"Discontinued" 5d Mark II ?

[Redreflex]

I called all the four Best Buy stores in my Michigan, USA area this morning. All said "discontinued" or "no longer available", and the system would not allow them to even place a back order. I know for a fact that one of these stores had a 5dmkII in stock in store about a month back.

Is this purely a sign of the recent quake affecting production in Japan, or is it a real indicator of an imminent announcement of a replacement?

[lee_hom]

I called all the four Best Buy stores in my Michigan, USA area this morning. All said "discontinued" or "no longer available", and the system would not allow them to even place a back order. I know for a fact that one of these stores had a 5dmkII in stock in store about a month back.

Is this purely a sign of the recent quake affecting production in Japan, or is it a real indicator of an imminent announcement of a replacement?

Can still order online in Bestbuy UK. I guess they just don't have any stock in the US warehouse.

[dstppy]

I called all the four Best Buy stores in my Michigan, USA area this morning. All said "discontinued" or "no longer available", and the system would not allow them to even place a back order. I know for a fact that one of these stores had a 5dmkII in stock in store about a month back.

Is this purely a sign of the recent quake affecting production in Japan, or is it a real indicator of an imminent announcement of a replacement?

No.  Avoiding the obvious statements about the quality of answers you get from Brick and Mortar stores . . . they're only commenting on their Order Management System.   You will see it on the front page here before someone at Best Buy/Wal Mart etc. finds out about a product being discontinued.

Even after something is discontinued, you may be unlucky enough to go into a store that has something like 3 in stock and they tell you it's widely available (and even that it's still in production) just because they have 2 in the back . . . then walk out thinking you can pick it up when you have more cash and miss a deal.

[neuroanatomist]

I called all the four Best Buy stores in my Michigan, USA area this morning. All said "discontinued" or "no longer available", and the system would not allow them to even place a back order. I know for a fact that one of these stores had a 5dmkII in stock in store about a month back.

Is this purely a sign of the recent quake affecting production in Japan, or is it a real indicator of an imminent announcement of a replacement?

An indicator of stock levels, nothing more.  Out of curiousity, why Best Buy?  They are usually substantially more expensive than most retailers.  FWIW, here in MA the 5DII shows up on bestbuy.com as unavailable - as is the case for about half of the major retailers (see canonpricewatch.com). The 60D is also out of stock at about half the listed retailers, and no one is suggesting that the 60D has been discontinued...

[Redreflex]

I called all the four Best Buy stores in my Michigan, USA area this morning. All said "discontinued" or "no longer available", and the system would not allow them to even place a back order. I know for a fact that one of these stores had a 5dmkII in stock in store about a month back.

Is this purely a sign of the recent quake affecting production in Japan, or is it a real indicator of an imminent announcement of a replacement?

An indicator of stock levels, nothing more.  Out of curiousity, why Best Buy?  They are usually substantially more expensive than most retailers.  FWIW, here in MA the 5DII shows up on bestbuy.com as unavailable - as is the case for about half of the major retailers (see canonpricewatch.com). The 60D is also out of stock at about half the listed retailers, and no one is suggesting that the 60D has been discontinued...

Best Buy, because when I called a month ago, they were happy to match an internet price I quoted and can be picked up the same day. I'm going on a trip in 4 days' time, so wanted to get one in time for that. Having said that, I've never bought anything from them.

I agree that "out of stock" on it's own doesn't mean much, but not being able to place a back order in all the 4 stores in the area as well? Seemed a little unusual to me - why would they turn down a back order on a high ticket item with presumably good profit margin? Maybe that just indicates a severe production shortage such that ETA cannot be predicted. Or..... ?

Someone's gotta fan the rumor flames...

[CR Backup Admin]

As experts have said, if you want some photo equipment, best buy it now, if you can find it, that is.  Stock is low and will get lower.  Dealers can see a big hit to earnings coming along, and are raising prices to get enough income to stay in business.

B&H has it in stock, but won't have them for long.

http://www.zoolert.com/canon-eos-5d-mark-II-tracker/

[Cornershot]

I don't shop at Best Buy anymore because they have the nasty practice of advertising sales online and not respecting that sales price in store. If you ask, the sales guy will pull up an "internal" intranet copy of the Best Buy webpage that will not list sales prices and they'll refuse to offer you the lower price. They've been sued by a number of state attorney generals for the dishonest practice.

[EYEONE]

I called all the four Best Buy stores in my Michigan, USA area this morning. All said "discontinued" or "no longer available", and the system would not allow them to even place a back order. I know for a fact that one of these stores had a 5dmkII in stock in store about a month back.

Is this purely a sign of the recent quake affecting production in Japan, or is it a real indicator of an imminent announcement of a replacement?

Out of curiousity, why Best Buy?  They are usually substantially more expensive than most retailers.

Actually when I was 7D shopping their "body only" price was right in line with B&H and Amazon's. Only a few dollars difference. I didn't buy from them becayse they wouldn't sell me body only in store.

[fotoray]

I see on Amazon that Canon 5D MkII is currently priced at $3000, which is an increase over recent selling price.  This appears consistent with supply shortage rather than beginning of phase-out in favor of MkIII.   Overall Amazon has been steadily increasing selling price of Canon bodies and lenses since the Japan quake.

[neuroanatomist]

I see on Amazon that Canon 5D MkII is currently priced at $3000, which is an increase over recent selling price. 

That's not Amazon's price, that's from a 3rd party seller listing on Amazon.  From the lens pricing page on CR: "Some Amazon prices are far too high because of 3rd party sellers. This means Amazon itself is out of stock. The price should change when Amazon does have stock."

[neuroanatomist]

Out of curiousity, why Best Buy?  They are usually substantially more expensive than most retailers.

Actually when I was 7D shopping their "body only" price was right in line with B&H and Amazon's. Only a few dollars difference. I didn't buy from them becayse they wouldn't sell me body only in store.

Fair enough - I stand corrected and apologize to Best Buy (not that they'd care).  I'm getting a camcorder, and was looking at the Canon Vixia HF M41 that was announced in January with availability in March.  Amazon doesn't even list it yet (although they have the versions with less or no on-board memory).  B&H lists it as a new item, not in stock, priced at the MSRP of $799.  According to their website, Best Buy has it in stock at the store near my house, on sale for $679 (so even with sales tax it comes out almost $80 less than ordering from B&H).

EDIT: I stopped by Best Buy, and didn't see the HF M41 on display.  The salesperson checked the computer, which confirmed 3 in stock - at a price of $849.99 ($50 more than MSRP, confirming my point about standard Best Buy pricing).  He found them in the locked cabinet under the displays, and matched the sale price from their own website.  So, I got a great deal on a new camcorder.   

[dstppy]

EDIT: I stopped by Best Buy, and didn't see the HF M41 on display.  The salesperson checked the computer, which confirmed 3 in stock - at a price of $849.99 ($50 more than MSRP, confirming my point about standard Best Buy pricing).  He found them in the locked cabinet under the displays, and matched the sale price from their own website.  So, I got a great deal on a new camcorder.   

You forgot to mention that the stairs were missing and the locked cabinet was marked 'Beware of the Leopard'