K10 and K100 Super Rebates in the US

Yesterday Pentax announced $100 rebates on the K10 and K100 Super as well as rebates on some lenses and flash units.
This was predicted on other forums as way of sustaining sales through the holiday season prior to an announcement of a new model in Jaunuary.

Part one has proved to be true, so depending upon your view of things this may give more credence to a possible January announcement.

The K10 with rebate can now be purchased for under $600 or £300, can we hope for a drop in the UK price?

Probably not.

G

I ask myself why a rebate and not drop the price? I don't know but I suspect it is for two reasons. It acts as a temporary drop in price to promote sales. Earlier in the year, there were quite a few rebates on the lenses. This made them slightly cheaper than the grey imports to the US. The other reason is to protect the European market. The rebate is only valid in the US and so it doesn't drop the price for mail order to here. (Unless of course you have a friend in the US who can claim the rebate for you. )

Another reason could be the introduction of new models from Canikon. A rebate will help to protect Pentax's share of the market.

Kim

I agree entirely with the points you make, rebates are not a regular feature of the US market and not that common in the UK.

I did wonder if we might see a price drop for the K10D body similar to that which saw the price drop to £399 for a week or two in the summer.

Only if Canikon drop their prices or introduce a new model to compete.

Kim

Pentax rebates have been going on for some time now. I got the rebates when I purchased back in July. All Pentax does is keep on re-introducing them.

This time they run from Oct 18th 2007 until Jan 31st 2008. They have changed them a bit. One now has to buy the Pentax 50-200mm lens with the camera to get the $25.00 rebate, for a total of $125.00 rebate for camera and lens. They have also dropped the 540 flash rebate to $25.00 (was $50.00)
The Grip is still $25.00 and other lens rebates run $50-$100 dollars.

Rebates and coupons in the US are very common year round for a wide variety of products. If they are not provided by manufacturers, the stores and dealers provide them.

One small example. I purchased a casual jacket back in May, put it on twice and decided I really didn't like it. I finally got around to taking back to the store yesterday. I explained to the sales person the reason and said sorry for the delay in returning it. No problem she said, even though I had lost my receipt. She hands me an in store card with the full credit. I used it for another jacket (40% off) and on check out got another 15% store discount.

There is always a deal here, so much competition, stores and companies have to offer them to stay in business.

The USA is shoppers heaven.

One of the reasons they just don't drop the prices, period. There is always a person that can't be bothered to shop around, or wants it right now and is willing enough to pay top dollar for it.

RG.

With great respect, rebates are a very regular feature of Pentax's marketing in the USA.

G

George I just realised the typo, I of course mean't to say that rebates are a common feature in the US.

stevejcoe.

I guess George didn't read my comments.

I don't believe there is another place on the planet that has such good deals
on a constant basis and offers so many rebates and coupons as in the USA.

If you were to see the amount of British tourists in the Las Vegas outlet centers and shops for example, buying up everything insight, one would know what I mean. It's like the feeding frenzy at the zoo.
The Brits fly into Vegas in droves on Virgin and spend spend spend. Our son lives there so we are frequent visitors ourselves.

Same with LA (Lived there 32 years) It's just more obvious in Las Vegas, just because of the constant flow of Brits and the location of the the airport
and hotels very close to shopping.

RG.

I came back into the photography fold, film to digital, in part, due to the rebate on the Pentax DS, which at the time was £100, in the UK.

No rebates in Holland. Ever. At least not from Pentax. Canon had them for a while I believe.

I think we are all in agreement, George was just pointing out my typo.

I travel to the US several times a year on business, so I am well aware of the rebate system and the 'shopping frenzy'.

While there are undoubted bargains to be had, they are not what they used to be and often quantity buying is a factor, 'buy 2 get one free'

On a recent trip to Florida I checked out prices for several items of photographic gear and found them no cheaper than in the UK, however you cannot argue that companies such as B&H, Adorama offer prices very significantly below UK prices, especially if you have an American friend who can claim back any rebates.

As an example a FA 35mm sells at B&H for $299 approx £150 (no rebate involved). In the UK if you can find someone with stock the price is around £280.

If I imported a lens even with postage and duty/VAT there is still a saving of £70-80. If a UK dealer could buy a lens at $299 (£150), then even with markups and taxes that lens should be available at around £200-210.

If you equate this to air travel, in the UK we pay business class prices for a coach service, which in effect subsidises the US market, who in turn pay coach fares and receive business class service (from Pentax).

I would like to see Pentax adopt a more global approach to pricing rather than regional.
Pentax are not alone in this and almost certainly only feel that they need to match the prices of their competitors.
We could debate marketing strategies at length, but my personal opinion is that Pentax should be as innovative in their business model as they are with their products.

Your mind moves in a mysterious way. I read everything you wrote, agreed with everything you said, and gave no cause for you to think otherwise.

I guess you didn't understand my comment.

But then, English is not your first language.

G

George.

Sorry for the error. Nothing mysterious about minds having senior moments. Most of us old folk have them now and again.

You are way off base with the snotty English comment. I was born, raised and educated in the London area. Moved to the USA in 1963.

So unless we spoke some African dialect back then (I imagine very common now) English was and is my language.

RG.

stevejcoe.

Please explain how the UK subsidizes our market. Maybe I am having another senior moment !!!!!!!!

It's more to do with the quantities the US businesses buy. Huge amounts of merchandise to support the demand in the USA for the latest and greatest. This is a consumer driven market like nowhere else.
Plus, unlike UK folks, we don't put up with low inventories and bad customer service. I don't believe you will ever hear an American state : "I am very sorry to complain, but the TV I recently purchased from you doesn't work" Not going to happen.

The deals are just as good here as they ever were and more of them, one just has to know the best places to shop. LA and Las Vegas are shoppers heaven for bargains. Oregon where we now live has no state sales tax. That saves us a bundle on top of the great deals. We get millions of visitors each year especially from Washington State, taking full advantage of the shopping. On top of that there are tons of manufacturers shopping outlet mails all over the country, loaded with bargains.

You are correct in there not being many deals on Camera's etc in stores, thats due to not much competition in most towns. We only have two camera shops in our large town, plus Circuit City and Best Buy which are both general electronic stores.

The best deals for Camera's, lenses etc are on Ebay, during the last 5 years all my camera equipment has been purchased this way, new and used including all the Pentax gear.

You do have one conciliation over there. Much better/longer warranties.

RG.