This should be interesting....

[village idiot]

So I actually got out and shot some film with my "new" Cambo, and amazingly, I didn't (completely) suck. I took the chromes home last night to scan a couple and post here with questions, and with perfect timing, My crappy old HP scanner crapped out.

OK... Off to start the search for an inexpensive scanner. I started to search what was new and exciting, with the plan to back off one or two generations of technology, and get something to keep me going for a while.

During the search, I was at Amazon.com, and was looking at the new Epson scanners, notably the V700, and V750M Pro. I clicked on the pricing for the V750M Pro, and there was a vendor selling a new unit for $90.05. No, I didn't misplace the decimal point!

I placed an order, as Amazon is backing up the purchase, and I have received my order confirmation.

Today, this vendor has adjusted their price for the V750M Pro significantly higher.

I keep checking my email every 5 minutes, expecting to see an order cancellation from the vendor. Thus far, as far as I know, I have just gotten the worlds best deal on this scanner.

I need to go check my email again...

[Walter Calahan]

Happy scanning.

[Brian Ellis]

Amazing. What was the postage and insurance charge? The NY camera stores that advertise low-ball prices usually make it up by charging a huge amount for "postage and insurance" or tacking on a "handling" charge. But even they wouldn't charge anything like the difference between what you paid and the normal cost of a V750, their inflated charges generally add about 10% - 15% to the advertised price. Even if your seller did that, you'd still have an incredible deal. Congratulations.

[Ted Harris]

Brian, don't forget the store that charge an incedibly low price for the camera body and add ridiculous fees for all the stuff that comes in the box like body caps, strap, batteries, etc. Generally, if you refuse to purchase these extras you then get an email letting you know that your original order has been cancelled. Take a close look at the comments for these vendors at www.reellerratings.com.


So, Rick, who is the vendor?

[village idiot]

According to the "listing" the scanner is new, in stock, and comes in retail packaging, with all cables, software, and the fluid mount accessory . The shipping for the unit was $29.77, for a grand total of $119.82. The seller is "GizmosForLife", and they have over 2k feedback on Amazon, with 95% positive. They don't appear to be one of the notorious lowballers, particularly given that the revised price I found yesterday morning for the V750M from them is $829, which is $30.00 over what Epson charges on their website. I have received no communications from GFL, but their profile states they usually ship within two days of an order, so the scanner should ship by Monday.

As I said in the thread title, this should be interesting...

[J_Tardiff]

Ah, yes, the infamous Brooklyn camera shysters. As a New Yorker I remember wincing whenever someone would post about a "great deal" from one of these guys, they took bait-and-switch to new heights. A number of years ago a local guy (Don Wiss) took a bike ride through the borough and posted his findings here: http://donwiss.com/pictures/brooklynstores/

I'm old enough (sigh) to remember the pre-Web days, many of these shops started as mail-order, the early days of online ordering with shops like these were like the Wild Wild West as many of them were owned by the same guys and the names of the companies seemed to change *daily* making them very hard to track down when you inevitably had problems. Ugly.

In any case-- hope you get your scanner, it's a nice one, I've been pleased with my V700, presently looking for better software.

JT