Adorama’s 5D Mark II shadiness
We walked past Adorama’s brick-and-mortar store today and decided to walk in and see if they had the 5D Mark II in stock yet, knowing this was unlikely, as the website is still only taking preorders with no ETA.
They didn’t have it in stock, officially. And the salesman said that there were “thousands of people” with standing preorders. Fine, that’s what we expected. But then he continued: we could actually get it today.
They keep three 5D Mark II body-only units in stock that they’ll sell to anyone who walks into the store, but only if you buy it in a package with:
- a $200 extended warranty
- a $50 4GB CF card
- a $70 camera bag
- an $80 set of 77mm filters (keep in mind that this is the body-only package, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll even have a 77mm-front lens)
Essentially, you can jump the preorder line, but only if you buy an overpriced set of very-high-profit accessories. And the first three preorders are, correspondingly, delayed because (see update below) these three are reserved for this higher-profit scheme.
Nice one, Adorama.
That was my first and last time in your store.
Update: Adorama responds and clarifies that these three units are not delaying any preorders — the NY store has a separate allocation from the NJ warehouse that ships the online orders.