Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

the_Andyape

the_Andyape

Active member
Just to let y'all know- Profeel has dropped it's price for the DVX100a to $3,157. As this is anywhere from $2-600 less than any other reputable retailers I've found, I thought some of you might want to know. :-)

Cheers-

Andy
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Odd, the price on the dvx's just went up. Anyhow...that's a very good price!
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

I think the invoice price for resllers went up like five or ten bucks.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Jan,
How is it that Profeel can see the DVX but yet Panasonic won't honor the warranty. Just got mine from them a few weeks ago. Great folks, no hard sell, and sent me the rain cover at no charge.
jrt
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Sorry Jan, That should have read sell. Not see.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Buying from an unauthorized dealer (like Profeel) is not all that different from going to Toys 'R' Us to buy your kid a barbie, but some guy in a van opens up and says "psst... wanna Barbie? Buy it from me, it's $3 less."

Gray market (unauthorized) dealers don't buy their cameras from Panasonic USA. They may be used, they may be stolen, they may be refurbished, but they are not new stock bought directly from Panasonic USA. As such, they may not even be American models, and they may not carry USA warranties, and if that's the case, Panasonic would have no obligation to honor that warranty. Even if it was new product (but not USA-market product) it may carry a warranty but you'd have to send it to the country from which it came to get warranty service on it.

Buying from an unauthorized dealer is a bad idea.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Everything I've bought from Profeel was brand new, sealed, etc.

When my decision to buy came, I went with EVS because 1) they sponser this site 2) with tax from Profeel (I live in NY), the price was about the same as EVS and 3) EVS is an authorized dealer.

Generally, I agree with your post, Barry, but there is a far cry from Profeel and all those sleezy outfits our there advertizing the DVX at $2700.

By the way, I bought a Panasonic GS70 (the little 3 chipper) from Profeel last year and registered it with the card that came in the box.

I just got my DVX100A last week and haven't sent in the warranty card. I'll check to see if a receipt is necessary. My point is that if you have a warranty card in the box, how do they know where you bought it? (as I said, I'll let you know).

Jan, can you enlighten us on this?
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Regarding Profeel.. A littele neverous now.. It came with everything that Panasonic shows on there website. The folks wre great and the price at the time I bought was $3138.00. Went with the acc pkg for a Soft case, extra Batt and tapes. They threw in a rain cover at my suprise. 0 hrs on the head and serial number ect ect ect. Hopefully if there becomes some sort of problem, Panasonic would warranty it.
"Fingers Cross"..
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Maybe it's not authorized, but it's certainly reputable. Good company. Nice people. I don't know about the warranty issue, because I've not had problems with the equipment I've ordered from them yet.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

[quote author=magicdavek link=board=nws;num=1082853303;start=0#10 date=04/25/04 at 14:35:38]Everything I've bought from Profeel was brand new, sealed, etc.[/quote]

I haven't heard anything bad about Profeel, other than from VictorE. But perhaps the other stuff you bought from them was actually authorized? Panasonic authorizes dealers for different lines, i.e. Best Buy may be authorized to carry the pocket DigiCams but not the professional series AG-level cameras. Maybe your prior experiences were with authorized product lines?

In any case, yes, Profeel's reputation on bizrate and resellerratings is much better than the others. And for many things they may be a great outlet.

But I still think buying a $3,400 item from a non-authorized reseller is a bad idea. Doesn't matter who they are, if it's gray market, you're gambling, and I prefer not to gamble with $3400.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

I feel as though I answer this question more often than any other question. Gray market is how unauthorized dealers get the product, exchange rates in other parts of the world can be slipped around to make something cheap enough to be resold here under the dealer cost or at least at very attractive prices.

In the US there is a warranty, you need your invoice from a US dealer for warranty. No invoice, no warranty. However let's say that you have a problem and the unit you have seems to be a brand new out of the box problem. If purchased from an authorized source, this problem can be swapped out for a new camera. From an unauthorized source, this is generally handled by warranty service.

By purchasing something from an unauthorized source, you place an obstacle between Panasonic and yourself. Yes, the price seems sweet, but I can only hear the cries of pain when I have not been able to help someone quickly, painlessly and made them go through the service channel.

This subject is repeated over and over and over. When a product is popular, the opportunity for Gray Market rises, because as a business person, they can at least walk away with some of the business and since it is a fast and easy transaction on a credit card, no AM EX accepted, they have your money and you get the problem(s). I really wish that the US had not legalized Gray Market as I don't see that it is to the customer's benefit, long term. I'd bet the guys that legalized it never sat in on the help desk.

Anyhow I hope that this answers some of the questions.

Best regards,

Jan
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

I found a relatively local authorized dealer who is selling for just under 3,500 (more than I want to pay), but the service there is very good and there's no sales tax.

I was allowed to compare a pd-170 side by side with the dvx100a for a couple hours (hate to say it, but were it not for 24p mode and adjustability of the image, I'd definitely get the sony. the sony is better built, produces better colors and handles low light situations better. i also prefer how it shows 16:9 mode in the viewfinder when in "stretch" mode. the external shotgun mic versus the panny's omni is also a considerable disadvantage.). Beyond that, I may be able to take both cameras home for a couple days, and test them side by side.

I'm still pretty sure I'm getting the panny--so don't bother to convert the converted--but the ability to try both and see their strengths and weaknesses has been pretty cool and definitely helped make me feel better about spending a whole lot of money. It's also made my choice harder as the sony is far more competitive than I had expected.

So while I'm unhappy to spend a couple hundred bucks more, buying locally really does seem to have its advantages in customer service (plus they have a cool steadicam i want to buy....) and beyond that, not only are these guys authorized dealers, but they REALLY seem to know what they are talking about.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

Hi guys,

I just bought my DVX 100a from Profeel. Great service, nice people, they treat me like a person not an order number. In about one hour time we call back and forth 4-5 times, 3-4 emails, ( Credit card, signature, second ID, etc) then boommm..... two hour later my camera was on it's way to me.
I did ask the lady I was dealing with, if they are autorized Panasonic dealers and she told me they are. "All products are sold with full USA manufacturer's warranty" states their website "About us". They told me the camera comes with one year US warranty and for additional $200 I could get a 4 years international warranty . I declined the ofer. They didn't insisted.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

They may have said that they are an authorized dealer, but according to Panasonic, they're not. They're not authorized to carry the pro line, the DV Cinema line, or the consumer line.

They may be among the very best of the gray market dealers, but they are gray market, at least when it comes to Panasonic cameras.
 
Re: Price drop for DVX100a (Profeel)

I believe people in the US and (most likely) Canada need to understand if you buy a product through any source/dealer ,even if not authorized, and the product you buy is labeled for distribution in the US/Canada you have the full warranty backing this product. Fortunately, Federal (as well as state) Law governs what can and can not be declared a "gray market" product and as such non-warranted. But still, the simple truth is if your label is serial numbered and marked for distribution in the US/Canada and you do in fact live there, you have an absolute right to get warranty work matters taken care of properly without regard to where you chose to purchase your product.

-Rodger
 
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