davidrb wrote:
Amazon rarely handles any photographic merchandise. They sell you a stock number and then find a seller to provide the item, could be any one of ALL sellers. Save yourself all kinds of potential troubles and go directly to KEH, Adorama, B&H, or Cameta. Amazon is just a middle-man in the re-selling industry. They get their cut off the top of the sale. They know very little about photography and the equipment involved.
I think you are being somewhat harsh about Amazon, and possibly inaccurate. Amazon is very careful about protecting its reputation as a safe place to conduct business. Buying a new item from Amazon is generally very safe. They manage returns very efficiently, I have bought quite a bit of photographic equipment through Amazon with no issues. I would not go to them for advice, except for reading reviews.
That said, Amazon does operate as a marketplace for other vendors, especially for used equipment. In that case it may be important to contact the supplying vendor directly, whose details are normally provided.
For example, a used item from a pawnbroker or a goodwill store may not be backed by in-depth knowledge of photography or the specific item. If you buy used, you are always taking a risk. Buying from ebay is also quite safe if done with caution.
If buying used, then using Adorama, B&H, Cameta, KEH, and so on could be a good idea if risk mitigation is your goal.
I've had very few problems with Amazon, and when I had problems the returns were easy and fast. The most recent was a box of glass 'canning jars'. When it arrived, the box rattled which wasn't good. Three of the jars were broken, but none of the packaging (double boxed) showed any damage. I reported it to Amazon, received a shipping label very quickly, gave the repackaged box to a UPS driver, and received an e-mail that my refund was activated just a few hours later. Reordered and got the replacements two days later. Not too shabby in my personal opinion.