When DSLR Lens Price Drops Are Not Price Drops

 

You know, you may not like hearing this because it kind of spoils the fun… but with the holidays coming up think it’s important that you do…

 

When it comes to expensive equipment like ‘professional’ DSLR bodies and lenses you will never get a huge drop in the price. If you get 10% off the normal price, not the list price, then you are doing well.

 

Only on rare occasions do camera companies allow their products to be discounted significantly and half the time they do that very quietly for a limited quantity. The other half they’ll discount one product they feel they can afford to discount while pretending to discount other items as well… the idea being that you’ll purchase the other non discounted items in addition to or even without the actual discounted items. “ $$$ kaching… you just got got sucker…” is kind of the attitude behind that kind of marketing.

 

Here’s an example.

 

Adorama is advertising lens price drops.

Those are actually their regular prices.

 

Each one of those lenses you could’ve purchased months and months ago for the same or even on occasion better prices.

For both of the 16 – 35mm, lenses you could’ve gotten them for $100 less this summer and with 4% in rewards money. It is not a sale, it is not a steal, it’s all marketing.

 

Now I have nothing against Adorama… I like them… but this is something you need to be aware of.

 

The vast majority of “deals” coming up on black friday and before Christmas are not in fact deals. It is all hype, marketing, silliness.

Photography gear just is not one of the product categories that can handle being heavily discounted… you are most likely not going to get a steal.

You’ll certainly be able to get peripheral products like tripods or maybe SD cards on sale but fancy lenses? Yeah that’s most likely going to be a no.

 

Be careful out there, it isn’t just scams on Amazon and eBay you have to worry about when buying photography gear… even great places like Adorama and B&H will have a reach for your wallet while blitzing you with marketing.

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