Ever since President Trump’s tariffs were considered unlawful, brands have been working to sue him to get money back. What’s crazier is that they’re not passing those savings onto their customers. This is behavior that’s reminiscent of abusive companies who only care about themselves and never really give back. Think of it this way: if you go to a small mom and pop restaurant and they know you because you’re a constant customer, they do what’s called a buy-back. That’s how they take care of their own people by sometimes getting freebies, shots, etc. But that doesn’t happen with big companies. And in the case of the billion dollar companies in the camera industry, that surely hasn’t happened.
In fact, camera brands have been said to sometimes drop prices to over 60% off — which means that they’re still more than making enough profit. And like any smart business, the work to decrease their costs and increase their profits.
But let’s think about it: Sony, Canon, Nikon, Leica, Panasonic, OM System, Hasselblad, or Fujifilm have never had a customer loyalty program of any sort.
And on top of that, the prices on cameras are currently luxury prices but we’re not really getting luxury products at all. The only exception may be Leica and Hasselblad. The former has pretty much lifetime warranties on several of their products where Sony won’t even look at a Sony a7 original anymore.
What’s more, we’ve seen just how affordable products really can be. This is evident with brands like Sigma, Tamron, and several of the Chinese manufacturers.
A Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art lens isn’t cheap. Sony’s is just expensive. And are there any extra benefits?
The same with Nikon and other brands too.
Even further to this point, Viltrox lenses are even more affordable and have specs very comparable to the Japanese products. When you also consider that many of the manufacturers use the same components as one another, this gets even crazier.
Why are the prices still so high without any of the benefits?
So here’s my proposal listed out:
- Customer loyalty programs: not pro services, but loyalty where constant customers get discounts. These could be membership based or something.
- Support for older products: they’re charging more than enough these days. This comes in the form of firmware and products that can be repaired.
- Actual support for products that are weather resistant, and hold yourself to your warranty
- Bringing the edu programs back for students
- 10% back annually on eligible purchases
- One full year to ensure that you’re satisfied with your purchase. Otherwise, you can return it.
- Free shipping within the country that you’re buying it from if you’re buying it directly from the manufacturer
- Exclusive member offers and coupons
- Trade ups on used gear giving you back more
- 20% off lenses or repairs
- Rentals available with up to 33% off
- Member pricing on classes and events (because brands sometimes hold their own workshops)
Etc. Some of those ideas came from being a member of the REI-Coop program. But some of them used to be part of the photo industry until they were taken away.
All the camera manufacturers are billion dollar companies. None of us reading this are are billionaires. Shouldn’t they be giving back?