Will UK A700 cashback be extended again?

[ianmiddy]

Thoughts, anyone - will any Photokina announcement put an end to the A700 Cashback deals, or be more reason for it to be extended beyond 30/09/08 ?

Cheers

IDM

[bossel]

If you have time to wait, prices will always come down. Maybe not now, but if ever an ehanced A700 would see the light of the day, the A700 will be dumped cheaply. This might not happen this year.

If however you need a camera now, go for the A700 - or you might wait til end of photokina (end of september) to see if there is anything new, if not then order just before the end of the cashback!! After I bought mine recently, prices have come down another few Euros and I guess this will continue, but I am happy to finally have it now!

Edit: I'd say the cashback will not be extended, but Sony might just lower the regular A700 price. A200-A350 seem so successful I reckon sales of the A700 have been going down.

[David Kilpatrick]

The other makers have extended their cashback deals and Sony has placed some heavy demands on their new ACE dealers in Britain - stock levels. I think they will be obliged to support this with continued promotions, otherwise the ACE dealers who have invested in entire sets of stock will be VERY upset.

Bottom line - Sony is obliged to use promotions right now because of the investment in over 50 specialist ACE dealers in the UK, who are currently all being trained at roadshows. Other parts of the world, maybe the same, maybe not.

David

[harveyzone]

Thoughts, anyone - will any Photokina announcement put an end to the A700 Cashback deals, or be more reason for it to be extended beyond 30/09/08 ?

Is it just me that dislikes the whole cashback idea? Personally, I want to be able to buy off the shelf at the reduced price, and not mess about sending claims to Sony (or whoever). I can understand the advantages for the manufacturer and for the retailer, but it is surely not the best arrangement for the consumer. This seems to be a growing trend in the UK, following acceptance in other countries (or is it just the US).

Ho hummm.

[Greg Beetham]

I'm with you Tom,
their doing it here too, this cash back drivel, as far as I know in order to get your cash back you have to fill the form out correctly, cross all the t's and dot all the i's and send the proof of purchase off, invoice and receipt (then you don't have them anymore unless you make copies) and wait quite a while for it to be processed, I've heard. I'll bet the Government are laughing, they get tax revenue based on the original amount at point of sale, and I reckon the Manufacturers are hoping a certain percentage either forget, don't fill the forms out properly, or loose their dockets ...whatever.. I reckon it's a shifty way to sell things when they can just put the actual price on the item in the first place.
Greg

[David Kilpatrick]

Actually it's a way to get data. Only a tiny percentage of buyers ever register warranties with the maker. Above all they want to know who YOU are, and they will pay a lot to get that data.

David

[ianmiddy]

I'm hoping it will be extended into 4Q08, and that I then get some decent work so that I can afford to buy one, lol...

[although I have to decide if I prefer LiveView, or High FPS/ISO - having been playing with dads Oly 420, LV is a bit in the lead at the mo'...]

Cheers

IDM

[Carlj]

Was thinking of the A700, with cashback, before I settled on the A300 and one thing came to mind. SURE. Ok, so nothing outside of the US, but all the major outlets, web and high street, were all offering the same price. Are Sony starting to pressure stockists on pricing here?

Carl

[Javelin]

oh man I spent all night the night before last researching UK and EU consumer protection laws for a post on DPR that I couldn't make in the end and sort of lost the will to pursue it. suffice to say yes I think Sony is influencing the dealers there to sell at list prices. but also so is every other manufacturer of of any product that could be considered high end. I think this influence is pretty mild and the dealers will stick to it just because of the type of product it is and they know people will pay. it really depends where i the EU you are too.... and I suspect in some countries the dealer cost price is substantially higher than in others. But again pretty much across the board rather than just Sony in particular. in fact some manufacturers are zealots about protecting their stuff. particularly in the clothing industry. you want price maintenance.. just look at high end purses and perfumes ..

Also I agree with David a marketing company is behind the cash back deals and it's just a way to gather consumer data. they don't really want to pay you so they make all these ridiculous hoops to jump through to get it. the time frames are long and if you make any mistake you won't get paid.

Used to be they used warranty cards for this. and they would say fill in this card and send it in to "activate" your warranty but that practice became illegal here (I'm sure there too) so now they pay but make it hard and long to get it.

[DGJ]

Was thinking of the A700, with cashback, before I settled on the A300 and one thing came to mind. SURE. Ok, so nothing outside of the US, but all the major outlets, web and high street, were all offering the same price. Are Sony starting to pressure stockists on pricing here?

Carl

Sony don't advise UK dealers on price at all - in fact the price lists they supply don't even give suggested retail prices which is really inconvenient when someone wants to know how much a replacement lens cap is and you have to grab a calculator........

PS The A700 cashback will definitely finish in september

[ianmiddy]

Well, the bookmark I had for the Cashback page no longer works [also tried the link from Jacobs - same error] - even searching for 'A700 Cashback' on SonyUK gives a dead link - and although the offer is mentioned on the A700 product page, I can't spot a link for downloading the form - so maybe DGJ was right...

...bu**er !

...maybe the January sales, then - assuming a replacement's not been announced by then and all the existing stock sold.

Cheers

IDM

[ianmiddy]

Well, I see CameraWorld have their price at £600 with no mention of CashBack [not sure if it was prior to today, but the price graph on camerapricebuster has a drop very recently] - wonder if/when the likes of Jacobs, Parks, WHE etc will match it ?

Cheers

IDM