how is this possible?

ShopCartUSA (IMHO) is a site that has been set up as a vehicle for bait-and-switch camera stores with terrible ResellerRatings.com ratings to capture buyers. For some reason, those stores have five-star ratings on ShopCartUSA.

I would never do business with any of them.
 
THoff said:
ShopCartUSA (IMHO) is a site that has been set up as a vehicle for bait-and-switch camera stores.
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what do you mean by the above? i've never heard bait-and-switch used before

do the cameras have something wrong with them or are they just selling them that cheap?
 
At the very top of this forum in A YELLOW BOLD COLOR is huge thread on how to buy a HVX200 from a legitimate vendor.
 
endeavor said:
what do you mean by the above? i've never heard bait-and-switch used before

do the cameras have something wrong with them or are they just selling them that cheap?
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OK, let's look at this objectively. The companies are advertising cameras that are selling for less than authorized dealer cost. How is that possible?

They advertise at a low price and then pressure you into buying something else like an expensive package containing poorly made and overpriced accessories, and if you don't agree, the camera is suddenly out of stock. Or they ship you something different from what you ordered.

Let's take the three lowest-priced sellers on the page you linked to:

CCI Camera City @ $2119.00 -- rated 0.04 out of 10
Royal Camera @ $2299.00 -- rated 0.00 out of 10
Century 21 Electronics @ $2339.00 -- rated 0.56 out of 10

Click on each company name to see information about them on ResellerRatings. Every one of them has a history of bait-and-switch sales, charging credit cards without shipping merchandise, shipping products that are different from what was ordered and then charging extremely high restocking fees, claiming that the buyer ordered non-existing "OEM packages" that don't come with all of the acccessories, not shipping on time and providing fake tracking numbers, etc.

Even if you do get what you ordered at a price close to what the website shows, you are not buying the camera from an authorized Panasonic dealer, and therefore you won't get the free 8GB P2 card or Barry's book. You may also wind up with a gray-market camera that is not covered by Panasonic USA's warranty.

Do yourself a favor, and do a little bit of research. Once you do, you will ignore those vendors.
 
And good luck getting a camera bought from someone who is NOT an authorized dealer serviced under warranty. Basically, you're buying a camera that come from god knows where, stolen, someone's trash can, and it has no warrenty.

"Bait and Switch" is a very old term for what con artists do. I have a biological father who was a professional con artist. It means you "bait" someone, like fishing, you hold something out that attracts them, like a fully working, shiny, new object. Then when you deliver the goods, you "switch" it like a magician, and give them a piece of worthless crap that doens't work and you got for free cause it's broken or something, saving the shiny new version to "bait" someone again at a later date.
 
BenB said:
And good luck getting a camera bought from someone who is NOT an authorized dealer serviced under warranty. Basically, you're buying a camera that come from god knows where, stolen, someone's trash can, and it has no warrenty.

"Bait and Switch" is a very old term for what con artists do. I have a biological father who was a professional con artist. It means you "bait" someone, like fishing, you hold something out that attracts them, like a fully working, shiny, new object. Then when you deliver the goods, you "switch" it like a magician, and give them a piece of worthless crap that doens't work and you got for free cause it's broken or something, saving the shiny new version to "bait" someone again at a later date.
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Hi Ben,

i guess i know what you are talking about, you find those "dealers" also in Italy, everyone who has been to Naples can proof that story: they stop you in a big quare in the town center and offer you a nice mini-dv camcorder for an incredible price, at the end they will switch it as fast as lightning and you will end up in your hotelroom with a package of italian salt..(which is great indeed for cooking pasta but a little bit overpriced for a coouple of hundred euro..!)

So if anyone WANTS to believe that those pages have a good offer, go ahead and buy there, but its just unrealistic to think you will receive more than a package of salt..!
 
Many years ago a U.S. Postmaster General once said, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."

And I always thought Italian salt was really THAT good! Stuid me!

:-Laugh(DBG):
 
The thing that is maddening to me is that the video magazines (that I won't mention) have huge ads with the lower prices for these stores prominently displayed.

Then in the mag itself there are stories about copyright violations for music and how to be careful to observe the law.

It's utter hypocrisy to me
 
David..i guess this is business mainly..!

But i agree, its a hypocritic one..!

Ben, the salt IS great, i will have to fly down to get the extra quality big size..mybe ill find a mini dv in one of the packages!
 
Having worked in the magazine biz off and on for awhile, currently in it, it's difficult for a publication to "screen" it's advertisers. In fact, if you do, you open yourself up to legal problems, even from someone with a bad reputation. It's just not going to happen unless someone can present evidence that would hold up in court that an advertiser is not honest. Just the way the world works. No publication in the U.S. will or can claim to stand behind it's advertisers. The logistics prohibit it. Just FYI, it's in no way "hypocritical" on any magazines part to print ads that are legally paid for by someone who is legally in business, no matter how much they hurt their customers.
 
David S. said:
If it isn't hypocritical, it's immoral to me.

Or unethical

Or just plain wrong. :)
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Specifically, a magazine selling an ad to someone they don't know? That's actually called illegal. Don't blame a magazine for what it legally can not regulate. That's all I'm saying. There are legal avenues for the consumer to go after bad vendors, that's how you fix them. But, seems the general public is to lazy to do it.

Is it immoral and hypocritical of my ISP to allow spam mail to get to my mailbox?
 
I don't know about today, but years back the magazines would ban an advertiser if they got one too many complaints from subscribers. They felt the
patrons needed to have confidence in the vendors.
 
Danny,

Save yourself some grief, just buy it from an authorized dealer. This camera will not ship to you and if it does, you will not have all of the items. This is so much of a scam.

They really are not selling it that cheap, by the time you buy all of the standard accessories you will spend more that $5995.

Best,

Jan
 
BenB said:
Specifically, a magazine selling an ad to someone they don't know? That's actually called illegal. Don't blame a magazine for what it legally can not regulate. That's all I'm saying. There are legal avenues for the consumer to go after bad vendors, that's how you fix them. But, seems the general public is to lazy to do it.

Is it immoral and hypocritical of my ISP to allow spam mail to get to my mailbox?
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Ben, while I respect your opinion, I disagree 100%.

Broadway Phxxxxx wil never sell you a HVX200 for $2K or whatever it advertises it at.

All the mags know that.

You write for EventDV.

How about a story on trying to buy a HVX200 for what BroadwXXXXX Photo advertises for.

You don't have problem with that?

I do and so do the people who rely on those ads that supply money to the mags. And mags know that it is not a correct price.

I think it's wrong for these companies to accept advertising from those companies and pricing that isn't truthful.

Spam isn't the same and I think that's pretty self evident. Your ISP isn't deriving revenue from spam. The spam comes from sources that your ISP takes steps to prevent.

That's quite difference from accepting advertising from companies that do not deliver what they advertise.

Or even come close.
 
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