I would hardly include B&H in this bunch, whether they're in Manhattan or anywhere else. In my experience with photo and video operations, B&H Photo is at the top in all respects. They don't deserve being mentioned in the same breath as a bunch of fly-by-night outfits.

60 Minutes, Dateline, almost all the TV magazine type programs have at one time or another exposed retail "camera and electronic" shops as sleaze masters that routinely change names, move, go out of business, reopen, etc., because they sell gray market, black market, open, refurbished, over stocked, damaged and switched merchandise along with selling "accessories" that's suppose to come with whatever you're buying as high cost extras. Evey major city has several of these fly by night stores, not surprising they've found the Internet and sell on Ebay.

B&H and some others almost always grossly inflates the true shipping and handling costs just so their list price of product X looks cheaper. That's just another form of deception. While I've bought tons of stuff off the Internet I always read their disclamers and their return policy, many of which have 15% restock fees or they won't honor return of damaged good (meaning no refunds) and may only give you another box which could be just someone else's returned or damaged goods.

I think I mentioned before that a couple years back I bought a bunch of parts from a very slick looking web store. They immediately hit my credit card and never shipped any of it. It took hours of my time writing my credit card company and finally the Texas Attorney General's office to help close em down. Turns out they had hundreds of cases filed against them and the TAG lauched a sting and they took them down.

I mentioned B&H just in case someone said, "Hey, that's not fair, you don't show B&H in that group"

I agree, they are a great retailer. I disagree with BillyBoy about shipping and handling fees, at least in B&H's case.

I do know that a lot of low-priced sites will have a camera for a few hundred less than B&H, then smack on a couple of hundred in S&H. It's a joke. But B&H doesn't do that. A Sony VX2100 is $2319 and has a shipping charge of $27 or 3-5 day delivery. And no tax if you're out of NY.

It depends on WHAT you buy. Try comparing some cheaper items using one of the compare price web sites and you'll see B&H among a few popular others having higher shipping charges then the others. Maybe they don't once you spend a couple grand.

Several times recently I was going to order from B&H and their excessive S/H caused me to look elsewhere. I'm not singling out B&H, I just don't like the practice of inflated S/H costs.

looks like nice areas of brooklyn

last time I was in brookly was almost 20 years ago

what was a nice neighborhood in the 60's was a slum in the mid 80's

church avenue near holy cross school became in a short time little hati

what a jungle

the whole place needs to be leveled

except maybe sheepheads bay

You should have seen Maxwell street in Chicago. Gone now, but once upon a time...

Regarding B & H:

I have placed three orders with B & H since Oct 2004. Shipping costs ranged from $9.85 to $14.85. For comparision, UPS charges $7.07 as its lowest price for a very light package going a very short distance. I have ordered on Sunday from B& H and been doing useful work with the order on Tuesday.

Regarding Brooklyn stores:

I purchased a Nikon six years ago from one of the true Brooklyn stores. A nightmare of a learning experience.

BillyBoy: Who did you go with after you droped B&H.

Oh, I long for the sunlit days of my wonderful youth, when good Catholic school students wouldn't have to encounter dark hordes of immigrants and their jungle ways. Now I just pine away the days indulging my racist fantasies of killing millions of people. But what a small comfort that brings.

Mr ceo, Brooklyn doesn't need you. Stay out.

the animals were there in the 60's

let's see king was shot and we needed police escorts to walk us to holy cross

animals would get out of erasmus high and try to steal your possessions bikes balls or whatever

on the way to and fro prospect park the animals would try to steal your bike while you were on it

the animals would try to jump you for lunch money and wrist watches almost daily

now there were some 'nice' neighborhoods still, but the animals were already in brooklyn

but like I said sheepshead bay may still be okay, last time was there was in my 'godfathers' place, joe 'bike' was his name

he was the man in that part of brooklyn back in the day

face it animals have been in brooklyn for years and it has nothing to do with the color of skin

I had many friends of color in the 60's and still do today

however, brooklyn was taken over almost completely in the past 40 or so years by real animals

walk down flatbush or church avenue today

if you dare

I'm not certain exactly what point is being made here. If you had taken snapshots of Apple Computer's first "headquarters" it would not have been corporately flattering. I am not familiar with most of the entities on the list, but if they are honest in their pricing and consistent in their fulfilment, then, taking advantage of mail order/online marketing's biggest advantages (wide reach/low brick & mortar overhead) to deliver product at competitive prices and still make a profit is not a negative mark against these companies in my book.

I wonder how many of us has any experience with the companies mentioned. Did they honor their advertised price, ship accurately and promptly? If so, then, what's the rub? Must they have a fancy storefront in some upscale high-rent location to be legitimate?

I don't know for sure, but, I'm guessing that B&H wasn't always the well-respected mail-order guru that we see today - they had to get started somewhere.

I have personal experience with Abes - they sent me what I asked for, shipped it for the quoted price, I was satisfied, and would go back if another item caught my fancy.

I've shopped with B&H (had some defective merchandise delivered, exchanged, no problems). They, too, like to package "accessories" into name brand big-ticket purchases.

If you know what you're shopping for, what price is fair, then, you should be able to get what you want at most legitimate establishments. What their storefront looks like is of little concern for me.

As for inflated shipping prices, I thnk the term is a bit misused. In my business, I ship materials all over the country. I use whatever shipping means is efficient - in cost and service., and I definitely feel that, if I am running the shipping cost through my books, I'm entitled to mark up my shipping cost. I don't consider that to be inflating the cost, I consider it making a profit.

As long as I clearly disclose all costs to my customer, then, he/she is free to accept or reject my selling price. As long as I deliver what I have promised at the cost I disclosed, my business practice is sound.

What UPS or FedEx may charge has little bearing on my right to charge what I consider a reasonable fee for shipping.

Any customer who doesn't like my shipping charge is free to shop elsewhere or to pick up the merchandise, themselves. Mind you, FedEx, DHL, UPS will all pick up for you at some remote location and deliver to you if you want to go to the trouble of obtaining the necessary information and arranging your own pickup.

If the customer expects me to expedite the shipping, then, no matter how simple and trivial said expediting may seem to my customer, it represents time and expense to me, and I feel I'm entitled to make a profit on it.

In so far as purchasing electronic and photo/video gear, I never buy anything without checking how much it will cost me locally, determining what accessories are included in the packaging, what my likely needs may be for after-sale service/support, then, comparing all that info against the (usually) lower price of mail order (sans sales tax) factoring in the shipping costs that may vary from source to source, and the absence of ready service, if needed.

Armed with that info, I can evaluate whether a retail purchase or online/mail order purchase makes more sense. Sometimes the facts weigh in favor of the local retailer (whom I tend to support whenever at all possilbe), sometimes, the online/mail order source offers the overwhelming advantage).

I heartily endorse both routes of supply, and am always more impressed by knowledge and customer service than I am by storefronts and window dressing.

My two cents.

Caruso

I'm looking to edit the previous message (for grammar, not content). Why am I not free to edit or delete/repost? Clicking on those options does nothing for me.

Just curious.

Caruso