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Flash Diffuser
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Service is also important, but it’s difficult to to see how this is significant when buying something like a flash diffuser :?
People have a right to run a business and make a profit, but we as consumers also have a right not to be ripped off. It would be great to be able to walk into a high street shop, chat with a knowledgeable salesperson and be sold something at a fair price, but value for money is a concept entirely foreign to many high street shops in Dublin. I refuse to pay Paddy Tax! :)
I have to agree with the “shop online” ethos. I’m all for supporting the little guy but the simple fact of the matter is we’ve been ripped off by shops here for years and they continue to rip us off. This arose from the fact that we had no alternative and the shops knew this. Unfortunately for them they don’t seem to have copped that we now have an alternative called the internet.
Of course we’ll always hear the complaint that it is more expensive to do business here, wages are higher, taxes are higher etc, etc, etc. Rubbish! I recently purchased some furniture (yeah I know it’s a photography site) for €3800 direct from the distributor here in Ireland. The cheapest it was in any shop was €5800. €2000 more for taking it from the distributor and putting it on display in a shop. I’m not paying anyone for that!!
I use an omnibounce on the 580ExII (I bought it from Barker) and haven’t looked back.
On the subject of buying Irish, this is something I like to try and do where possible but honestly there are some items e.g. glass and bodies, that are just too over-priced in this country.
Tax & VAT will naturally account for some of it but this one takes the biscuit…
You’ll all too well be aware at what price a brand new Eos-5D can be bought at in the UK. Well when in a retail outlet in Cork (one of the main two) I priced a second hand 5D body. When I was quoted the price and actually realised that I had heard right the sales assistant very quickly added that it was in perfect condition and came with a 3 month warranty. I asked how may shutter operations it had, naturally the assistant was unable to tell me :roll: and I once again asked if the price quoted was in fact correct for a second hand dSLR body…E4300. Yes, E4300 :shock:
Priced in the UK with an f2.8 L lens (as a kit bundle) brand new it came in at under half the price in Euro of what I was quoted in Cork for a second hand body So I ask, why oh why would a person consider buying glass and bodies here? Accessories tht are available locally and in stock can sometimes beat the hassle of shipping and waiting but for the real hardware I’ll never again shop in Ireland. :shock:
I purchased a brand new 5D body in one of the ‘big two’ in Cork city last week for 1800E so I can’t understand how you could be quoted 4300E for a second hand 5D????????? The sales guy must have been on something really strange………….
I returned to my shop to price a camera bag out of curiosity and the guy who sold me my 5D was telling me that he heard the other ‘big’ shop was selling second hand 5D’s for the same money I bought mine.
Thank God for ebay is all I can sayDonal
Tactical,
yea it really happened,
got your PM and I replied (I think) not very clear on how the PM works yet, Let me know if you didn’t get it
Donal
Well..I,for one, swear not to buy any photo equipment in any of the shops in Cork. The prices they practice not only that are outrageous but they offend me. They have no logical explanation other then pure GREED.
Example. Nikon 70-200. In most of the UK shops, this lens would sell for around E1400-1500. In Cork (like) they sell for E1999.
SB-900. A popular shop in Cork quoted me E485 for an SB-900 flash gun. I got the same product for E403 including shipping. I understand that the demand and the sell rate in UK is higher then in Ireland but in the case of the Nikon 70-200, the E500 is not justified.
Don’t they realize that it costs only E30 to fly to UK and buy the same product there?? And in top of their outrageous prices, they treat you like you are making them a favor if you buy something from them.By the way. You get the same effect if you pop a white translucent plastic cup in top of your flash. And you get a free coffee with it ;)
To some degree yes, but I prefer the Omni-bounce as it fits my 580ExII nicely and won’t break when I stuff it into my pocket.
In the past I have used a piece of material from a plastic milk bottle and an elastic band but the convienence of a dedicated component has meant less messing around in my experience. Besides the price of the Omni-bounce won’t break the bank.
It works for me, it mightn’t work for everyone.
Pricing in Ireland is largely dictated by the importer/distributor and Canon Ireland in particular are renowned for being very inflexible on pricing and charging well above the odds. Then the retails outlets add their 33% margin on to that and pretty quickly goods start to cost and arm and a leg over here.
What’s really odd is the difference between bodies and lenses.
For example: Canon 5D body at Conn’s = €1899. At B&H in New York = $1999 (i.e.: €1623; adding 21% VAT = €1963). Actually cheaper locally if you add VAT to the US price.
Canon 70-200 2.8L IS lens at Conn’s = €1999. At B&H = $1699 (i.e. €1203; plus VAT = €1456).
Interesting…….
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