AC160 New 160a for $2600??

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donnyb

Member
A friend asked how much a new 160a would cost - after listening to me brag about mine. I did a search on the camera name and there are a few online retailers selling the 160a for $2500 to $2700 with free shipping and a one year warranty. These are advertised as brand new and come with a one week return policy. Is this the start of a price drop or is there something else about these that I should be aware of?
 
The ONE YEAR warranty should give you the answer. Gray Market. Covered by MAC warranty or similar.

The actual USA camera has a three year warranty via Panasonic.

No doubt you looked up the vendors track record. Make sure the battery, charger is included and it is a USA model or a non- Gray market item.
 
Personally, I would not advise this transaction because it will have no Panasonic Warranty in the US. Warranty will be in the country of origin.
Best,

Jan
 
Global Media Pro have them listed at $3250 and those are grey market models so for $2600 I wonder what you are getting?? Best to stay away from really cheap deals. If you are going to get a grey market Panny then get it from a reputable dealer at least...I had two HMC80's which came from Singapore warehouse and they are perfect BUT if they had gone wrong it would mean an overseas ship back to them for a repair. Luckily they were perfect!
 
Usually these "great" deals turn out to be a total nightmare. The standard approach is for you to order online. Then a rep calls you to "verify" your transaction. It is at that time that you learn from an extremely pushy and rude individual that it is the stripped-down gray market camera with little or no warranty and NO accessories. Then they push the accessories and warranty. If you are foolish enough to agree to the overpriced accessories and having to BUY a warranty the price gets right up there with the truly reputable retailers or even more expensive than that. This system pretty much started with a couple of camera stores in Brooklyn and the stores keep changing their name once they get too many negative ratings with the BBB.

Stick to the good ones. B&H, Adorama, etc. Their prices are usually the best as far as legit stores go and their customer service is top notch. I've been buying from B&H since 2000 and have always been happy.

IF you want to save some green on a camera without getting skrewd by a retailer then I suggest buying used from someone who (hopefully) is an honest person who treats their gear very well.
 
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