Sudden increase in price of 16-35 mkii?

[mcbane]

This lens was averaging $1399 last year. I finally ordered one from Amazon last month for $1419 but it has been 'temporarily out of stock' for 3 weeks and in the meantime, prices for this lens have increased to $1579. Supposedly that new higher price reflects a $160 rebate.

Is this typical of canon rebates - that the rebate is announced to create the illusion of a discount but in reality prices have just been increased?

Does anyont have experience with Amazon taking an order before a price increase? Is it likely that Amazon will actually fill the order at the old price or will they just tell me in another few weeks that they cant fill the order? I dont want to wait till mid-March when the rebate ends to find that I can only buy this lens for $1700 or more.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Canon is forcing dealers to advertise rebate items at the price shown in the rebate flyer. Unfortunately this means many of them aren't much cheaper after the rebate. In a lot of cases the price actually increased at some stores.

 

[YoukY63]

All the photographic equipment have increased this year, and not only Canon. I am checking closely Canon prices, and bodies (even the old 5DmII), lenses (such as 70-200 f/4L IS) or compact cameras (S95) are more expensive now than last december.
But nothing new, it was expected: http://photorumors.com/2011/01/01/canon-rumors-us-price-increase-plus-new-compact-cameras-for-ces-2011/#ixzz1A07NaEZv

It is true in North America, but also Japan where I live and also Europe where I come from (France).

 

[ronderick]

mmm.... Looks like the trend is catching on around the world.

Rumors floating around here in Taiwan is that shops are expecting another Canon lens price increase around April...

 

[Flake]

Someone has to pay the 29% profits increase they've promised their shareholders !

 

[YoukY63]

Someone has to pay the 29% profits increase they've promised their shareholders !

That is not the real problem...
The problem is the money exchange rate. Do not forgot that all the camera brands (excepted Samsung and the big Germans ;D) are Japanese. Therefore, they think in Yen, not in dollars.

In 2006, 1 dollars was the equivalent of 118 yens, in 2009 it was 91 yens, today it is 82 yens. So in less than 5 years, for the same product sold at the same price in US, Canon earns 30% less. That is a massive loss for a company.

Compared to euro, in 2007 1 euro was the equivalent of 162 yens, in 2009 it was 133 yens, today it is 115 yens! That means another 30 % loss for Canon.

The yen is very strong since a few years, and dollar + euro became weak recently. Japanese companies were expecting for a quick regulation during the past 2 years, but it appeared recently it was not going to happen anytime soon. Furthermore, they recently experienced massive loss and had to fire many people. Crisis also stroked Japan. So they decided to increase prices to maintain their standard and keep japanese economics in a not too bad health.

PS: it is still amazing for me to see that prices in North America or Europe are still much cheaper than in Japan! Here, the 16-35 mkII costs 200.300 yens, which is 2.400 US dollars!!! ???

 

[branden]

Does anyont have experience with Amazon taking an order before a price increase? Is it likely that Amazon will actually fill the order at the old price or will they just tell me in another few weeks that they cant fill the order? I dont want to wait till mid-March when the rebate ends to find that I can only buy this lens for $1700 or more.

Amazon will always sell at the lowest advertised price between when you submit the order and when you receive the order ... they've even issue me refunds when the lower price comes out after they've shipped the order to me.

That said, though, many lenses are sold through Amazon.com, but not by Amazon.com, and if you're not actually buying from Amazon.com all their rules go out the window. Usually if a product isn't Prime eligible, it's good indication it's not sold by Amazon, and I'll buy it elsewhere, since you get none of Amazon.com's benefits.