Hey, I have an idea: how about stop using Amazon and start buying and selling from your local community, small businesses, like with actual people who can get to know you and who aren't susceptible to this kind of nonsense?
The cool thing about dealing locally is that you no longer have to wade through bureaucracy to get customer service - you can walk up to a flesh-and-blood person and talk to them face to face! And, unless they have masks from "Mission: Impossible" you'll be very, very difficult to spoof!
Because I personally don't value seeing a flesh-and-blood person very much. In my experience, Amazon has them beat in price, convenience, and customer service (they replace items and take my returns without an attitude, always). They also carry items my local stores wouldn't dream of carrying.
The only time I buy from local stores is when I absolutely must have it that day. And it looks like Amazon might even be doing that soon.
Perhaps I'm spoiled but there are two very good camera shops nearby. They are more expensive than Amazon, but they are also the hubs of the local photographer community, and the people that run them are neighbors. They also have consignment, used gear, etc. and for those time when I shoot film they do a great job of developing.
The inconvenience of going there is far outweighed by the benefits. Perhaps that's why they have survived in the era of Amazon and Best Buy! But I really really encourage people to actively search for local independent photog places (I mean, not Scammy's, er I mean Sammy's) if you take photography seriously at all, the premium is worth it.
I actually use the local lab/photog shop for prints and camera work and lens rentals, but they want $1,150 for the T4i with 18-135 STM. Amazon sold it to me for $799. (It's back up to $865 now, but still.)
I looked, but I couldn't justify the extra $350 at this time.
Hmm. Normally the price discrepancies aren't that large, so I can't blame you there. Next time try talking to them - camera shops know whats up and will often work with you on the price. Negotiation is also one of the nice parts of dealing with actual real-life people.
That's one of the reasons I don't like shopping offline- I hate the act of negotiation about price of something. I also don't like to negotiate on price when I'm selling something myself. If I'd be willing to sell it cheaper, I'd put a cheaper price tag on it.
Reminds me of classifieds like "will sell for $100. Serious buyer will get $30 discount".
I hear ya. In this case, there's not much of a negotiation - it's more of a "Well, I want to support local business, but Amazon has this product for $350 cheaper. Can I work with you on price?" Then, if they don't come down in price, you buy it from Amazon.
Local stores are not all the same, of course. Some, perhaps many, local stores don't deserve to survive. They are poorly run and perfectly willing to scam people who don't know the market price of stuff. But still I'm eager to at least try to work with them to avoid living in a world of nothing but enormous, monolithic corporations. Granted retail isn't exactly my favorite industry - I'd much rather support small makers of things - but I still try.
Negotiation is something you have to do when there is friction involved in discovering the market price of something. The more efficient a market becomes, the less negotiation there is, with the benefit being the time and effort saved for the buyer and seller. This is why you don't negotiate for things like gas, clothes, and milk.
The only reason I can think for someone to like haggling is it lets them think THEY got a good deal, and makes them feel better about themselves. However, it is almost always in the interest, and benefit, of the seller if haggling has to be done (they have more information than you do, unless you're willing to spend a lot of time and effort).
My experience of local stores is one of cheap nasty products which break on the day you buy them, idiosyncratic opening hours, and an inability to handle even basic stock control. Oh and everything is overpriced by a factor of about four. No thanks.
That's presuming they even stock what I want, which they usually don't.
Could you give an example of something you bought local to you that was ~4 times the price of Amazon and broke soon after you purchase it? Presumably you got your money back; I wonder how the store is staying open if they have to refund all their customers.
I live in Edinburgh, it was a hardware store, it was a set of screwdrivers. It's the only hardware store within 2 miles accessible on foot (most people walk to shops here).
The cool thing about dealing locally is that you no longer have to wade through bureaucracy to get customer service - you can walk up to a flesh-and-blood person and talk to them face to face! And, unless they have masks from "Mission: Impossible" you'll be very, very difficult to spoof!