Camera prices

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Harvey
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I`m in the market for a new camera (70d ) and am about to buy it , but was wondering if prices drop after xmas? and there fore is it worth hanging on?
 
Yes, what` s that all about? why don`t they just reduce the price in the first place, or are they relying on people forgetting to claim it?
 
I guess if they just dropped the price it would devalue all the stock stores were holding already. Same reason cars have cash back offers I guess. Makes sense for expensive things sold in small quantities.
 
Camera price buster has a price trend graph where you can see the price changes.
 
Yes, what` s that all about? why don`t they just reduce the price in the first place, or are they relying on people forgetting to claim it?
Who are "they" in this context?

Manufacturers could reduce the price they charge to retailers, but that's undesirable for all sorts of reasons.

For starters, retailers will already have stock for which they paid full price, so they'll want to clear that before dropping their prices. And in fact there's no direct compulsion for them to reduce their prices at all - the manufacturers can't insist on this. So the manufacturer's price cuts will feed through into retail price cuts slowly and unevenly, if at all. Additionally, any retailers that have (deliberately or accidentally) turned their stock over faster will be able to offer the discounts sooner. That would put other retailers, who (accidentally or deliberately) have larger stocks, at a disadvantage. It might also lead to claims of favouritism. Best avoided.

And at the other end of the promotion, retailers might choose to stock up on items which they're buying for a reduced price, so they can afford to continue the promotion for longer. Again, that puts other retailers at a disadvantage, especially if they've wanted to stock up but haven't been able to, and again it risks claims of favouritism.

By offering the price cut directly to consumers, the manufacturers have much greater control over when it takes effect.
 
Good explanation Stewart. I had always assumed that the manufacturer was doing it on the basis that at least some consumers would neglect to claim, and not as a way to ensure the savings they planned actually gets through to the consumer.
Perhaps I shouldn't be so cynical...
 
On the other hand Stewart there are several dodgy (think high street chains) that add the cashback to the top level price, then charging the actual price (sans cash back) at the checkout.

£739
Pay £799 and get £60 cashback from Canon

At least you can tell the dodgy shops and avoid... :D
 
On the other hand Stewart there are several dodgy (think high street chains) that add the cashback to the top level price, then charging the actual price (sans cash back) at the checkout.

£739
Pay £799 and get £60 cashback from Canon

At least you can tell the dodgy shops and avoid... :D
I think that's getting increasingly common as far as advertising is concerned. Trouble is, if one retailer does it, they all have to or else they'll look like they're more expensive.

But I don't think they actually add the cashback to their prices before doing so. That would make them look more expensive than the others.

For example suppose the street price of a lens had been £799 and the manufacturer starts a £60 cashback offer. The retailers will advertise it as £799-£60=£739 and sell it to you for £799. They generally won't say £859-£60=£799 and sell it to you for £859.
 
I`m in the market for a new camera (70d ) and am about to buy it , but was wondering if prices drop after xmas? and there fore is it worth hanging on?

Why wait....look at all those photo opportunities you may miss if you wait until after xmas
 
Cashback also provides the manufacturers with a crude protection against 'grey imports'. It only applies to 'official' channel products.

For example Hdew don't qualify.
 
At one time the manufacturers used to give a retrospective discount (aka cashback) to the retailer when an item was sold during the manufacturers sales period - but having the customer apply for the cashback has a greater degree of fraud control. It doesn't entirely prevent fraud, but it makes it a far more difficult, complicated and time consuming process.
 
Latest update , i`ve decided to go second hand again and am going for a canon 70d with 900 actuations and saved £200.00 with 6 months warrenty
 
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