"I purchased the Canon EOS digital Rebel from butterflyphoto.com. It was the cheapest price that I found from a store that had a decent review/rating. My co-worker's recent positive experience purchasing a Nikon 5700 helped in making my decision. I found much better prices that were going $200~$300 below the MSRP from other stores in NY, but I firmly decided against purchasing from them based on the reviews that I read here at resellerratings.com (i.e., 0.7 rating with comments such as "never buy from them, they are crooks, scam artists...").

I ordered online and received two emails shortly - an order confirmation email and another email asking me to call in. Justin was my CSR, and he asked me to call him because I didn't list the shipping address with my credit card company, which was understandable. He threw a light sales pitch on Sigma lens packet which I found it to be very attractive b/c I was shopping for one. But I easily declined because I had not come to a decision yet. There was absolutely no sales pressure that I could feel (previous review of comparing the sales pitch to McDonalds' applepies does seem very appropriate).

I emailed Justin back to inform him to ship the order without any additional accessories at about 3pm (PST), and he was very quick to respond - the order was shipped on the same day. I received a shipping notice which contained the FedEx tracking number.

I was pleasantly surprised the next day morning when the package arrived via FedEx at 11:41am (PST). I was very grateful because I had ordered this via regular ground shipping, and Justin had sent the package via 2nd day Air. I was glad that the camera didn't have to sit in the FedEx van for days in hot condition. The box had no notable damage or signs of abuse. The camera was in perfect shape with Canon warranty and other stock accessories. Great camera.

I didn't have (and hope not) to deal with returns or after-the-sale customer service issues, so I can't comment on it yet. But based on my purchasing experience, I would definitely consider ordering again from butterflyphoto.com."

"The order is stated by the ButterflyPhoto.com to be shipped free while choosing ground shipping. The free shipping shows in the order summary before I place the order. Right after I hit the "place order" button, the shipping cost changed into $17. How is that? Called in the CSR, and was simply told that the system changed. Is that possible? I have to cancle the order right away because I can't trust this store any more."

"After a really bad experience with another online merchant, I kind of stumbled on Butterfly while on the rebound. Being from the west coast and distrusting east coast sellers, especially ones in NYC, I was hesitant to even give them the time of day. But, I did ask about the Minolta A1 I was interested in. Boy am I glad I did. Not only did they have it in stock, but it was not gray market, and was selling at a very attractive price. The salesman was knowledgeable and polite, used none of the hard sell crap, and told me the camera would ship in 24-48 hours. One top of that shipping was free, but two day air was only $19.95 more, a REAL bargain among NYC dealers.

I received an email later the same day that the camera had been shipped (just six hours after my order), and two days later it came, factory sealed and just as advertised. To me, Butterfly Camera was a revelation. An honest and fast NYC seller that delivered as advertised. I would buy from them again in a heartbeat! "

"Purchased a conon A70 digicam with a 5 year extended warantee and a cheap case. Their prices are good.

The website has been buggy, but I figure that is anomolous. I called in my order and the customer service rep was ok. He tried to upsell a case and pointed me to a working link when I couldn't find it on the site. It looked fine, a cheap case and a decent discount. He gave me a total and a cost for shipping. The shipping was expensive but ok, you make up a few bucks fine. I notied the total was seperate and thought that was dodgy but he did give me the shipping cost no big deal.

Shipping was very fast. More on that in a sec.

I get the package in 2 biz days, but they sent me the wrong case. I called in and they said, its basically the same thing, that one is larger, and I could return it if I wanted. I looked around and noticed that the price for the case wasn't so great, but its a cheapy and I let it go, not worth the hassle of a return. I look at my invoice and I notice I got hit for NY state tax!!! Tax was never mentioned when I made the order, I had no idea the merchant was in NY (hence fast ship) and they give a total on the phone without tax or shipping, this is shady to me and I'm very annoyed as B&H it turns out has a much better deal on a package with 60x sandisk CF and a cheaper warantee, the only reason I went with butterfly as I figured it was the same without tax.

I had no idea the merchant was in NY and I'd be responsible for tax, I could have checked this, so it is partially my fault, but they should give a real total and not try to hide shipping and tax...

End result is this isn't such a good deal. I would not say they are disreputable, but check everything out thoroghly unlike me. All things being equal I probably wouldn't buy from them again for the dodgyness, but if their price is right, I don't feel their ripping anyone off."

"Ordered online a Canon G5 digital camera. Next day received a call "That due to so much credit card fraud" they wanted to confirm my address. Next thing out of the salespersons mouth was, "You know, you really need to purchase the external battery charger for this camera." I said, Why? "Because after a couple of months use the charger in the camera will have overheated the camera and burned it up." I said do you have the number for Canaon technical support, I would like to ask their opinion on this. I was told, "What do you want to talk to Canon for, you're talking to me!" I did not buy the charger. I did contact Canon tech support, and needless to say they were not happy with this companies misrepresentation of their product. Canon said they would be contacting these people. I then called Customer Service for Butterfly and explained the situation. They acted very concerned. Said they would straighten the salesperson out, AND they promised me that my camera would go out that day and that I would receive an e-mail with the fed-x tracking number. That was on Friday morning. On the following Monday, I still had no confirming e-mail. I called cust serv again. "Oh! your order was shipped...here's the Fed-ex tracking number." I went to their home page, the tracking number didn't work. I went to Fed-Ex' home page, the tracking number did not work. I called back to Cust' service, got the same person. She said, "Oh that number won't work until after 7pm tonight." I said, you told me the camera was shipped. She said, "After you get your camera, call me, and I'll see what we can do for you." I said, "When should I get the camera?" "Oh in three or four day," was the resonse. I told her I needed the camera now, I am leaving the country on vacation, and I hung up! To top it all off....I paid an additional $29.95 for guranteed three day shipping. I purchased from these people based on the ratings they had received fro PCWorld.com/productfinder"

"Placed and order for a Pentax Optio S4 early morning on the 9th. On the 10th. at 2pm I received an e-mail saying that I needed to contact them because of a billing issue. Mind you that I used the same shipping and billing address for my credit card and never had to do this with any other merchant. So I call, but there is no answer. After leaving a voicemail and my cell phone number I expected to receive a call. No call. So I place numerous call on the 11th. to try again. I call at 10:30 am EST and I get a message that customer service is closed. Great, it's 10:30 and their customer service is closed even though the voice mail say they are supposed to be open. At this point I'm fed up and want to cancel my order. I put in a request to customer service but they continue e-mailing me that they need more information to process my order. Don't buy from this place unless you enjoy being hasseled."

"brooklyn snotty-nosed kid sales rep tried to coerce me into buying a $399 ext warranty + $66 insurance to cover shipping?

i've bought a good many things online & this was a 1st. seemed shady to me. since he got nasty w/me AFTER i had already given him my credit card info, chk’d w/my credit card to make sure he didn't charge it anyhow.

went w/onecall instead, selling $200 more for the same cam. still saved about $100 on the overall purchase(cam + warranty + shipping) that was delivered in mint condition. go figure."

"Just a quick comment on Butterfly Photo - I had a great experience, and will be happy to recommend and shop with them in the future. I ordered a Nikon Coolpix 5700 from them because their price was good, on Jan 28, and I had the camera in my hands on the 30th for the cost of their cheapest UPS Ground rate. Ordering via their 800 number went perfectly, and I easily declined the salesman's attempt to sell me additional accessories. (It was similar to what McDonald's does, when trying to sell an extra Apple Pie.) The camera is a U.S model, and it came with all accessories and the UPC to send to Nikon for the $100 rebate."

"Ordered a camera for the wife's Christmas present and although it was made (very) clear not to call the house as it could ruin the suprise they still did and confirmed the credit card transaction with the wife:-((
Besides that no other complaints."

"I’m glad I decided to order from butterflyphoto.com, because their prices can’t be beat and I received my order on-time, with all the standard retail packaging.

I’m always hesitant to deviate from the tried and true resellers like newegg.com. I was particularly concerned about buying from butterflyphoto.com, because I had heard that their sales department would contact me and try to sell me camera accessories before they completed my order. Fortunately, I received no such phone call.

I can’t vouch for all low-cost online resellers, but I can say that I would definitely buy again from butterflyphoto.com.
"

"Had the products at a very good price, shipped the next day. Although would not ship to an address different from the billing address. "

"I purchased a Nikon Coolpix 5700 from this merchant from their website. I selected this retailer because of their CNET rating and low price+shipping. As others have reported, I received an email requesting that I call and 'verify' my order. I called and was asked to verify my address and provide my credit card security code. I then got a pitch for an extended life battery to which I replied that I had already purchased all the accessories for this camera from other sources. The rep then replied "enjoy your new camera." and that was it...no high pressure at all. I received an email with shipping confirmation and tracking number within 2 hours. Shipping was upgraded from ground to 2-day, was shipped that day (Friday) and received on Monday in good condition. The product was as advertised. I am very satisfied with this retailer and would do business with them again."

"I ordered based on price and the fact that the site said that all products sold would be new and include the US warranty. It was only afterward that I came to this rating site and saw some dismaying things about the company. I didn't want to deal with a 'confirmation'/sales call -- I ordered online rather than by phone by preference, and resented the notion that they'd require me to call anyway.

I ordered on a Saturday. The confirmation email said it would take 24-72 hours to process my order, but I figured Sunday wouldn't count. Still, when Wednesday rolled around and I hadn't received a tracking number OR the dreaded sales call, I was getting twitchy. Finally, I sent email asking to cancel my order (with the thought of re-ordering from somewhere a little more reputable). That same evening, I received a shipping confirmation, and I the camera arrived Saturday morning. They didn't respond to my cancellation request at all, not even to say "sorry, we already shipped it." They did upgrade me to second-day service without charge or comment, perhaps because of the delay in processing my order. I didn't get the feeling the shipping (or the upgrade) was a response to my message; certainly I got no personalized comment.

In the end... I've got my camera, it is indeed new and with warranty, I'm pleased to have saved some money, and nobody called me... but I still wouldn't order from them again. "

"I ordered a Minolta DiMAGE A1 on a Sunday. I explained that I didn't want to receive any follow-up phone calls trying to sell me additional items. The salesman assured me I wouldn't--and I didn't! He did try to sell me a lens cover (didn't need it) and an extended warranty (didn't want it). He wasn't as pushy as I expected he might be. The price was exactly what I anticipated (shipping was free), it shipped out via 2-day Fedex on Monday, and I received it on Wednesday, intact and in perfect condition--precisely what I ordered. I was very happy with the treatment I received from Butterfly and would definitely buy from them again if the price was right."

"This company lied to me from the very start. Called next day and comfirmed order, said it would ship same day and I would receive tracking #. Next day I called. Still not shipped. same thing each day except Thanksgiving and Saturday. Same thing following Monday. Tuesday morning I called to cancel and they said it shipped Monday evening and gave me a tracking # which didn't show up on Fedex. Checked back later and different employee said it would ship that day. I told him employee in morning said it shipped yesterday so to cancel order. He said it would be cancelled, so what do they do, they actually ship it that night in which I refused shipment. I have bought a lot of stuff on the internet but was never treated like this company treated me. I sent a complaint by fax to the President of the company but don't expect any answer as they never answered my emails or told me the truth if about 6 to 8 phone calls."