Does B&H participate in big holiday sales like Black Friday?

Question

Im really new to this whole camera thing so bear with me if I sound like a total idiot lol. Im trying to get a decent setup for my daughters graduation coming up this December but man everything is way more expensive than I thought it would be. Ive been looking at that B and H Photo site because a guy at my work said theyre the best place to go for real gear but Im honestly a little intimidated by the whole site its just so much stuff and I dont know what half of it even does.

Right now Im looking at this Sony camera that is around 900 bucks with the lens and everything and thats basically my entire budget for her whole gift so Im trying to be super careful with my money. I live in a pretty small town in Oregon and we dont have any real camera shops here so I have to do everything online which makes me nervous. I usually just buy stuff on Amazon but I heard B and H is better for this kind of thing because they actually know about cameras and wont send you a brick in a box. I noticed they have some weird hours where they close on Saturdays and some other days which Ive never seen before and it makes me wonder if they follow the same rules as other big stores when it comes to sales.

Like do they actually do the whole Black Friday thing where prices drop a ton or do they just keep their prices the same all year because theyre like a professional shop for experts? Im hoping I can save maybe 100 or 200 dollars if I wait a few weeks but I dont want to wait and then find out they dont even do sales and then the camera is out of stock or something and I have nothing to give her. Im just really worried about missing out on a deal because I dont know how these specialized stores work compared to like a Walmart or Target. Has anyone here actually bought stuff from them during the holidays? Do they do like a big blowout sale or is it just kind of small discounts on random stuff? I'm sorry if this is a basic thing everyone knows but I'm just trying not to mess up this gift for her. Does B and H actually do the big Black Friday thing or should I just buy it now and not risk it?

Stanmoretmn · Accepted Answer

B&H definitely does the Black Friday thing, but its not exactly like Walmart. They usually follow whatever deals the big brands like Sony or Canon set. Since you are looking at a Sony setup, you can almost guarantee there will be some holiday bundles or discounts coming up soon. You should definitely keep a few things in mind before you pull the trigger though:Their website checkout literally shuts down on Friday evenings through Saturday nights for the Sabbath. You cant even place an order during that time, which can be super annoying if a limited deal pops up.Avoid those huge bundles that come with 20 extra items like cheap filters and tiny tripods. Most of that stuff is just filler and usually pretty low quality.Shipping to Oregon from New York can take a while if you just do the free standard option, so dont wait until the week of graduation to order.Make sure you are looking at US warranty items. B&H is great about this, but sometimes people accidentally buy imported gray market gear that Sony wont repair later. Since you are on a budget, waiting until the middle of November is probably your best bet to save that $100 or so. B&H is way safer than Amazon for this stuff because you know you are getting a fresh unit that hasn't been returned three times already. There is a cool extension called PriceDropCatch that handles price alerts for B&H automatically.