Whats up with the "Pre Order" Crap

lately i starting to feel like camera manufacturers are turning into corporate bankers and scam artist.

Recently in the last few years, there has been the "Pre Order" your camera crap going on.

I dont ever remember having to pre order a camera a few years or further back before.

everyone had to wait till the camera was released, and that was it.

Now the companies are creating a whole new way of getting money, without delivering the product at the time of purchase, and even so much as having one wait for months on end before it arrives!

Now doesnt that encourage holding back full scale deliveries of the product to the masses become a few "Pre Ordered".

And look at how some people got a hold of some NEX 7 without "Pre Ordering"

and the ones that did, are "Still" to this day waiting..

what a con game this is..

And all that money that is pre paid, is gaining interest in "There" bank as they slowly delivery a product...(hint hint Sony Nex 7)

I would never, ever Pre Pay for anything.

By the time it comes out, they will be announcing the next model, or the competition will come out with something equal or better (hiint hint Olymupus EM-5) and one is scrambling to cancel orders they placed here and there.

People are getting "technology Cracked Out" over this, and i feel this has taken
a turn from what photography is all about.

Are you sure this is from camera manufacturers and not retailers?

I personally know Amazon takes pre-orders but won't take your money until they ship the item.

--
Adrian Godong
DPReview.com

ImagesInstyle said:

I dont ever remember having to pre order a camera a few years or further back before.

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Where in the world did you get the idea that you HAVE to pre-order a camera?

Government, and government alone, can force you to do something (or refrain from doing something) against your will. There is not a corporation in the world that can force you to buy one of their products, whether on pre-order or not.

Some customers want to be able to ensure they have a lens or camera on the day it is released. Retailers, if they are smart, rise to meet that demand by offering a pre-order. Seems like a win for both sides. The rest of us can just wait until the regular stock hits.

ImagesInstyle said:

People are getting "technology Cracked Out" over this, and i feel this has taken
a turn from what photography is all about.

Click to expand...

Perhaps

People do not have to participate, I just sit back and enjoy what I have

--
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I don't know how long it has been going on. I pre ordered a camera from a retailer in '03. I also know quite a few that pre ordered from retailers in '04.

I don't know any camera manufactures that sell direct, all the pre orders I have seen are from retailers.

Pre-orders are not a new phenomenon and do not exist for camera gear only. Pre-Order also does not necessarily mean prepayment. It's only about choice. If you choose to not pre-order, no one thinks any less or more about you just as you shouldn't think any less or more about those that pre-order.

--
Olga

By paying money, some people can feel that they have done something to satisfy the itch.

It sure sounded silly to me, but it works.

If you're a serious user and want to avoid waiting you pre-order. That's your choice. No-one is forcing you to.

Could you avoid using terms like "crap" in a title. Would it have been a major problem to use something like "rubbish" or "nonsense" that's less offensive ( to some people ) ? You'll reach a wider audience with your views if you use moderate language.

--
StephenG

sjgcit said:

Could you avoid using terms like "crap" in a title.

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"oh my virgin ears! won't someone think of the children!"

perhaps, just perhaps, your threshold is too low to be on the internet. just saying; if that harmless everyday word offends you..

--
Bryan
(pic stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works )

TrapperJohn said:

By paying money, some people can feel that they have done something to satisfy the itch.
It sure sounded silly to me, but it works.

Click to expand...

Spot on.
Just the retailers proving there are enough idiots out there
prepared to wave the plastic before the reviews are in
and pay the early adopters premium for good measure.
--

First of all, you don't have to pre-order anything. Second, there are plenty of retailers that will accept pre-orders but won't charge until it actually ships, so that kinda kills your theory.

Mark

To respond properly to you would require me to switch into full blown angry Irish bloke mode, which a fragile and delicate person from California would find too scary. Suffice to say my sensibilities are not particularly delicate.

I do, however, regard it as better to try to raise standards rather than move to the standards applied by drunks in pubs. Lowest common denominator is not best denominator.

By the way, many office email systems screen out emails with even mildly offensive words which are deemed inappropriate in a business context. If I send an email to some of my friends at their work place with the word cr*p in it at least one of them won't get it. I've even worked in places where sending an email ( or letter ) with similar language would get you disciplined. Learn to communicate without the looseness of the street ; it's a business and personal asset which will give a good impression everywhere.

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StephenG

Pre-orders are one of the mechanisms used by retailers to gauge consumer interest and thus allow manufacturers to adjust production numbers accordingly. Without them, you risk suffering through situations where the whole production goes into filling out back orders for months, which can anger customers (see also: Fuji X100), or the opposite scenario, where multiple plants manufacture a product nobody really wanted, which can drive a company into bankrupcy from having to deal with the unsold items (see also: Atari's E.T. videogame). Well, those still happen even with pre-orders and other similar mechanisms, it's just not as often as without.

The issue of competitors announcing new products before delivery is valid, of course, but then it's your own problem if you fall for it; if you always chase after the latest "shiny" you'll never get to enjoy the hobby of photography, since improvements will never stop long enough for you to sit back and take a break from your buying spree. So rather than ask the market to deal with it for you, you should learn to control your impulses better instead.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/Draek

Camera crash test dummies.

Then some get it and can't wait to send it back !! or just moan about this and that. Not my cup of coffee I'm afraid

Mind you, they do a good service for those of us that like to wait and see the problems huh

Danny.
...........................
m4/3 macro
http://www.macrophotos.com/g2macro

m4/3 feathered flying gadgets
http://www.macrophotos.com/avian/avian.html

Worry about the image that comes out of the box, rather than the box itself.

Mark B. said:

First of all, you don't have to pre-order anything. Second, there are plenty of retailers that will accept pre-orders but won't charge until it actually ships, so that kinda kills your theory.

Click to expand...

Something like choking on his whine, eh?

--
Charlie Self
http://www.charlieselfonline.com

I think you may have got this all wrong.

It is not the manufacturers it is the retailers who have the pre order system.

I also don't know of any reputable retailer who when accepting a pre order takes the money. All the ones I know of only take the money once they have the item and ship it to you.

The idea behind pre ordering is so that those that absolutely must have the latest the moment it comes out can, simple as that. But they don't pay any monies until the item they pre ordered has shipped.

Any new product will not ship in any huge volume so pre ordering is a way of making sure you are one of the first to get it. But then it is on a first come first served basis. So if a retailer gets a delivery of 50 units but has 100 pre orders, then there are going to be 50 disappointed customers. As the first 50 to pre order will have their orders fulfilled first.

Hope that makes sense?

--
Phil

I wondered why the ball kept getting bigger, then it hit me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/philthebirdbrain/

Amen to that!

Amazing. I can remember my uncle pre-ordering a new car every year so he'd have the first. I can remember my father pre-ordering a house after WWII. Now that we have ebooks, some people routinely pre-order books coming out from their favorite authors.

And, there is such a simple solution to your rant. Don't pre-order. Ignore it. I do. Not a problem. Pull your knickers out and go about your business.
--
Patrick T. Kelly
Oaxaca, Mexico