Buying photographic equipment today may seem easier than years ago when one needed to physically travel from one brick & mortar shop to another; in fact to many of them. Besides wearing on the shoe leather, it took considerable time and patience. Easier today? Maybe. The question remains because without face-to-face contact, it is difficult to judge if the invisible salesman and his store is honest. Promises are frequently made to be broken. Deals are constructed upon the flimsiest of ground. Hidden costs are shrouded until the last moment. In other words, things are rarely what they seem to be.  
 
All of this is here to dramatize the honesty and accuracy of my dealing with Blue Stripe Photo. John, the guy who mans the “sales” phone sounds honorable and, surprise. surprise, he is. Yes, he does, on orders from the front office, advise you of other ways to increase your purchases but that is standard for the course. What is not standard is his pushing just so far and then saying “OK” when it’s clear that you are just buying what you want and not much more. After being bounced about for ten days from photo store to photo store on the net for my purchase of the new Canon Rebel XTi 400D black body and actually placing two orders with credit card and all, I came in desperation to Blue Stripe. I had encountered a litany a disasters including endless delays because the camera was “back ordered with expectant delivery” and, of course, when the order was enhanced it would be in my hands within a few days; a variety of hidden costs and the best hoot of all, their Canon XTi at that super low price was a “Japanese only” edition with no English or French or Spanish or whatever other language in the menu. I could have laughed a bit more and said “bring it on” but it is difficult to trust such low life with your credit card info. Blue Stripe came through at a great price with no hidden charges and 2-day delivery even though I opted for the cheapest and longest transit time. So it is three cheers for Blue Stripe and a special cheer for John.

Very good on price, but not too good with shipping, Very good on customer support.  
 
I ordered a Canon 17-85mm lens, which arrived out of the canon box and rolling around in the inner box. I was skeptical if it was still working so I returned it for a replacement. The customer support was OK, Took me a while to get the manager to approved the exchange. I was afraid that there as internal problems. The lens itself was OK, but there was a small scratch on the outside. I guess that would be UPS's fault.  
 
So I finally got it, that's why I'm modifying the this review. They shipped lens pretty fast. The moment it got there they shipped it out the same day. I personally think they should've gone with Fedex instead of UPS. From my experience UPS tend to ship it in bad condition more often than Fedex. Infact, I don't recall receiving a fedex shipment that was in bad condition.  
 
I'm very pleased with the customer service, even though it took about a week to get.  
 
I had to pay the initial 8 bucks to ship it back and they shipped it to me again for free. This time they got it right, Though the outer box was still messed up, the inner Canon box was still fine, Unopen and in pretty good shape.  
 
Overall the store itself really makes an effort to send you the stuff, But in good condition or not, I don't really know, as I experienced. I bought a 50mm prime lens from them before and that was fine. That is why I came back to them.  
 
Customer support is good I guess, they addressed my problem, but I did needed to go to the manager to get a replacement.  
 
Price wise, it's excellent. One of the cheapest, if not the cheapest place I can find on the web that is legit.  
 
I would highly recommend this store to anyone, but I personally would not buy again, not because the store sucks at sending things, but just because I would like to get my expensive things faster and in better condition. I would however buy cheaper products from them ~ 200 and less.

This review was modified by its author, Leviathan_Ultima, on 3/9/07 8:05 PM.

After purchased EFS 17-85 in 11/06, I waited Canon's double MIR almost over until I purchased this EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. I have closely monitored many on-retailer for 2+ months, I think this is the best deal I can get.  
 
The experience is similiar to last order, friendly people called you to confirmed order detail and shipping, tried to pursuade you for some upgrade, promptly shipped the product out after I declined the offer.  
 
Overall, nice shop and polite people, will come back myself and recommend to friends.

This review was modified by its author, lepton, on 1/21/07 3:23 PM.

After surfing the web and carefully compare price and store ratings, I decided to give Blue Stripe Photo a try. So I ordered the Nikon D80 Body with 1 Year USA Warranty. It shipped as promised within 1-2 days of processing. They did call to verify my credit card. During the call, the sales person was very professional. He offered me additional warranty packages and memory card (which is not part of the standard D80 package). At my declining, his answer had always been a courteous “That’s no problem.” The call was as short as that. Their website clearly displays order number, every included accessories, warranty and price – the same detailed information as their confirmation e-mail shortly after placing the order online. They promptly e-mail me UPS order tracking number upon shipping. I received my package today with all the accessaries and the Nikon USA warranty card. I’d order from BSP again.

We love our JVC camera from Blue Stripe Photo, and were very pleased that it arrived so soon. We needed it within a certain time frame and they got it there a few days early. Later, when we discovered a problem with the extra battery we had gotten, they took care of it quickly and easily. We would highly recommend Blue Strip Photo for your camera needs!

The staff was friendly and helpful (and not pushy). Our camera and lense arrived right on time. Overall, an exceptional experience and value. I would highly recommend Blue Stripe Photo to any and everyone!

Fast delivery.Ordered Nikon lens and got it in time. No problems. Will order again. A+

This review was modified by its author, vnedelt, on 12/21/06 8:06 PM.

I recommend Blue Stripe Photo. Digital camera was exactly as described, full US warranty, all included accessories, competently packed and amazing shipping -- two days even tho it was "budget". They smoothly corrected an error in the order (that was my fault) and were courteous & professional on the phone.  
 
I will now say a few things about price. Blue Stripe had the lowest "real price". I say that for the following reasons.  
 
(1) I tried to buy a camera on a "major" auction site and it it turned out to be a drop ship deal (seller did not possess the item and was using my money to buy it). When the drop shipper failed to deliver, seller would not return my money until he got it back from the drop shipper. This took weeks and weeks. This was a phony price because no delivery was made.  
 
(2)I tried to buy a camera from an online source that had a lower price, but when I placed the item in the shopping cart, the cart listed the item but with a quantity of ZERO! I tried repeatedly to get the cart to say item one. Not possible. HOWEVER, if I placed a much higher (+$100) package deal that included the camera and a few very overpriced accessories -- guess what -- the shopping cart was happy to take my order in any quantity I wanted. This was a phony price because you couldn't actually order that item as described. Very clever and devious way to get a phony price listed at the top of major price/search engines.

Blue Stripe to the rescue! I needed the camera by Friday - they delivered! Shipment was on-time, and everything was as advertised!  
 
I'll definitely be back!

Review on an $8,000.00 Purchase  
 
I just ordered and received a Canon XL-H1 Pro camcorder, given the cheapest that other (reputable) companies sell this for $1,700.00 more, they had a very competitive price. Before I was going to plunk down $8,000.00 for camera, warranty, and a few accessories, I did allot of research. When you see websites advertising a camera for 1/2 the price and the deal looks too good to be true, it almost positively is. There are allot of online camera stores out there that will strong arm you into buying all kinds of things for the camera, but unless you buy them, you will never get your camera and be jerking around with the credit card companies for months trying to get your money back. BlueStripePhoto *IS NOT* one of them. They *asked* if I wanted a few things, but when I said no, there was no pressure, no problem, and I got ONLY what I wanted at a great price.  
 
Two very important things worth mentioning.. I went to the BBB site and read up on Bluestripephoto before I ordered, EVERY problem had been resolved (thats amazing). Second, the company whose aftermarket warranties they sell (RepairTech in NJ), the same thing, every complaint resolved. If you check out the warranties sold by other reputable dealers, the other aftermarket repair warranty companies are much more sketchy.. lots of outstanding complaints. If you go to the other “trusted” online dealers, and check out their warranty repair companies at the BBB, they have a pretty bad track record even though the selling stores have a pretty good track record.  
 
So, Im sold on BlueStripephoto.. Before I only ordered online from another company that began with B and had an H in it, now this is my first choice site!

I ordered my Canon 30D w/ lense pkg on Monday night(and w/ thanksgiving holiday) and received it today, Friday.  
 
James was my sales person (ext 321) I was very pleased w/ my experience - and so far, after opening everything, it is all genuine, usa warrenties, I plan to submit a rebate for canon -  
my only "oh" was opening my pkg from ups, everything was boxed EXCEPT for the lense that came w/ the camera - it was just placed in the box. I have not gotten a chance to use the camera yet as the battery is still charging.  
 
i would purchase from this store again.

I received this order within a few days and everything was brand new and in it's original packaging. There service was great, very nice salesperson, very patient. Very glad I did business with this store. I would use this store again.

This review was modified by its author, avissugar, on 11/23/06 11:53 AM.

Excellent order experience! Great prices, great selection, helpful customer service, prompt delivery. I e-shopped extensively before settling on Blue Stripe for my major camera components. I'm very glad I did. I recommend them.

I bought canon lens 70-200mm f/4 L for a great price, it's slightly lower here than B&H. After reading a lot of good reviews about them, I finally embraced myself to buy one from them. Ordering was easy, shipping was fast (next day), and I don't see any gimmick.  
 
Though one thing I noticed, I called them to ask them when my lens will be shipped but I was offered some items, but I refused their offers and they got no problems with it.  
 
I got the lens yesterday and it was in brand new condition with manual and warranty card intact and everything is a match.  
 
I got my Canon Double-double cash rebate, so it means they are a legit company (or maybe a lucky coincidental). I submitted my rebate with my other 2 items I bought from B&H and Abe's of Maine (I am sure that these two companies are Canon's Authorized Dealer, but I'm not sure BSP being the Canon's Authorized dealer).  
 
I looked at the newer reviews mentioning this company is a fraud, etc. I'm not sure whether BSP is getting worse or those reviewers are hoaxes. I'm 1000% sure I'm not a hoax nor I work for BSP.  
 
I got good experience with them so I got nothing to say against them.

This review was modified by its author, bogel, on 10/22/07 3:46 PM.

The price is AWESOME! I am VERY pleased with the price, and the product! The website however allowed me to pay for overnight shipping whicy was $54.00 even though I am at an APO (Military post office) and I did not recieve the package until 7 days after the order. The postage sticker on the box read $16.03. I think their prices are GREAT, but the shipping could have been a little better.