I'm considering ordering a new GL2 with a "professional" kit off ebay, if I can get it for around 2200 dollars. The company selling it is one of those NYC camera retailers (47st.photo). I checked reseller rating, they received 2 positive reviews. They have sold almost 20,000 items on ebay and have only 150 complaints. They also offer some sort of "Mack" 4 year extended warranty.

Does anyone have any experience with this store, or the mack warranty? And also, ordering off ebay something I should avoid, despite the good reviews?

Kurt,
Certainly I can't tell you what you should do. 47th Street Photo has been arond a long time, but with a very checkered history. 150 complaints and 2 positive reviews is, frankly, terrible. The way these outfits operate is well documented here and elsewhere; offer the basic camera for rediculous price (often a gray-market camera), then hard sell "extended warranties" and crappy accessories to jack the price and profit margin up. The fact is that $2,200 is -far-too low of a price to be legitimate. There's more to the story of this "auction".

My advice is to buy directly from a reputable dealer such as ZGC or Zotz Digital (two of our sponsors) or another reputable place such as B&H Photo. eBay is fine for people buying $20 ceramic bunnies or other junk. But not for such a significant piece of equipment. (Can you tell I've been burned there? <g>) Personally, I've purchased a GL2 and XL1s from ZGC and couldn't have been more satisfied. Very fair price, sincere care for their customers, a desire to support their customers. Personally, that would be my choice regardless or their sponsorship here. (See http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5363 for some stories from our Community members.)

Good luck. (You'll need it if you buy on eBay.)

I didn't mean to mislead anyone about the complaints, I meant that there were 150 negative reviews compared to 20,000 positive reviews for the company on ebay. and I only found 2 other positive reviews outside of ebay.

I've been burned on ebay before for cheaper things, which causes me to be skeptical of anyone with a negative review.

Thanks for the info, I'll be sure to check that site out.

I bought my GL2 from Willoughby's (not 47th st) and it was fine except the wide angle and telephoto lenses they gave me were wrong for the camera. They are selling it with 52mm threaded lenses and the camera needs 58mm, otherwise there's bad vignetting and for wide angle this really defeats the purpose! So don't buy it from them unless they promise to give you the right, 58 mm lenses.

I live in NYC and 47st Photo has the worst reputation (or amongst the worst)....they exisit by scamming the tourists in that area (midtown Manhattan) and they're constantly on "Shame On You" type TV shows that show these guys for what they are......the only reputable stores in NYC are B&H and Adorama- you can forget the rest (even Cambridge is on the take- when I walk in- the 1st question they ask me is "where are you from" as they know locals can't be fooled with their sales techniques)

....get one from ZGC as everyone here says their service is the best as well as their price being fair.....I've tried but the NYC stores are all horrible- they're run by some of the shadiest people around and have more consumer fraud complaints than you can imagine!

Stay with the sites sponsors for the best results.

As has been mentioned here before, my preference is ZGC. I can't say enough good things about them. Make sure you mention that you heard about them from the DVinfo.net forum. Also ask for Mizell, he is great to work with.

I talked to a representative at ZGC. They do have an excellent price on the GL2.

Only thing is, I'd really like to purchase an extended warranty. I'm not sure if they offer this, but I'll look into it. The reason I'd like a better warranty than the 1 year deal is because my first camera, an old Sony handycam, had it's ccd go bad after a year. I can't afford to spend this much money and then have the camera break a year or two down the road...

Thanks for the help, I'm glad I didn't spend more money for lousy accessories and lenses that don't fit.

I actually bought my GL2 kit from 47thstreetphoto and had no complaints about it. Everything came as advertised and it was not a grey market camera.

<<<-- Originally posted by GaryBushey : I actually bought my GL2 kit from 47thstreetphoto and had no complaints about it. Everything came as advertised and it was not a grey market camera. -->>>

Gary,

What was included in the kit?

GL2 camera (with the usual accessories)
.5 wide angle lense
2x zoom lense
.3 macro lense
3 piece filter
lightweight tripod (pretty much useless)
carrying bag
4 hour battery

Do you have a vignetting problem with the wide-angle lens?

Actually I have not tried the lense yet.

What about buydig.com?
Any of you guys try them out?
CNET verified...

--james

I read some reviews at resellerratings on buydig.com

While they received a fairly high average overall score, probably over half of the reviews for them in the last 2 weeks all complained about them taking too long to ship items. Their price for the GL2 is pretty good though.

Mines for sale: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&postid=34860#post34860

I sent you an email regarding your GL2.

I've done quite a bit of looking around on the net for a good priced GL2 by a well reviewed company. I've read many good reviews for www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com. They offer the GL2 right now for $2169. They guarantee that it is factory fresh, etc. and I've read posts on this very site that testify that they are a quality outfit, and have treated their customers well. For anyone looking for extended warranties, they offer 3 and 5 year extentions to the factory warranty.

If anyone has any experience with bestpriceaudiovideo.com that I should know about before purchasing, please pipe up. But all signs so far seem to indicate that they are a good resource.

~N Aldoroty

Got my GL-2 new in the box from a private seller on ebay for $1,895.00 Before I made the bid I checked out his record as a seller then I e-mailed another person who had purchased the same model (he sells Canon's and Sony's) from him and got a good response regarding the condition of the camera, the smoothness of the transaction and the quickness in shipping. I was leary because he requested payment in money order or cashiers check only. I asked if he would accept PayPal and he agreed as long as I paid the 2.9% fee. I agreed but PayPal jerked me around verifying my status so I ended up sending him a USPS Money Order overnight express. I paid an extra $25 to have him send it back to me next day mail. I was a bit queezy for a couple of days wondering if I had done the right thing but my GL-2 arrived on time, in perfect condition and now that I've had it a week and tested it, I couldn't be happier. Maybe I should have bought a lotto ticket too?

Man you took every risk in the book. If I were you I would certainly buy a lotto ticket....