“Anonymous - Sunday,
December 30, 2012 2:25:00 PM PST
Wow, thanks for supporting the Canadian economy. Must be a proud Canadian Photographer!”
Wow, thanks for supporting the Canadian economy. Must be a proud Canadian Photographer!”
Well I understand the dig and I do support some Canadian vendors
and retailers. Read below. However you must know several facts first. Then read
on, and check out my reply to your comment.
1st, My audience for this site is mostly U.S.
based. Over 80% of my visitors are from the U.S. I cater to my readers. I do
have a few Canadian, European and Aussie readers also but even most of my
Canadian readers cannot purchase products from the retailers I deal with.
2nd, Many products I purchase are simply NOT even
available at local stores. What am I supposed to do, do without or use inferior
products? Think not. Look at several examples. I purchased the BlackRapid (www.blackrapid.com) shoulder strap that I
blogged and raved about on this site. No local supplier carried this product.
After I got it several photography friends also purchased the same products
from the U.S. Then, based on my recommendation, a local store, Lens and
Shutter, started carrying the product. Another example is my Canon M80 Portable
Backup unit which I also blogged about. Canon Canada, in their wisdom, decided
not to import this product at all! They did not think it would sell well. So I
went out of Canada and purchased one directly from Japan. I had read great reviews
about another great backup option, the Sanho Corporation (www.hypershop.com) ColorSpace HyperDrive. Oh,
no one in the Vancouver area carries this product and Amazon.ca just started
carrying the product a few months ago and do not carry the great new HyperDrive
with built in WiFi. So again, off to purchase from the U.S. Oh, and no one around
here carries the great Paul C. Buff Einstein 640 lights, American Made, that I
purchased directly from the manufacturer. The list goes on, and on. Oh, and I
never did find a local supplier for the great Tripod Accessories I like from
the American company Really Right Stuff (www.reallyrightstuff.com).
3rd, Some Canadian companies like Canon Canada
sees a fixed markup with a suggested retail price that they control and
regulate as a means of increasing profits. Way too often I can purchase the
exact same $1200.00 lens for less than $1000.00. I pay taxes when I bring them
into Canada on the smaller amount and so I end up saving on Taxes also. But I
do pay taxes which go to… oh yes, Canada. I do not understand when the Canadian
Dollar is higher than the U.S. dollar why there would be a 20% plus difference
on most items. So much for a competitive free market. Note the differences are
based on L Series Lenses and the high end Flash units and that the differences
on non L series lenses and camera bodies are minimal so I usually purchase
those in Canada.
4th, the 3rd item is partly facilitated by this
item, I live right next to the border and go into the U.S. every week to pick
up my mail at my P.O. box. So, yes I am lucky to be able to do this but it
makes purchasing products out of the U.S. so much easier.
5th, again kind of like item 2 above but rather
on the scope of the items carried. Shopping on-line, searching and browsing
great sites like Amazon (www.amazon.com),
Adorama (www.adorama.com) and B&H
Photo (www.BandH.com) allows you to find
(and purchase) items you never knew existed before because they are NOT
available locally! You can find the smallest most amazing products like the
Kacey Enterprises DSLR Camera
Paint Pole Adapters for Pole Aerial Photography (www.kaceyenterprises.com) which I
blogged about. I know several other photographers that have ordered these
products from the U.S. company. I won’t mention their names for fear that
someone may suggest they are not good Canadians.
On supporting local companies: Well every year I purchase stuff from
Kerrisdale Cameras, (last big item was the Canon 100mm Macro), and from Lens
& Shutter (last big item was the Epson 3880 Printer) and from Beau Photo
(Lots of big items although they didn’t have the last big item I wanted) so I
went and purchased my new Sekonic LITEMASTER PRO L-478D Photographic Light
Meter at Photo Experts in Surrey, all in the last year. Apart from a few issues
with Kerrisdale Cameras, Beau Photo, Lens & Shutter and Photo Experts are
EXCELLENT local retailers that I support whole heartedly. Most of my readers
unfortunately cannot purchase from them.
On supporting me: See
I also get great support from U.S. vendors like Canon U.S.A and several others.
I am a certified Canon Professional in the U.S. because they gave me that honor.
I get priority and cheaper repair services and free loan equipment. When I approached
Canon Canada years ago I was basically told where to go. Based on my years of
service records with Canon U.S. and friends dealing with Canon Canada repair
(in Toronto), I can emphatically say that the Canon Service out of California
is much better in many ways. When I approached Canon Canada for help with the
Delta Photo Inspirations show the Delta Photo Club puts on every year they said
they weren’t interested. When I asked them for support in way of donations or products
or swag to give as prizes they blew me off. Nikon gave us a $500.00 camera last
year for the same show. Oh, and Epson gave us a big 13”x19” printer the year before.
Canon Canada could do a lot better to promote their products and make their prices
competitive and so I have no qualms about purchasing Canon products out of the
U.S., especially when it saves me a lot of money.
So about your comment:
In general the Internet has caused a lot of problems because of the
anonymity it affords readers and people who post comments. Normally I would not
have even published your comment but thought it deserved to be published with a
response. You see, kids all over the world now deal with bullying through the
Internet because other kids can leave anonymous comments; people can post
hateful messages about people and even post religious hate comments. Now, don’t
get me wrong, your comment cannot be compared to any of these examples except
that it is anonymous. This anonymity allows you to be big and strong and trash
my shopping habits and yet it protects you. It protects you from me and even
from other readers knowing who you are. I hope you feel very good and very
proud about your comment.
Your comment is solely based on your limited knowledge of
who I am and my shopping habits based on what you have read on my Blog. So, it’s
not a complete picture. On my post about where I shop on-line, at no point do I
mention I buy ALL my stuff from those on-line retailers? But you made that assumption.
Incorrectly I might add. Now perhaps you think you know me because you may be a
member of the Delta Photo Club or some other local club I teach workshops at or
judge at, but again, you do not know me very well for if you did you would know
I do indeed purchase a LOT of products from Canada! Thousands of dollars every
year in fact.
Now if you did know me, I would have expected you to come to
me and ask me why I purchase so much from the U.S. and then I could have simply
explained it to you. You may decide that my reasons mentioned above are acceptable
or perhaps not acceptable to you. I’m OK with either. The question is are you
OK with yourself making unfounded accusations about people and then hiding
behind the anonymity afforded by the Internet? Was your comment meant to be a
little “dig” because perhaps you don’t like me? That would be bullying. Or are
you truly a great Canadian that will only purchase products that are made all
over the world, in Canada only? Have you never purchased a product outside
Canada. Do you not take advantage of the Duty Free liquor sales when returning
from abroad? Oh well, your loss.
A final thought. My blog about purchasing on-line is based
on where I have had success buying on-line. The reason I created the list is
because many readers asked me where they could safely purchase items from. Specifically
they asked me where they could purchase items they could NOT FIND at their
local American and Canadian Retailers. Most of these readers being in the U.S.
but some from here in Vancouver Canada. I was merely doing them a favor. And
for that, you decided to make your comment?
Oh, and another thing. You’ll notice there is a lack of
Canadian companies mentioned in this blog post. Not my fault the better
companies are U.S. and not Canadian. Having said that, there is a great Canadian
company I support that makes the best Lens and Sensor Cleaning Products, LensPen (www.lenspen.com). They are even in our very own GasTown section of Vancouver. They are a great company and have supported the DPI show every year for which we are thankful. This product
however, specially the SensorKlear II is very hard to find in Vancouver. Also,
some retailers do not carry their products at all. Beau Photo does not carry
their products. And some retailers carry a fake illegal knock-off of the same
product just so they can make more money. I always make sure I buy the original
LensPen products. But if the retailers aren’t willing to support ‘local’, ‘Canadian’
companies? Why should I support them?
At this point I must thank you however. The local retailers
I mentioned are all very good and deserve mentioning. When I update by blog “Favorite
On-Line Resources for Photography Products and Services” I'll make sure to add a
local Vancouver section for local readers. My oversight but for now they are
mentioned here.
Thanks again. I hope you have a nice day!
© 2012 Francois Cleroux
(Version 1.11 - December
2012)
Please feel free to leave comments,
corrections, ideas, thoughts or suggestions.
