Kogan is continually boasting it offers unbeatable prices for technology products, especially when compared to brick-and-mortar retailers. But do these claims actually hold up in reality? Not according to Canon, which conducted a pricing investigation of its DSLR range in Australia. It found that traditional retailers consistently beat Kogan’s prices for the same camera and sometimes came with additional accessories and longer warranties at no extra charge.
If you want the best price for your DSLR shop at a physical store. That’s the advise being trotted out by Canon Australia, which recently compared the price of its product range across the grey import market (including Kogan) and local stores.
Contrary to popular belief, it found that some of the lowest prices in the world are at authorised Australian retailers rather than their online rivals.
For example, the Canon EOS 600D currently costs $548 from Kogan (including shipping) with a 12 month Kogan warranty. The same camera can be snapped up from Officeworks for $488 with a bonus 8GB SD Card and a two-year Canon Australia warranty.
Below is a table that shows how the best retail prices stacked up against Kogan for various EOS camera models:
Model | Local advertised price | Kogan (Asia sourced) | Variance |
EOS 70D (Single lens kit) | $1199 (Good Guys) | $1199 (body only) | N/A |
EOS 700D (Single lens kit) | $618.85 (Ryda) | $722.99 | $104.14 |
EOS 600D (Single lens kit) | $488 (O’works) | $548 | $60 |
EOS 5D MARK III (Body only) | $3090 (DCW) | $3439.00 | $349.00 |
EOS 6D (Body only) | $1524.86 (Ryda) | $1843.99 | $256.04 |
EOS 1100D (Single Lens Kit) | $368.85 (Ryda) | $402.99 | $34.14 |
EOS 100D (Body only) | $438.85 (Ryda) | Out of Stock | N/A |
“Despite the hype, people should take a look at their local store first,” a Canon representative said in a statement. “With great prices and 2 Year Local Manufacturer Warranty on fully compliant product for the Australian market, local retail offers the best Canon value in town this Christmas.”
While the above results were somewhat surprising, we wouldn’t treat them as gospel — Canon Australia obviously has a vested interest in promoting its local suppliers and channel partners. The company also notes that “actual examples fluctuate daily” which is a bit of a get-out-of-jail free card.
That said, a cursory online shopping search failed to turf up a better deal for most of the above models. In other words, heading into a physical store to buy your new camera could be a smarter move than you’d suspect.
Comments
13 responses to “Are Kogan’s Camera Prices Worse Than Traditional Retail?”
“we wouldn’t treat them as gospel — Canon Australia obviously has a vested interest in promoting its local suppliers and channel partners. ”
So why not add to this article and put up your own findings, surely it wouldn’t take long and it’d add more to the article
30 seconds on the kogan site shows the prices aren’t even correct. Well done, canon.
That’s exactly what I thought – why not do your own research rather than just publish what Canon says. I have purchased several Canon cameras from Kogan and their service and prices are very good. Their warranty is even better than the official Canon warranty from local stores. I had a 70d camera that had a slight issue and they replaced it with a brand new one within a week. A few years ago I had a problem with a Canon camera from a local store and they had to send it away to Canon and four months later the problem was not solved and I just gave up and bought a new camera.
Why would you buy a DSLR off them? Their warranty is SHOCKING.
I agree – Canon’s warranty is horrible. I once had to wait 6 months for them to fix a camera for me. I have purchased many items from Kogan and one of them (a Samsung phone) had an issue and they fixed it and replaced my phone within a few days which is much quicker than what Samsung Canon etc would do. I have a kogan tv also and while there is no doubt that it’s not as good as a samsung or sony it still does the job very well and is much better value for money.
It’s the same with Black iPad mini (the old 16GB). Kogan price $329 plus $22.99 shipping = $351.99. Or, even without finding a better store deal, Apple will ship you one for $349. And even though the white one is cheaper ($341.99 shipped), I question whether I would try and save that $7.01 or whether I’d source from the supplier direct.
Same for Google Nexus 7 – 2nd Generation (32GB, Wi-Fi)
Kogan Price = $309 + $22.99 (Del) = $331.99
OfficeWorks = $299
Also Kogan note the RRP as $389, I haven’t seen this being sold for any more than $349 in retail stores.
I do get the feeling Canon are cherrypicking here. In other words, Kogan are more expensive than the cheapest price that Canon could find advertise *anywhere*. For example, OfficeWorks has the 700D listed for $1459 (!!) and Ryda has the 70D for $1338.35 with $150 cashback. (This comes to $1188, but cashback != price reduction.)
Canon’s point is that Kogan’s pricing is not always better than the *best* price available from *any* traditional retail, which is probably true for what it’s worth.
Sure is onto a winner, has shocking customer service, warranty nightmares and not even getting a good deal yet people will still buy from this site.
In Kogans defence, i bought a HTC One Mini Black from them and i loved dealing with them
even with shipping and adding $9 for x3 screen protectors, it was $60 cheaper than any retail store i went to, and it was black which apparently Vodafone holds the rights to and they refuse to sell it outright.
Also had to deal with their customer support for a little shipping mistake on my part but they were great, and Australian.
I always found kogan to have great prices compared to retail. There customer service on the other hand…Trying to sort out my nexus 5 order with them has been a horrendous ordeal.
Yeah should have just got direct from Google. Got mine in 3-4 days.
Price aside, Kogan has very poor customer service and will do everything to avoid warranty obligations. When my Canon S100 developed the infamous lens error for which Canon Australia issued a service notice, Kogan claimed to be my fault, as there was a scratch on the camera (unrelated, happened a month before the lens error). No ways to escalate this to a manager, plus as the camera was sold by Kogan Hong Kong, even the Australian consumer protection laws don’t apply. To top it off, Kogan asked me to pay $110 to get my faulty camera back. Crooks. Never again, even if it was half price.