Have you negotiated your own "street price?"

[drmikeinpdx]

I love the "street price" listed on Canon Price Watch. But what if the lens you want is not included in the street price program? Is it worth trying to negotiate a better deal with B&H or Adorama? If you have done this, what worked for you? Did you contact them by email or phone? Did you offer a lower price first or ask for their best "street price?"

 

[sagittariansrock]

Interesting!
Tried this through Greentoe.
By the way, I don't think Adorama and B&H are the ones that offer the truly great street prices. These are some of the lesser known (sometimes completely unknown) authorized dealers, if buyers reports are to be believed. So, maybe scour Canon's list of authorized dealers for unfamiliar names and then start cold-calling them?
Good luck, keep us posted. I am done buying lenses till 2016!!!

 

[DRR]

If you're interested in doing this, I'd go local. Walk into a store, ask for the manager, tell him the price you want to pay, put the cash on the table. It might even make them more apt to do it if you bought an accessory to go along with it, or conceded to buy a smaller, higher margin item along with the lens. Don't be a hard-a$$ about it just level with them and say "look, I can buy this online for this much money; I'd rather buy locally, so if you can't do it I understand, but I don't want to pay more than I have to."

 

[Ruined]

I have been pretty unsuccessful in getting retailers to budge honestly, unless I can show them an ad from another authorized retailer.

 

[Mr1Dx]

Interesting!
Tried this through Greentoe.
By the way, I don't think Adorama and B&H are the ones that offer the truly great street prices. These are some of the lesser known (sometimes completely unknown) authorized dealers, if buyers reports are to be believed. So, maybe scour Canon's list of authorized dealers for unfamiliar names and then start cold-calling them?
Good luck, keep us posted. I am done buying lenses till 2016!!!

you will be surprised.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I love the "street price" listed on Canon Price Watch. But what if the lens you want is not included in the street price program? Is it worth trying to negotiate a better deal with B&H or Adorama? If you have done this, what worked for you? Did you contact them by email or phone? Did you offer a lower price first or ask for their best "street price?"

I've heard from a number of people that dealers will negotiate on expensive gear. There is not a huge markup percentage, but on a $12K lens, there is room to drop the price.

Right now, you might do better to purchase from Canada, you still get a US warranty, and the USD versus the CAD gives you a sizable discount.

For example: A 200-400mmL

CPW Street Price - $10,750
Canada Price in US Dollars - $12,979 CAD = $US 10,374. And, you can likely negotiate that price down.