Jessops going under (again)
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- Rich
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- Phil Maddocks
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No surprises, I've never liked shopping at Jessops. Maybe I've had some bad stores, but I've always found them pushy and quite rude in some instances. When I was about to buy my X-T3 and lens I went in to ask some questions about it only to feel I was wasting this persons time. I asked if I could have a look at it with the 16-55 attached and was told to "come back when I am serious about buying it..." Never been spoken to like that before...funny story though as I went to WEX two days later and spent over 2.5k on camera gear....
Peter Jones is the director of four Jessops businesses and Camera Jungle. Camera Jungle isn't a high street operation, so may survive. Jessops Online isn't a high street operation, so the online business could be untangled if necessary from the high street stores.
I never bought much of value from the high street shop, but their local one was useful for printing of small batches of things, as I could use their hour service and do other errands at the same time, saving postage delays for mail order prints.
Sadly Norwich City Hall is hell bent on making shopping in the city harder, citing traffic pollution. The death of the high street is not just the fault of online shopping, other players are to blame also.
I never bought much of value from the high street shop, but their local one was useful for printing of small batches of things, as I could use their hour service and do other errands at the same time, saving postage delays for mail order prints.
Sadly Norwich City Hall is hell bent on making shopping in the city harder, citing traffic pollution. The death of the high street is not just the fault of online shopping, other players are to blame also.
There were some good stores back in the day, where you could talk to someone who knew the difference between a tripod and a light stand, and negotiate a price match to an advert in Amateur Photographer - my F100 and D70 were bought that way. But even before the last buyout they'd become more like the camera section in Currys and, in London where we're still lucky enough to be spoilt for choice, there are half a dozen better options.
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oh dear a pity but not unexpected these days .. as for camera jungle I have bought used from them a couple of times (lenses) but had to return them for a refund due to not working properly .obviously there stock is not checked before re-sale ...
with wex on the other hand every item is better than described .. beats me how one can do it and the other can't
with wex on the other hand every item is better than described .. beats me how one can do it and the other can't
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I went into Jessops in Oxford Street a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to buy a small tripod and a Bluetooth remote for my phone. They didn't have any. I went to PC World. They had them but they were about £44. So I went into a small, independent retailer near the south end of Tottenham Court Road and got a Benro with a detachable BT remote for about £28.
From the article:
Oh, no? If I pixel-peep, my 50mm f/1.8 lens gets better photos on my Sony A6000 than my XS gets, but a) I get higher-quality photos on the XS (including raw photos) than with anything other than my 50mm; b) I'm an amateur; c) I don't pixel-peep (unless it's for fringing or noise); and d) I know which one I'd rather carry with me all the time. Perhaps PJ should get to know his potential market better.
From the article:
Oh, no? If I pixel-peep, my 50mm f/1.8 lens gets better photos on my Sony A6000 than my XS gets, but a) I get higher-quality photos on the XS (including raw photos) than with anything other than my 50mm; b) I'm an amateur; c) I don't pixel-peep (unless it's for fringing or noise); and d) I know which one I'd rather carry with me all the time. Perhaps PJ should get to know his potential market better.
There must be some profit in the stuff they sell, it's the High Street Shop model which is all but impossible to make a go of due to high cost of rents, rates and staff.
I know I wouldn't make the slightest effort to get into a major town or city, running the gauntlet of traffic jams and parking fines just to look an item in the flesh (if it was actually in stock when you got there!).
I know I wouldn't make the slightest effort to get into a major town or city, running the gauntlet of traffic jams and parking fines just to look an item in the flesh (if it was actually in stock when you got there!).
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They also have competition from overseas of course.
Many HK firms are now considered ‘respectable’ and while much of the difference may be down to the tax, tax doesn’t fill the gap between £2,000 for a new body here and £1,200 from abroad does it?
So if someone knows what they want, why go to Jessops?
Many HK firms are now considered ‘respectable’ and while much of the difference may be down to the tax, tax doesn’t fill the gap between £2,000 for a new body here and £1,200 from abroad does it?
So if someone knows what they want, why go to Jessops?
Some very mixed opinions on Jessops here, I can only say that I’ve had excellent dealings with the Kingston store. The staff have been generally knowledgable, if I found that one person had limited knowledge there was always an alternative member available.
When I moved from Canon to Sony they gave me better part exchange deals than either Wex or MPB, probably didn’t do much for their bottom line though hence todays news.
When I moved from Canon to Sony they gave me better part exchange deals than either Wex or MPB, probably didn’t do much for their bottom line though hence todays news.
Some independents and small chains are still surviving, at least for now, especially if they have a complementary mail order business with keen prices, a decent secondhand range, or a particular speciality. In London we have branches of Park, Camerworld, Wex and LCE, Grays the Nikon specialist, at least five (!) shops selling mainly Leica, including a new branch of secondhand dealer Aperture, not to mention Mr Cad for vintage gear and places like Process Supplies for film and darkroom stuff. Most cities can't support this sort of diversity, of course, but there are a bunch of independents dotted around the country that you'll see listed on Camerapricebuster that mostly have both a high street shop and online sales. What there doesn't seem to be room for is a nondescript box shifter where good advice is thin on the ground in many branches. And if you know exactly what you want, why not go to John Lewis (where at least they tend to be polite) or your nearest Amazon locker?
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Not to mention the Camera Cafe, specialising in panini and Hasselblads. Oh, and the camera stall in Brick Lane - great for old film gear.
Funnily enough I was only talking to someone earlier about Jessops and how I was surprised they are still going.
When my good lady goes shopping I sit near our local Jessops waiting for her. Every time I've been there I've not seen a single person in the store.
A couple of times I've popped in to look at lenses only to find they were out of stock.
I scored a good deal with them in last years black friday with a manfrotto tripod.
Apart from that the last time I bought anything from then was in 2008 when I bought my Canon 450D.
When my good lady goes shopping I sit near our local Jessops waiting for her. Every time I've been there I've not seen a single person in the store.
A couple of times I've popped in to look at lenses only to find they were out of stock.
I scored a good deal with them in last years black friday with a manfrotto tripod.
Apart from that the last time I bought anything from then was in 2008 when I bought my Canon 450D.
I last bought from them back in January, when I popped into the branch in York, had a chat with the staff about the camera round my neck (Bronica ETRS) and bought some 120 film. It was one of the branches where, at least on the day I went, the staff were actually interested in photography.
The branch in Bath has also surprised me by being able to supply a less common sized lens cap from stock.
The branch in Bath has also surprised me by being able to supply a less common sized lens cap from stock.
