price. But then the taxes I'd pay would be a similar amount no mater which one I bought.

And that one includes the 8GB SDHC Card + Spare D-LI50 Battery + Case + Cameta Bonus Accessory Kit which the local store one does not include (though some of that stuff is a gimmick).

 

[jpeyton]

What kind of taxes are you talking about? Local sales tax? Or duties?

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
What kind of taxes are you talking about? Local sales tax? Or duties?

Local taxes. Canadian PST and GST. I've never had to pay duties on products bought on-line as far as I know. Not sure what type of product I would need to pay duties on when shipped cross border to Canada?

 

[Heidfirst]

perhaps if you go in, have a chat & explain the local store will meet you half-way or similar?

 

[corkyg]

And there are also Canadian on line stores to check out.

Canada

 

[daveshel]

The scary part about an Amazon purchase is UPS. I want to get the 5D/24-105L kit, which is a good deal on Amazon, but I'm just not willing to risk having $2750 worth of gear left sitting in my driveway for anyone to pick up.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: daveshel
The scary part about an Amazon purchase is UPS. I want to get the 5D/24-105L kit, which is a good deal on Amazon, but I'm just not willing to risk having $2750 worth of gear left sitting in my driveway for anyone to pick up.

UPS has little slips you can leave on your door instructing the driver not to deliver when nobody is home.