Troubador
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Interviews with Retailers: Doug of Camera Land, USA
Welcome to this, the first of 4, possibly 5, interviews: 2 from the USA, one from the UK and one or two from continental Europe.
Who am I?
Doug Paymer of Camera Land, New York, USA.
Our Store
Camera Land is a family owned and operated business since 1957. We started out as primarily a Camera specialty shop that handled a few binoculars from the camera manufacturers (Nikon, Minolta, Konica, Olympus and Pentax). Pop taught us "the only difference between us and them has to be us. Everyone carries the same product so product does not make you special. It's all about customer service." We try our best to run our business with Pops words in mind. We lost him a couple of years ago but carry on as he'd taught us.
About 15 years ago my brother Joel took over the Photo division and I expanded the Sports Optics side of the business.
We were located in midtown NYC until 3 years ago. We got tired of working to pay the landlord (rent in NYC is INSANE) and we moved out to Old Bethpage on Long Island. We expanded our space to include a classroom and host learning annex's 2 or 3 times a week. We have a much more relaxed neighbourhood atmosphere here which is great.
Our Customers and How We do Business
The age of our typical customers ranges from over 25 through just under dead, LOL. We take care of many outdoor enthusiasts well into their later years. Folks with more leisure time and adventurous spirit. We like these customers as they are great to meet and chat with.
They are a fair mix of birders, general nature observers, tourists and aren’t really so technically knowledgeable, which is fine as we are here to help. That's the whole point of having a customer service style shop vs buying blind on the internet. We do our best to give the sharpest pricing we can, however we are here to assist with the purchase as well as provide answers and service if a product fails. Although I do think that YouTube and forums have increased folks ability to get more information about optics.
Our customer base, for the most part, are great folks who appreciate our level of service as well as our knowledge. We don't get many who pick our brains and then hunt the internet for the lowest possible price. As stated, we are competitively priced & I'm sure if you spend enough time in front of a computer you'll find some things cheaper, however, you will not find a higher level of service.
In recent years there has been a slight increase in the proportion of women customers.
Our Products & Sales
The binocular brands we stock are Athlon, Burris, Bushnell, GPO, Hawke, Kahles, Konus, Kowa, Leica, Leupold, Minox. Meopta, Nikon, Steiner, Swarovski and Zeiss. Reality is there are way more brands than manufacturers. As far as brands, the major brands IMO are here to stay. New "Pacific Rim" brands pop up all the time. If they market themselves well they may be the next known brand
Our biggest selling magnification by far is 10x, with 8x at maybe 35% of that, then 15x and then a mix of 12x and 7x.
42mm is our top selling format, followed by 50/56mm, then 20/25mm pockets, but the 32mm is our smallest seller and if we sell 2 or 3 10x32's a year it's a lot! I see things remaining the same on sizes sold.
Folks basically ask about what they see others using. 10x and 8x will always be the most used. IMO, 10x and up are best used tripod mounted, however, most people do not like to carry "excess" gear.
Customers ask about capability vs price, ask about the specs and warranty, but the typical question is: what's the best I can get at the price I can afford, that I'll always take with me, so it shouldn't be too heavy, and if I drop it will it be covered?
Our top selling 6 brands are Swarovski, Athlon, Meopta, Kowa, Steiner and Leica.
Our top selling models: SLC, Ares, MeoPros, HX's, Genesis and Trinovid HDs.
We sell more spotting scopes than the average store I think. Kowa, Swarovski, Meopta and Athlon mostly
We will only sell products we feel are worth using from companies we feel have the customer in mind. There are brands we keep here in stock and then there are the brands we are authorized dealers for that we order in as we need it. Certain products literally sell themselves so it would be foolish for us not to offer them, however, that does not mean we believe that they are the best option in that price range. People sometimes just go to our site to buy what they have decided is what they want.
Relationships with Our Suppliers
Most keep adequate stocks so as to give short lead-time deliveries. Some are a back order nightmare and quite honestly we shy away from these brands and mark them as special order only on site.
Most suppliers do not take product back if it's just not a good "fit" for the customer so we will sell it as an open box/demo product and mark the price down at our expense
The way our suppliers support our business with payment terms, and prices etc., varies from company to company. In my opinion, whether a small or large order is placed every authorized dealer should pay the same, in order to make it fair to all dealers. We do a monthly give-away on our web site and the manufacturers work with us to supply the prizes. I think is a great way to promote their products as well as great public relations giving back to the customers.
It would be great if suppliers helped with regard to stock balancing, by allowing us to return slower moving products and replace them with the same value of faster moving product. Same goes for price protection for when prices go down so we do not wind up owning product at a higher cost than new lower prices that other dealers are allowed to sell it for. They could also be a little more selective as to who they allow to sell their products. Having more dealers isn't always the best way to move more product.
Point of Sale Support from Brands
For the most part our suppliers provide adequate, or good point-of-sale materials to use in our store.
Warranty Support
Normally a consumer who has a problem with a binocular will contact us first. We try to work with the manufacturer to have them send the customer a Fed Ex pick up tag and then send a new replacement out. The majority of the brands will do this. There are a few that will not. The brands that will not are not brands that we really get behind as we feel that these brands are not consumer friendly. To have a consumer, with an initial defective product have to ship it to us, for us to ship to the manufacturer, for the manufacturer to ship it back to us to then us ship it to the consumer is not only a crazy waste of time it is also $60-$80 in unnecessary shipping fees.
We will always do a direct replacement for a consumer if they insist, however, it just adds to the shipping expense as it is more efficient for the manufacturer to send a pick up tag (so the cost for return shipping falls to them) and they expedite the replacement as well.
Trading Challenges
Probably the worst are non-authorized dealers that advertise prices that they will never deliver at hoping people call for something and they can switch them to something else. That never changes unfortunately.
Thanks!
A big thank you to Doug for taking the time to give Birdforum members an insight into optics retailing. Doug’s details are given below:
Doug Paymer
https://cameralandny.com/
Camera Land
720 Old Bethpage Rd
Old Bethpage NY 11804
516-217-1000
[email protected]
Lee
Welcome to this, the first of 4, possibly 5, interviews: 2 from the USA, one from the UK and one or two from continental Europe.
Who am I?
Doug Paymer of Camera Land, New York, USA.
Our Store
Camera Land is a family owned and operated business since 1957. We started out as primarily a Camera specialty shop that handled a few binoculars from the camera manufacturers (Nikon, Minolta, Konica, Olympus and Pentax). Pop taught us "the only difference between us and them has to be us. Everyone carries the same product so product does not make you special. It's all about customer service." We try our best to run our business with Pops words in mind. We lost him a couple of years ago but carry on as he'd taught us.
About 15 years ago my brother Joel took over the Photo division and I expanded the Sports Optics side of the business.
We were located in midtown NYC until 3 years ago. We got tired of working to pay the landlord (rent in NYC is INSANE) and we moved out to Old Bethpage on Long Island. We expanded our space to include a classroom and host learning annex's 2 or 3 times a week. We have a much more relaxed neighbourhood atmosphere here which is great.
Our Customers and How We do Business
The age of our typical customers ranges from over 25 through just under dead, LOL. We take care of many outdoor enthusiasts well into their later years. Folks with more leisure time and adventurous spirit. We like these customers as they are great to meet and chat with.
They are a fair mix of birders, general nature observers, tourists and aren’t really so technically knowledgeable, which is fine as we are here to help. That's the whole point of having a customer service style shop vs buying blind on the internet. We do our best to give the sharpest pricing we can, however we are here to assist with the purchase as well as provide answers and service if a product fails. Although I do think that YouTube and forums have increased folks ability to get more information about optics.
Our customer base, for the most part, are great folks who appreciate our level of service as well as our knowledge. We don't get many who pick our brains and then hunt the internet for the lowest possible price. As stated, we are competitively priced & I'm sure if you spend enough time in front of a computer you'll find some things cheaper, however, you will not find a higher level of service.
In recent years there has been a slight increase in the proportion of women customers.
Our Products & Sales
The binocular brands we stock are Athlon, Burris, Bushnell, GPO, Hawke, Kahles, Konus, Kowa, Leica, Leupold, Minox. Meopta, Nikon, Steiner, Swarovski and Zeiss. Reality is there are way more brands than manufacturers. As far as brands, the major brands IMO are here to stay. New "Pacific Rim" brands pop up all the time. If they market themselves well they may be the next known brand
Our biggest selling magnification by far is 10x, with 8x at maybe 35% of that, then 15x and then a mix of 12x and 7x.
42mm is our top selling format, followed by 50/56mm, then 20/25mm pockets, but the 32mm is our smallest seller and if we sell 2 or 3 10x32's a year it's a lot! I see things remaining the same on sizes sold.
Folks basically ask about what they see others using. 10x and 8x will always be the most used. IMO, 10x and up are best used tripod mounted, however, most people do not like to carry "excess" gear.
Customers ask about capability vs price, ask about the specs and warranty, but the typical question is: what's the best I can get at the price I can afford, that I'll always take with me, so it shouldn't be too heavy, and if I drop it will it be covered?
Our top selling 6 brands are Swarovski, Athlon, Meopta, Kowa, Steiner and Leica.
Our top selling models: SLC, Ares, MeoPros, HX's, Genesis and Trinovid HDs.
We sell more spotting scopes than the average store I think. Kowa, Swarovski, Meopta and Athlon mostly
We will only sell products we feel are worth using from companies we feel have the customer in mind. There are brands we keep here in stock and then there are the brands we are authorized dealers for that we order in as we need it. Certain products literally sell themselves so it would be foolish for us not to offer them, however, that does not mean we believe that they are the best option in that price range. People sometimes just go to our site to buy what they have decided is what they want.
Relationships with Our Suppliers
Most keep adequate stocks so as to give short lead-time deliveries. Some are a back order nightmare and quite honestly we shy away from these brands and mark them as special order only on site.
Most suppliers do not take product back if it's just not a good "fit" for the customer so we will sell it as an open box/demo product and mark the price down at our expense
The way our suppliers support our business with payment terms, and prices etc., varies from company to company. In my opinion, whether a small or large order is placed every authorized dealer should pay the same, in order to make it fair to all dealers. We do a monthly give-away on our web site and the manufacturers work with us to supply the prizes. I think is a great way to promote their products as well as great public relations giving back to the customers.
It would be great if suppliers helped with regard to stock balancing, by allowing us to return slower moving products and replace them with the same value of faster moving product. Same goes for price protection for when prices go down so we do not wind up owning product at a higher cost than new lower prices that other dealers are allowed to sell it for. They could also be a little more selective as to who they allow to sell their products. Having more dealers isn't always the best way to move more product.
Point of Sale Support from Brands
For the most part our suppliers provide adequate, or good point-of-sale materials to use in our store.
Warranty Support
Normally a consumer who has a problem with a binocular will contact us first. We try to work with the manufacturer to have them send the customer a Fed Ex pick up tag and then send a new replacement out. The majority of the brands will do this. There are a few that will not. The brands that will not are not brands that we really get behind as we feel that these brands are not consumer friendly. To have a consumer, with an initial defective product have to ship it to us, for us to ship to the manufacturer, for the manufacturer to ship it back to us to then us ship it to the consumer is not only a crazy waste of time it is also $60-$80 in unnecessary shipping fees.
We will always do a direct replacement for a consumer if they insist, however, it just adds to the shipping expense as it is more efficient for the manufacturer to send a pick up tag (so the cost for return shipping falls to them) and they expedite the replacement as well.
Trading Challenges
Probably the worst are non-authorized dealers that advertise prices that they will never deliver at hoping people call for something and they can switch them to something else. That never changes unfortunately.
Thanks!
A big thank you to Doug for taking the time to give Birdforum members an insight into optics retailing. Doug’s details are given below:
Doug Paymer
https://cameralandny.com/
Camera Land
720 Old Bethpage Rd
Old Bethpage NY 11804
516-217-1000
[email protected]
Lee
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