Abe's of Maine (Page 3): As you probably have read already, Abe's is not a reputable or trustworthy vendor As most here on the Hog will tell you, stay away. If a deal sounds too good...

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

stringplayer wrote:

Hi hogs. Do any of you have experience purchasing equipment from Abe's of Maine? Their website lists the Tamron 100-400mm F/4.5-6.3 VC USD for Nikon at $599, which is $200 less than Adorama, etc. Free shipping, no tax, etc. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Addendum - Oops. I posted before I used the board's search function. Duh. Apologies.

As you probably have read already, Abe's is not a reputable or trustworthy vendor As most here on the Hog will tell you, stay away. If a deal sounds too good or much, much better than others, it probably is not a good deal. The lens probably is a grey market lens.

RickL Loc: Vail, Az

JohnSwanda wrote:

Do they inform people it's gray market, or explain the difference? Not everyone knows. And if you have read the rest of the thread, you should know that isn't the only complaint against them. There are some good reviews also, so they don't screw over every last customer, but there are enough sleazy business practices reported to not take the chance.

They do not inform their customers that their products are gray market

Rick

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

From: https://www.nbcnews.com/technolog/how-avoid-online-hdtv-shopping-scams-742267
Abe’s of Maine
When researching this article the name Abe’s of Maine kept popping up, so we refer to them as the poster child bad online dealers.

From: http://reviewfraud.org/abes-of-maine/
Reviewfraud does not recommend them as a business and suggests you shop elsewhere.

What everyone else mentioned should be fair warning.
--Bob

stringplayer wrote:

Hi hogs. Do any of you have experience purchasing equipment from Abe's of Maine? Their website lists the Tamron 100-400mm F/4.5-6.3 VC USD for Nikon at $599, which is $200 less than Adorama, etc. Free shipping, no tax, etc. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Addendum -

Oops. I posted before I used the board's search function. Duh. Apologies.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

stringplayer wrote:

....Oops. I posted before I used the board's search function. Duh. Apologies.

If you Google them, you'll probably find all sorts of nightmarish stories and Better Business Bureau complaints online, too.

Let's just say that Abe doesn't work there anymore and they aren't in Maine.

Adorama and B&H are the two largest brick & mortar camera dealers in the US. Amazon Direct is probably the largest dealer of all. As such, they probably get the best volume discounts of anyone. You'll notice that their prices are very similar and should be very suspicious of anything you see offered significantly lower elsewhere. There's some reason it's cheaper.... no warranty/gray market, bits and pieces missing that are normally included... even worse, bait and switch ripoffs where you'll actually end up paying more in the long run, than if you'd stuck with one of the reputable dealers.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Abe's of Maine was but is no longer a reliable and responsible vendor. They are masters of bait and switch and their sales philosophy is "buyer beware".
I have visited their store in NJ and walked out after trying to find out if the lens I wanted was for the US market of an import "grey" model. When the salesman said "what does it matter", I realized this is not the place to buy. In addition, items that would normally be part of camera purchase (i.e battery, lens caps, etc.) were all extras and sold at inflated prices. The final straw was when one of the salesmen spoke negatively about me to his associate in a language he thought I didn't understand (but did as I learned it as a kid from my parents and grandparents), I fired back at him in that language and told him what I thought of him and his store.
Save your money and buy from a trustworthy local store, or if you prefer there's always ABC and KEH.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I've always found that language trick to be priceless. Although, in the few instances where it mattered, I've always replied back in English so everyone would know that I understood. Then, I'd make some snide remark at the person speaking a language I understood just to punctuate my sentiments. Good going on your part.
--Bob

NJphotodoc wrote:

Abe's of Maine was but is no longer a reliable and... (show quote)

markjay

The camera companies set retail "suggested" prices. It is against the law for the manufacturer to set prices. Any retailer can sell the product for any price that they want to sell it for.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

markjay wrote:

The camera companies set retail "suggested" prices. It is against the law for the manufacturer to set prices. Any retailer can sell the product for any price that they want to sell it for.

All I can say about that is to ask your local <insert brand name here> dealer to sell your next new camera body to you at 10% below the listed price. Or try 5%. See what response you get. Then try the same thing at the next dealer down the road. Also...when was the last time you saw, say, a new D850 for sale at a price other than $3299 +/- a couple of dollars (literally)? When have you seen a new D750 on sale anywhere other than when Nikon announces a sale? (And yes, there is a really good one on right now.)

I understand the laws, but the reality is somewhat different.

Bill_de Loc: US

markjay wrote:

The camera companies set retail "suggested" prices. It is against the law for the manufacturer to set prices. Any retailer can sell the product for any price that they want to sell it for.

In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. In a major departure from existing case law, the Court in Leegin held that vertical price-fixing agreements were no longer necessarily illegal. However, far from providing clear direction for manufacturers and distributors seeking to implement fixed retail pricing, the Court left open several important questions — including how to deal with state laws banning vertical price fixing.

https://www.price-law.com/news-blog/can-manufacturers-and-distributors-agree-to-fix-retail-prices/

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markjay

camera prices overseas are widely negotiable.
Thats why the camera companies dont want to honor grey market warranties.
As I have written here several times - this seems to be unique to cameras.
Apple honors grey market warranties. They dont care where you bought the product. They stand behind it. Camera companies should do the same.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

markjay wrote:

camera prices overseas are widely negotiable.
Thats why the camera companies dont want to honor grey market warranties.
As I have written here several times - this seems to be unique to cameras.
Apple honors grey market warranties. They dont care where you bought the product. They stand behind it. Camera companies should do the same.

Years ago (late 70s, early 80s), a friend operated a fairly high-end stereo store. He could be pretty flexible when selling speakers and other equipment made by US manufacturers (Klipsch, Boston Acoustics, Bose to a slightly lesser extent). But he was not able to budge on Yamaha turntables, tape decks, tuners, amps, and speakers. I asked him why. His answer was that if he did so and was found out, any orders he placed for more product would be perpetually back ordered. I do not know for sure, but suspect that this was the result of policies of the US distributors of those items. And it's why I sometimes come across as having very little tolerance with what I see as heavy-handed manipulation by distributors of some of our favorite equipment.

Rpesotski

My experience was one of bait and switch.

Bill_de Loc: US

markjay wrote:

camera prices overseas are widely negotiable.
Thats why the camera companies dont want to honor grey market warranties.
As I have written here several times - this seems to be unique to cameras.
Apple honors grey market warranties. They dont care where you bought the product. They stand behind it. Camera companies should do the same.

During the 70's and 80's it was common with automobiles. Importers of some high end makes would not let U.S. dealers work on grey market cars. Basically what Nikon still does today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle

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larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Bill_de wrote:

During the 70's and 80's it was common with automobiles. Importers of some high end makes would not let U.S. dealers work on grey market cars. Basically what Nikon still does today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_import_vehicle

--

Bill--That was at the time when US automotive environmental standards were changing rapidly and cas made for other markets were generally completely noncompliant with the newly developed and developing US rules. I suspect that underlying some of the restrictions were concerns with liability if dealers were found to be facilitating operation of noncomplying cars. I seem to remember that there were a few "depots" where these gray market cars could be converted to US standards.

tinwhistle

We see this question all the time, and the only reason I'm replying is I'm trying to get my 10 posts in to gain "regular" status...