Buying via Amazon.com

spezzab2be

I am planning on buying a D3300 or 3400 on Amazon. I have $200 in gift cards for Amazon which is my main reason for wanting/needing to buy there. That being said; are there any recommended sellers of certified refurbished Nikon? Or any stores that also sell on Amazon? I do not necessarily need to go refurbished just figured if there were trusted sellers out there I would check them out too.

Hoping to get 18-55 and 55-200 or 70-300 lenses with VR also. Most bundles I am finding only have VR on the 18-55 and ED on other two sizes I mentioned. Can anyone offer any help or advice?

Thanks in advance!

bruto

Amazon has a lot of retailers, including itself, and I'm not entirely sure who sells what. However, I believe that Adorama and B&H both sell on Amazon as well as their own sites. Both are reputable dealers, and sell authorized Nikon refurbs. They don't always have exactly the same refurb deals, so it's worth checking both. As for Amazon themselves, they may be fine too, but make sure that for any purchase you see that the merchandise is Nikon USA, not "international" or just "imported" if you want the proper Nikon warranty and packaging.

There are other stores that sell on Amazon that may be good. I'm not up on them all. Best Buy usually has US goods. KEH.com does, but their prices may be a bit less attractive on some. A couple of other dealers I've heard are OK (but not dealt with myself) are Calumet and Roberts. Might be worth a look. Chances are that for Nikon USA equipment the deals from all the reputable vendors will be nearly identical, and your main criterion will likely be availability of specific items.

I am not sure if there are any bundles that include the VR version of the 70-300 lens by default. Most I've seen have the non-VR version, but one of the retailers may offer an upgrade. If not, I'd buy the camera and kit lens alone and get the tele separately. Some used to have the VR version of the 55-200, but things may have changed.

spezzab2be

Thanks @bruto! I appreciate all the help you are giving me.

Some items I am finding show a 1 yr warranty from Nikon it has a small gold box in upper left corner of warranty page. These are items that are labeled as 'used, like new' or 'certified refurbished'. Should I assume this is the typical length of warranty Nikon gives to used items?

bruto

Nikon does not sell used items. Nikon refurbished warranty is only 90 days from Nikon. Their logo for this is a round gold seal that says "Certified Nikon Refurbished."

"Refurbished" may or may not mean that an item has been repaired and gone over by technicians. It may also just mean an item was opened or returned and thus not eligible to be sold as new. It's often a good deal, but you do have to reckon with the short warranty.

There is no real way to tell if a product is USA or gray market import, except, as far as I know, checking for the presence of a USA warranty, but when a USA web site identifies itself as an Authorized Nikon Dealer, that's good. Some honest dealers sell both authorized and gray, but should always tell you which is which.

This is not to say that a used item is not worth considering, but you do have to be careful of the reputation of the vendor, the description of condition, and the issue of whether the item is gray market. A gray market used item may well be worth a shot if you're willing to gamble and the price is low enough, but it is something of a gamble. Whatever you do, make sure that the vendor has a reliable return service so that if an item is not to your liking you can send it back.

For used lenses many have a "US" as the beginning of the serial number, but I note that some of the latest do not. But if you're shopping for a used lens and history is not known, the serial number might help.

I know this can be really confusing, as there are so many ways so many people attempt to do things. Most Amazon vendors are at least accountable, and many are very good, but you need to keep your eyes open and compare. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.