Is Tri State Camera An Authorized Canon Dealer

What'southward the difference between buying from a Canon authorized dealer, an unauthorized dealer, and the greyness market? How does this affect warranty service? Where do unauthorized dealers go their stock from? At that place is significant misinformation floating effectually on the Cyberspace in blog posts and forums regarding this topic. We hope to clarify it with this post!

Recall at that place are 3 different means you lot can buy your new Catechism camera or lens:

New from an Authorized Dealer
New Us Model from an Unauthorized Dealer
New Grey Market from an Authorized or Unauthorized Dealer

New from an Authorized Dealer

Canon Inc. doesn't deal directly with retailers in every region. Instead, they setup distribution channels to handle importing their products to the region, selling the products wholesale to retailers, and running regional marketing and authorized repair centers. Generally, the distribution channels are wholly endemic subsidiaries (like "Catechism USA Inc." or "Canon Canada Inc.").

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An authorized dealer (such as B&H, Amazon, or Adorama, or the hundreds of others) is, quite simply, a retailer who has an "official" relationship with the region's benefactor. Authorized retailers purchase their stock directly from the benefactor (who imported the items from Catechism Inc.) They agree to abide past rules, similar a minimum toll at which the retailer cannot advertise below (the dreaded "minimum advertised toll", or MAP), and in return they get wholesale book discounts.

Warranty: You are absolutely guaranteed a ane-yr Catechism manufacturer warranty for an item y'all purchased new from an authorized dealer, provided yous are the outset purchaser.

Buying from an authorized dealer is the most straight-forward: your new camera or lens goes from distributor to shop to you (which is more directly than the unauthorized example), and you're eligible for any mail-in rebates or instant savings that might be on offering at the time. These are the most reputable stores around, and their service will be excellent!

New United states Model from an Unauthorized Dealer

An unauthorized dealer is a retailer that does not have an official relationship with Canon USA. They can sell either U.s. Models or Import Models. This section talks most US models.

Considering the dealer doesn't have a relationship with Canon U.s.a., they can suspension the rules Canon USA enforces on their authorized dealers: they tin can sell at whatever toll they want, and they can dissever upwardly camera body kits. But they don't buy their stock from Canon USA. How practise they go The states model stock, yous may ask? Frequently they become their stock from authorized dealers!

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Virtually of the fourth dimension you're getting the exact same camera trunk or lens that y'all would take gotten from an authorized dealer — in fact, often eligible for the exact same warranty (more on this later). Why is the unauthorized dealer able to sell for hundreds of dollars less? At that place are two major reasons: volume discounts and split kits.

As a result of volume discount incentives many authorized dealers load upward on hundreds, if not thousands, of photographic camera bodies and lenses. When the end of the month or quarter rolls around, stores may be sitting on lots of inventory (especially if sales predictions were wrong). In other industries, this is when you'd have a clearance sale, with steep discounts to move the inventory out the door. Still, Canon's Minimum Advertised Toll policies oftentimes prevent an authorized dealer from actively discounting on Canon items.

The solution for some authorized dealers is to work with unauthorized dealers: authorized dealers can sell their inventory to unauthorized dealers at really depression prices; these unauthorized dealers tin can at present brand a small profit reselling the equipment at a discount to consumers (disregarding MAP), and the authorized dealers take successfully unloaded their inventory so they can buy more at college volume discounts.

Many unauthorized dealers also apply split up kits to further reduce their prices. Canon often packages together bodies and lenses at a reduced cost. For example, a 5D Mark Iii kit including 24-105mm f/4L IS lens tin retail for a few hundred dollars less than the body and lens separately. Other times, Canon will offer dealer incentives/discounts so a customer tin add a lens (such as a 55-250mm or a seventy-300mm) at a steep discount to a body buy. Authorized dealers aren't allowed to split kits. Unauthorized dealers are great at buying these kits, and then splitting and selling pieces individually, further reducing the price y'all pay.

Warranty: We did a survey in December of 2012. A total of 27 respondents said purchased a United states model photographic camera or lens from an unauthorized dealer and afterward sent it in for warranty service. In all cases Catechism serviced it under the terms of the warranty — all they needed was a receipt with engagement of purchase. No one was asked for a USA warranty card. Thus nosotros can conclude that U.s.a. models, even those purchased from unauthorized dealers, are eligible for Canon U.s.a. warranty.

Annotation, in this situation, warranty is at the discretion of Canon and they tin can unilaterally alter their policies at any fourth dimension.

Grey Market / Parallel Import

Your camera or lens is Grey Market (also known as Import Version or Parallel Import) if information technology wasn't originally destined for the Usa marketplace. One time in the USA, it becomes grey market.

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Catechism Inc. besides sells cameras and lenses to other regions in the globe, and tin can customize their products to that region. Boxes and manuals may have additional languages on them, and, at the low end (point-and-shoot and Rebel-serial SLRs) the cameras tin be renamed. Fundamentally they're the aforementioned quality product, having rolled off the aforementioned Canon production line. Nevertheless, the product has taken a different path to get to you: rather than having purchased the item from the official Canon USA distributor, the retailer has imported it themselves from a foreign Catechism distributor (or from an authorized dealer in another Canon region). The retailer is saving coin, leveraging different Canon pricing policies in different regions likewise as currency fluctuations, and can pass on these savings to y'all. Japan and Asia are ofttimes the sources of many gray market place bodies.

If in doubt, inquire the store prior to purchasing whether or not it is grey market or US model. I thing to annotation is the absence of a United states warranty card doesn't indicate that it'due south grey market — the original Usa authorized dealer may have removed these cards prior to selling them to the unauthorized dealer. Language of the box, manuals, and default language in camera firmware are tell-tale signs.

As well, some well known authorized dealers will also sell "import versions" of cameras and lenses alongside their U.s. versions. They clearly mark these versions as "imported" or "international version". For case, the 50mm f/one.8 Import Version and the 50mm f/1.8 USA Version at B&H.

Warranty: Past the book, you only become warranty in the region your item was originally destined for. If you lot have a Canon Japan camera, technically you lot'd have to send your photographic camera back to them for warranty service. In practice though, Catechism U.s.a. is extremely lenient with its warranty service, especially if you lot bought the body in the Usa. We've never had a reader tell us their U.s.-bought camera was rejected for warranty service. Notation, the above statement doesn't use to clearly imported versions (i.east. different camera name (650D vs. T4i), tampered serial number, etc).

Catechism United states of america repair centers have stated they can't figure out what's import vs not based on series number. We've had a few readers tell usa that sending a not-The states version torso for warranty repair was successful, but not enough overwhelming show for united states of america to loudly announce it. At this time we recommend trying to ship items in for warranty repair, even if they're import version; Canon seems to stand behind their products and that's a good affair! Contrast this with Nikon: Nikon USA repair centers won't touch a grey market item, even if you lot're paying for the repair!

Annotation, in this state of affairs, warranty is at the discretion of Canon and they tin can unilaterally change their policies at any time.

Terminal Words and Listings on CanonPriceWatch

Exist wary of shop reputation when ownership a camera or lens. There are a few photographic camera stores out at that place that are just bait & switch operations — they'll offer you a photographic camera or lens at a peachy price, but before shipping your order they'll insist that you purchase overpriced accessories or warranties.

All stores listed on CanonPriceWatch have been vetted by u.s. to non be bait & switch, and have over 98% positive feedback. Just remember: not all stores are at the same service quality level (don't look service at a B&H, Amazon, or Adorama calibre from a discount unauthorized dealer). Merely we trust that the stores we take listed will, at a minimum, rectify whatsoever issues with your order, and if they practise non, delight feel free to contact u.s. and we'll help however we can.

CanonPriceWatch can take the hassle out of figuring out whether or non a listing is authorized, unauthorized The states model, or grey market. Nether the name of the store on price comparing listings (eastward.one thousand. the 5D Marking III) is an indication every bit to the status of the store:

Authorized Dealer when it is a The states model from a Canon authorized dealer
Canon U.s. Warranty when it is a United states model from an unauthorized dealer
Unauthorized Dealer when information technology is an unauthorized dealer and we are unsure if information technology's The states or import
Grey/Import when information technology is a known grey market place item

Once you've decided that yous want to purchase a particular camera or lens, the of import thing is that you're comfortable with the store you lot've decided to buy it from. Some people will want the security of purchasing from an authorized dealer, where y'all'll go the best service and support, while others are happy to relieve a few hundred dollars past ownership The states model unauthorized or even greyness market. The choice is upwards to you and is whatever y'all are most comfortable with!