Online Shopping
(Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the web.)
Written : 7/8/2000
Written by: Matt Cauthon
I needed a camera, that much I knew. Furthermore, I needed an SLR camera, and I had
about $300 to spend. I couldn't afford Canon's latest entry-level SLR, the EOS Rebel 2000,
so I checked into their now discontinued former entry-level SLR, the EOS Rebel G. At the
urging of the media and everyone on the planet, I checked out ebay, after all, you can set your own
price! I quickly learned something though…Ebay sucks.
Even with 4 days left, the price was getting pretty steep for this
camera.
In addition to everyone paying way too much for things, there's the fact
that if you ever expect to win anything, you must not bid until the last 5 seconds of an
auction, and even then, it's risky. After loosing a few auctions, I decided to look for
more conventional purchasing options.
I quickly scoured all the major online shopping sites I could find, and was disappointed
at the prices I found. I began worrying I would have to go through pawn shops buried in
the icky parts of Louisville, risking life and limb for a camera that was used to traffic
cocaine into the country or was used in some odd triple homicide.
Most sites didn't even list the Rebel G, and even when they did…the
prices weren't pretty.
Just when I had given up hope, when I was about to don my flack jacket and ammo belt to
brave the mean streets of Metro Louisville, I happened upon the website of Smile Photo
Video, an outlet out of New York City. A friend had shown me their listing for a Rebel
2000, but it was still a bit too much, so I looked for a Rebel G and found this magical
listing:
The fact that the image was broken should have been a warning, but I was
too busy cleaning off the screen after seeing the price!
I whipped out the trusty Discover card and ordered that baby up. The
website said I would receive an e-mail with my order number and final price (with
shipping) in a few minutes.
An hour passed, no e-mail.
I should have been tipped off when the site wouldn't give the final price before I
ordered, but I was just shocked by the price. I assumed the *rb* on the item name meant it
was Refurbished, but hey, I was going to order from ebay, I could handle a returned
product or something like that.
I sent an e-mail to their sales department explaining my situation, and by the next
morning I had an e-mail back telling me the invoice number and the final price. Shipping
was 20 dollars for UPS ground.
Hmmmm.
Next page: A really bad feeling
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