Visiting B&H Photo and Video, the Store, and the Website
Written: Dec 11 '01 (Updated Jan 19 '03)
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The Bottom Line
B H is the source of photo, audio, and video professionals. The online store is essentially the same as the retail arm except you pay shipping charges.
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| Full Review |
B&H Photo Video is one of most reputable shops online and offline to buy photo, video, audio, and computer equipment. Professionals around the world know about B+H, and trust them not to get it wrong, and they are right, B + H rarely gets it wrong.
B & H is first and foremost a brick and mortars operation (located in New York City), but they have a strong telephone and online arm to extend sales. All sales operations are done from the same place, so you know that the service you get online, by telephone, or in the store is the same.
Prices are competitive, but not cut-rate. In the stores, prices sometimes are spelled out, but not all the time, especially for “most wanted/desired” merchandise that everybody wants. These you have to ask the salesman for a quote, and they will write down the latest price for you. This tactic also appears on their website. In most cases, prices on hot items are MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price). To get the current selling price, you click a button--or telephone them--and they email you the offer.
Service-wise, the sales personnel seem honest, and seem knowledgeable about the products they have in stock. If you need it, chances are they have it. Service is excellent, sometimes with a smile, but sometimes it is a little cold. Their telephone number is listed on their website, and so is a live chat button you can use if you need it.
Checkout over the web is a three-step process of billing, payment, and shipping. Shipping charges can be calculated without clicking through the checkout links. Even though B and H is located next door to New York’s main post office, they only ship via FedEx, and prices vary depending on where it is shipped to; the FedEx saver package starts at $6.45. The return policy is not really generous. They require you to inspect and return photo items within 14 days, and within 7 days for audio, computer, and digital equipment. All major credit cards are accepted both online and off. They also accept checks, and when paying via telephone/online, accept COD orders with a 10% deposit by certified check/money order.
If you ever get the chance to visit their store, you should, it is a spacious showroom located on 33rd-34th Street and Ninth Avenue. Years ago they used to reside in a cramped space on 16th Street where you couldn’t move anywhere without elbowing someone, and had horrible checkout lines, but not anymore. Their NEW retail space is triple that over their old place.
A lot of goodies at the store are on display for you to see and touch. Cameras and optics are locked behind glass counters so you have to ask for those. The film they sell is typically gray market like most photo places, but they have USA-made if you request it. The photo lab supply department is as large as the camera department. Located upstairs is their used camera department.
What is interesting about the store is their mechanical system for pickup and delivery. Suspended from the ceiling in most departments is a conveyor belt of buckets. If you buy something, the salesmen, (and they are mostly men, the women work behind the registers) writes up the bill, and puts the merchandise in a bucket that carries it to the front for you to pick up after you paid. Some things are sometimes too heavy to put in the buckets, and naturally, are sent up from the basement.
It is recommended that you get their sourcebook. It is a thick informative catalog listing every product imaginable with information, comparison guides, prices, charts, and more. There is also a colorful map inside showing you the layout to their store.
Address: 420 Ninth Avenue at 33rd-34th Street, NYC, 10001
Directions: By Subway, The A, C, E stops at Penn Station at the 8th Avenue side. The 1, 2, 3 stops at Penn Station on the 7th Avenue. By Bus, M16, M34, M11, M20 all stop in the area.
Store Hours: Open Mon-Thursdays 9am-7pm. Fridays 9am-1pm. Sundays 10am-5pm. Closed Jewish and state holidays, sometimes limited hours. See website for schedule.
Website: http://www.bhphoto.com, or http://www.bhphotovideo.com
Check out my review on J&R Music and Computer World another reputable source for photo and electronic equipment
Recommended:
Yes
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| Response To Review from Merchant |
Re: Visiting B&H Photo and Video, the Store, and the Website
Feb 13 '03
Thanks for the kind words. A point of clarification. Regarding prices you wrote, "These you have to ask the salesman for a quote, and they will write down the latest price for you. This tactic also appears on their website."
This is not a "tactic" of any kind. It's necessitated by manufacturers' MAP (Minimum Advertised price) policies. We're obliged by contract to honor those agreements which dictate what we can print in our ads and post online. This has nothing to do with an item's Most wanted" status, BTW.
You wrote, "It is recommended that you get their sourcebook. It is a thick informative catalog..." There is actually a series of sourcebooks. The two most current volumes are the 2nd edition of our digital products book and a new 800 page book on lighting.
Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video, Inc.
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