I've always found it odd that Canon forces retailers into MAP (Minimum advertised price) pricing and then competes directly against those retailers with their eStores. It's nice to see Canon Australia making this move.
From Canon Australia:
This notice is to inform you that Canon Australia will be ceasing the operation of its direct to consumer marketplace – Canon Store – for the foreseeable future, effective from 30 September 2020.
The Canon Store was launched in 2011 as an ecommerce platform designed to expand online shopping options for local consumers. Fast forward to 2020, the unprecedented challenges currently facing the Australian market has seen Canon Australia re-examine the best way to help consumers access our products, services and support. As a result, we are proudly streamlining our efforts in supporting local retailers to drive competition in the local market and bring you the best value product offers, promotions, services and experiences possible.
Key dates to note:
- Last orders: The Canon Store will stop taking product orders on 30 September 2020.
- Gift cards and vouchers: Active Canon Store gift cards and vouchers can be applied to purchases and used in conjunction with eligible offers on the Canon Store until 30 September 2020. Please contact Canon Australia via [email protected] to discuss how you can redeem any non-expired gift cards or vouchers beyond this date.
- Promotional codes: Canon Store promotional code and discount offers are valid until 30 September 2020. Please contact Canon Australia via [email protected] if you have questions about a current promo-code that may be affected. Canon Store codes will not be transferable to other retailers or offers.
- Products on backorder: Canon Store will no longer accept payment for products on backorder and will no longer add consumers to waitlists for out of stock product. Product purchases on backorder will continue to be filled for stock scheduled to arrive before 30 September 2020. Canon will directly contact consumers with orders scheduled to arrive after this date to arrange a refund or support via a local retailer.
Purchases made on the Canon Store prior to 30 September 2020 will still receive free shipping and will be covered by the Canon 14 Day Peace of Mind return policy. Canon Australia’s unique 5-year local warranty for Mirrorless, DSLR, Digital Video Camera & Lens products is unaffected by the Canon Store closure and will continue to be supported for purchases made at authorised Canon sellers.
If you have any questions, please contact us via [email protected]. Or visit our Frequently Asked Questions page here.
Moving forward, Canon will continue to work with local retailers to bring hands-on product experiences and promotions to consumers. To stay up to date with the latest product offers, experiences and news, we encourage you to follow Canon Australia on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the years. We look forward to bringing you the best of our innovative products, services and imaging solutions in new ways and trust that you will benefit from our strengthened arrangement with local retailers.
Canon Australia
The Canon Collective in Australia has also been disbanded. Instagram account closing down and full time staff retrenched. A large number of upset people in the Canon Collective community and expressed stridently in the facebook page. That page will continue. The collective initiative was setup about a decade ago and appears to be the only example globally and there was about 7 staff across 3 Australian states that had workshops (a couple of hours through to one day through to multiple days and international trips). The key benefit was the access to lenses and bodies to play with during the workshop and sometimes access to venues/opportunities that would not normally be possible. I went on a couple of them and the staff were very knowledgeable and lead to a lot of sales of new gear.
https://www.canon.com.au/collective
https://www.canon.com.au/collective/collective-ambassadors
Some of the retrenched staff have setup their own company and facebook page called "photographers collective"
for new workshops and is brand neutral. They have been very successful so far with 1800 members. No access to gear though. I wish them well.
Canon Collective events to end after almost a decade of helping photographers take their skills to the next level
17 August 2020
It’s with great regret that we announce that the Canon Collective program will discontinue in its current format.
As you can appreciate, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic has made running our Canon Collective events incredibly difficult. This has in turn affected the long-term viability and sustainability of the events program. As a result, Canon will discontinue Collective events, with key dates for each state below:
• Victoria: All activities have ceased in adherence with current Victorian restrictions
• Western Australia: All activities have ceased due to current State border closures
• ACT, Tasmania, Northern Territory: All activities will cease immediately
• South Australia: All activities will cease by 30 August 2020
• New South Wales: All activities will cease by 31 October 2020
• Queensland: All activities will cease by 31 October 2020
• International: All activities will cease immediately
We’ll be contacting ticketholders to arrange refunds for affected events. Those with tickets for our partner tours and events will be contacted directly via the tour operator, who will advise of the options available.
Canon Australia will keep the Canon Collective Facebook Group open and we encourage you to use this space to continue collaborating and to take your photography to the next level. We’ll be phasing out the @canoncollectiveofficial Instagram channel by 31 October 2020.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send us an email at [email protected]
In the meantime, if you’re looking to stay up to date with the latest news, tips and tricks, and to get more out of your gear, we encourage you to follow Canon Australia on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and to sign up to receive Canon’s InFocus newsletter.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the years. We're proud to have played a central role in helping you develop your photography skills. We look forward to staying connected and inspiring you in new ways, so watch this space.
For more information see our FAQs here.
Canon Australia
A couple of years ago I went on a three month overseas trip including a month in Africa with a week's safari, and two months in Europe. I took a basic Canon 200D DSLR and 18-135 lens as that fit the cheap and light requirements. Took some ok shots, but not mind-blowing. Since coming back I've been slowly getting more gear and improving skills. Following our release from lockdown in Melbourne, I was really looking forward to going to some of the Canon Collective workshops to continue building skills as well as experimenting with new gear that I can't afford to buy outright. It will be sorely missed by me at least.
I wish they did though!
Do you need to be on a mailing list from Sunstudios or ?
I wonder where they are sourcing the returned equipment from...
You could always send them an email and ask to be notified of refurb stock, but they tend to be a bit unresponsive via email unfortunately.
AUD700 off!
Glad I cancelled my initial pre-order :-)
Aren’t they grey market?Great price, if only I could justify it :(
8mm to 500mm should cover most situations :-)
Canon set up the online store about 4-5 years ago but not sure of the exact reason - it was certainly quicker than ordering from the retailers at the time and there was a wider range of product and Canon specific merchandise available as well as enabling them to sell refurbs and damaged box goods. Even though Canon has always had a "no compete" pricing policy, Collective members could register a code and get discounts on all gear purchased which was sometimes very beneficial as there were additional discounts for purchasing multiple items. I personally got a bigger discount on my 5Div and 24-70 when it was launched than I could have got at a retailer. The Collective discount ended in 2018 but there was still a CPS member discount.
Having been involved with Collective since the early days, it was a very sad day to see the end of the program announced and devastating for those made redundant. It was a great initiative that Canon had implemented and it achieved far more than what can be shown as numbers on a profit and loss statement. It skilled up a lot of people new to photography, helped launch a number of careers and saved at least a couple of lives of those struggling with life issues. I learned a lot, made a lot of friends, and even got a few jobs on the back of the program, as well as helping organise a few activities for them over the years. A lot of people purchased gear on the back of trying it out at events but it was only anecdotal unless it was purchased through the store using the Collective code in the time it was available.
Early on, most events were free and you had access to the best gear and some great instructional photographers in the ambassadors, such as Jay Collier, Greg Sullavan, Steve Huddy etc. Where else could you have gone and be handed 1Dx Mk2s, with the appropriate lenses, and shot international tennis, the Easter Pro surfing at Bells or A-League football from the sidelines. If there was a style of photography that you liked it was covered - street, landscape, wildlife, portraiture, macro, flash, sport, concerts, aerials from balloons/helicopters, architecture with tilt shift lenses etc. Unfortunately as it got more popular, and the original architect of the Collective left, it lost it's way a little when more events were done on weekdays than after hours or weekends and the events got increasingly expensive (birds of prey - $49 to $199) as they tried to recoup costs. In the end they had a restructure with the business and consumer sales lines being merged and I guess it didn't make sense for the new head to continue with the program especially as a number of sales reps were made redundant as well.