There’s just a hair-width of time left to buy Christmas presents for your family, friends and of course, yourself. Cameras are always popular this time of the year and a quick look at the market shows us that there’s some bargains to be had. You need to understand that pricing is changing rapidly right now, what might have been the case yesterday is not the case today, so you’ll need to check each day.
Given the remaining time left until Christmas, your local store is quickly becoming your best option as buying from overseas now runs the risk of not arriving by Christmas. Check out some of the local retail offers for my favourite camera brand, Canon.
The table below is a price comparisons of top camera SKUs according to monthly sales data from Canon for the month of October.
| Model | Local advertised $ | Grey (Asia sourced) delivered AU$ | Variance | Landed from US AU$ | Variance | Configuration |
| EOS 700D | $618.85 (Ryda) | $722.99 (Kogan) | $104.14 | $1115.35 (B&H) | $496.50 | Single lens kit |
| EOS 600D | $488 (O’works) | $548 (Kogan) | $60 | $626.10 (B&H) | $138.10 | Single lens kit |
| EOS 5D MARK III | $3090 (DCW) | $3439.00 (Kogan) | $349.00 | $3599.06 (B&H) | $509.06 | Body only |
| EOS 6D | $1524.86 (Ryda) | $1843.99 (Kogan) | $256.04 | $2051.38 (B&H) | $526.52 | Body only |
| EOS 1100D | $368.85 (Ryda) | $402.99 (Kogan) | $34.14 | $606.77 (B&H) | $238.19 | Single Lens Kit |
The EOS 5D Mark III which we recently reviewed is actually cheaper from a local Australian retailer for $349 less than Kogan. Below is another common model, now available at a great price thanks to the 700D’s introduction. Here’s the very interesting breakdown of Canon 600D pricing from different outlets:
- Kogan Price = $519 (+$29 delivery) = $548 delivered. 12 month Kogan warranty.
- Big W = $494 available in store + 2 Year Canon Australia warranty
- Officeworks = $488 + Bonus 8GB SD Card available in store + 2yr Canon Australia warranty
So armed with that information, it’s important to always hunt around for the best bargain at the time, rather than just rely on the ‘grey imports will always be cheaper’ mentality. Below are photos of the two retail catalogues from Office works and BigW that confirm the prices listed above. For just a few seconds extra work on comparison sites like http://lasoo.com.au/ and http://www.getprice.com.au/ you could save yourself hundreds of dollars.
