Advice on receiving used camera as 'new' from Amazon

[ScottinPollock]

what Chinese junk are you referring to?

Amazon sells/fulfills plenty of new items as well as offers a seller system very similar to ebay. People like you and me can have an amazon store and sell new/used items at will. It is important that the BUYER read and understand what they are buying properly BEFORE making the purchase. Amazon still has excellent customer service from my personal experience.

I was referring to their search engine. When I search for a particular Nikon lens hood, I'd prefer not having to wade through a bunch of counterfeit products offered by these third party "stores".

A little curating would go a long way here.

 

[10 Gauge]

I'm a sucker for a deal and the local shop is always way outside of what I'm willing to spend. Internet pricing has spoiled shopping b&m's for me.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

 

[BackdoorArts]

I almost expect to get a previously opened package from Amazon with some things. Their return policy makes "borrowing" equipment almost too easy. Unscrupulous humans will buy a camera to use or simply to check it out, shoot with it for a weekend and return it if they don't like it. I've also had it happen with B&H on a Sony a6000. Both have been quick to rectify the situation at their cost.

As was said, Amazon is huge and the people they pay to inspect and restock returns are working almost as indentured servants for 3rd party contractors, so it's not surprising that they "miss" stuff (it's probably more paperwork on the return which means less productivity, yada-yada). Whether or not you realize it you're often getting the same thing with local big box retailers as well. Hell, I bought a "new" set of Dewalt power tools from Lowes, brought them home, opened them and they were all covered in Spackle dust. On the exchange the drill was already stripped. I suspect half the stuff on their shelves are returns from other outlets that have supposedly been inspected and repackaged. Now, when I buy something there I ask to open and inspect the contents before going to the register.

I'd be happy with the body at 55 shots and a 20% discount as long as Nikon honors the warranty as new.

 

[carguy]

I'm a sucker for a deal and the local shop is always way outside of what I'm willing to spend. Internet pricing has spoiled shopping b&m's for me.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

For items like DSLR bodies and glass, I find pricing to be very standard across the country. My local camera store prices are the same as most online sources.

 

[carguy]

I was referring to their search engine. When I search for a particular Nikon lens hood, I'd prefer not having to wade through a bunch of counterfeit products offered by these third party "stores".

A little curating would go a long way here.

Gotcha. So are you seeing the 3rd party offerings show up before Amazon fulfilled products generally?

 

[10 Gauge]

I agree that's usually the case. But I do a lot of surfing and price watching online. Like when I bought my D750 kit, Amazon saved me $700 due to a pricing error. Scored that just with some daily price watching. If I see a deal I'll jump on it quick.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

 

[algmiyazaki]

I almost expect to get a previously opened package from Amazon with some things. Their return policy makes "borrowing" equipment almost too easy. Unscrupulous humans will buy a camera to use or simply to check it out, shoot with it for a weekend and return it if they don't like it. I've also had it happen with B&H on a Sony a6000. Both have been quick to rectify the situation at their cost.

As was said, Amazon is huge and the people they pay to inspect and restock returns are working almost as indentured servants for 3rd party contractors, so it's not surprising that they "miss" stuff (it's probably more paperwork on the return which means less productivity, yada-yada). Whether or not you realize it you're often getting the same thing with local big box retailers as well. Hell, I bought a "new" set of Dewalt power tools from Lowes, brought them home, opened them and they were all covered in Spackle dust. On the exchange the drill was already stripped. I suspect half the stuff on their shelves are returns from other outlets that have supposedly been inspected and repackaged. Now, when I buy something there I ask to open and inspect the contents before going to the register.

I'd be happy with the body at 55 shots and a 20% discount as long as Nikon honors the warranty as new.

I think that's a good idea to check the product first and I've definitely learned a lesson here. Ultimately, I am happy with the discount and camera.

 

[jdeg]

FYI, Nikon and many other camera brands are restricted. You have to be an authorized retailer to sell them on Amazon, so not just any seller can sell Nikon cameras.

If Amazon gets a return for a Nikon camera, and the customer returns absolutely everything that was originally included in a box that is in new condition they will try to resell it as new. They don't bother to check things like shutter counts. If the return is missing some things or the camera has some marks on it, they should put it up as a warehouse deal.

 

[Wolfeye]

Interesting. I have, on occasion, suspected that the camera I bought was not really new. But it's not just Amazon. There's a reason stores like B&H and Adorama insist on returns being in like-new condition with unfilled warranty cards. Amazon, to their credit, isn't that particular. If you buy from them you have 30 days to decide, and they obviously know the item needs to be used by the buyer to determine worthiness for its intended purpose. They certainly inspect returns, and if they look as good as new, they go back into the inventory as new, but I doubt their returns inspectors know everything about cameras, or what should be in the box.

 

[Woodyg3]

If I was buying from a brick and mortar and the camera had 55 clicks, I'd figure someone had tried the camera out in the shop. No problem as long as it looks to be in good shape. The problem with a place like Amazon is that the camera was likely shipped a couple of times and banged around by UPS and the buyer who returned it was not under the watchful eye of a sales person as he "tried it out" before retuning.

Anyway, a 20% discount sounds like a good deal, especially if the Nikon warranty is still valid.

 

[skater]

There is a similar story here about someone that ordered a D610 and received a D7000 with a D610 label. Again, probably exactly the same situation - someone bought it, swapped the label, then returned it, getting a D610 for a much lower price. Amazon took care of that situation, too, fortunately.

I guess it comes down to making sure you got what you ordered...

Out of curiosity, I wonder how many shutter clicks are normal on a camera when you receive it. That is, if I got a new D7200 straight from Nikon, opened it, took one shot, then looked at the shutter count, what would it be? My guess is that it'd be something greater than 1, given testing, but 55 seems high. We just got a new camera over the weekend, so I know for certain which shot is the first one, so I'm going to take a look at the count on that one.

 

[RocketCowboy]

Out of curiosity, I wonder how many shutter clicks are normal on a camera when you receive it. That is, if I got a new D7200 straight from Nikon, opened it, took one shot, then looked at the shutter count, what would it be? My guess is that it'd be something greater than 1, given testing, but 55 seems high. We just got a new camera over the weekend, so I know for certain which shot is the first one, so I'm going to take a look at the count on that one.

When I've gone back and looked at my first images off new bodies, the shutter count has been 1.

 

[john*thomas]

20% is a pretty darn good discount on a D7200. The whole episode would leave me a little perturbed but at 20% and the checking you have done I'd figure I ended up with a pretty good deal.

If I had went into a camera store and they said they had an open box D7200 that they used to demonstrate the new features but it came with a full warranty and only 55 clicks at a 20% discount, I'd likely jump on that.

 

[10 Gauge]

When I've gone back and looked at my first images off new bodies, the shutter count has been 1.

My D750 from Amazon was shutter count 1. I'm assuming Nikon resets all of the counts after any testing and before shipping.

 

[RocketCowboy]

My D750 from Amazon was shutter count 1. I'm assuming Nikon resets all of the counts after any testing and before shipping.

That's been my experience over a few different camera bodies. Either they're resetting the count prior to shipping, or they just aren't testing every body off the line.

 

[10 Gauge]

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't test every single body.... Maybe the test like 1 in 5 or something like that to cut down on time/cost?

 

[donaldjledet]

Well my D750 had a one count from the picture i took.
And I received it from the grey market. No Problems.
Working like a charm.

 

[algmiyazaki]

I agree, it should be 1. It's possible that there might be factory testing, though they should still reset it to default. Even if they didn't, I know for sure this was a return because of the settings (location, naming, etc.) and the battery charger was already assembled (normally comes in 2 pieces, each in plastic).


Still, this camera (the one I kept, not the other one) is in good shape. I have used it all weekend (about 1,500 pics) and it is working great. The image quality at lower ISOs is seriously impressive -- on par with D750 (of course D750 much better at higher ISO). Absolutely massive upgrade from my D5100.

 

[Flapjack23]

Interesting. I have, on occasion, suspected that the camera I bought was not really new. But it's not just Amazon. There's a reason stores like B&H and Adorama insist on returns being in like-new condition with unfilled warranty cards. Amazon, to their credit, isn't that particular. If you buy from them you have 30 days to decide, and they obviously know the item needs to be used by the buyer to determine worthiness for its intended purpose. They certainly inspect returns, and if they look as good as new, they go back into the inventory as new, but I doubt their returns inspectors know everything about cameras, or what should be in the box.

My wife and I reserved a camera and a few lenses for her son to use to photograph our wedding, when we went to pick the equipment up one of the lenses was not there. They got a new one from stock, we used it, and upon return they put it back in the origional packaging and put it back in stock. This is a well known metro detroit B&M. I would assume occurs more often than we think.

A chance not taken is a wasted opportunity