luria@ucbvax.ARPA (Marc Luria) (12/21/84)
I've dealt with 47th St. Photo a number of times. Have always received merchandise within a few days. They have a toll free customer service number, unlike all the others I've seen. I can't tell you about using it since I've never had any problems with them. They are one of the largest mail order houses in electronic equipment in the country. There was a recent article about them in either Business Week or the Wall Street Journal. They offer lower prices because of high volume. I heard once (this may have been in the article) that they can make a profit even if they sell something for lower than what pay for it becuase they usually pay for it after they have sold it.
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (12/21/84)
> > A place called 47th Street (47th Street Photo?) in New York is > advertising Beta hi-fi vcrs by mail order at about $100 less than > their discount prices in this area, even taking into account shipping. > Anybody know anything about this place? 47th St Photo has been around for some time, and seems to have a generally reliable reputation amongst the New York discounters. I've bought stuff from them a couple times, via 800-number and chargecard, and had no problems. A few words of advice, applying not only to them but to any of these mail-order houses: 1) Watch what they charge for shipping. They try to make up for low profit margin on goods by excessive shipping charges. Try to get them to commit to charging you ONLY what UPS charges them for shipping, not a percentage of the order or a overly-large flat rate. Also make sure you specify "regular UPS" and they don't charge you extra for "blue-label" UPS (which only gets stuff to you 1 day sooner [here in St. Louis] and isn't worth the extra cost). 2) Watch about accessories. On many items, these types of dealers pull standard accessories out of the box and charge separately for them. (A common example is AC power supplies for portable radios.) 3) Get a Sunday New York Times and look at the ads (I think in an "entertainment" section or the like). The prices here are often better than the ones in catalogs or phone quotes, as this is their main competitive exposure, and each is trying to beat the other. 4) Don't expect warranty service and be prepared to eat the costs of shipping back goods that are bad out-of-the-box for exchange. This is what you are risking in order to save on the price. If after-the-sale hand-holding or advice is important to you, you better pay more and buy locally. Think of these sources as warehouses; you tell them exactly what you want and trade them money for goods. That's all. Caveat emptor and all that! Happy holidays! Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (12/24/84)
Will Martin's comments about 47th Street Photo are right on the money. I've been dealing with them for about 15 years, and I've never had any problems -- but you do have to make sure you know *exactly* what you want and what you're getting. VCRs make a good example -- I bought mine from 47th Street Photo about six months ago. It arrived within a week (though the tapes were back- ordered, and took about two more weeks to arrive), and included all necessary cables, connectors, even an impedance-matching transformer. On the other hand, the sales representative tried to sell me a head-cleaning kit, because "front-loading machines need to be cleaned more often". Since that statement sounded like balloon juice, and since folks whose knowledge I respect have warned against cleaning VCR heads unless you *know* what you are doing, I declined. But I expect that the cost of that kit would be rather more than I could find it for elsewhere.