The Canon Direct Store is showing three copies in-stock of the RF 100-500mm F4-7.1L IS USM at the price of $2699.00. We don’t know if this is “phantom stock”, but when it shows more than one copy available, it is typically real.
It also comes with free 2-day expedited shipping.
Not sure what you mean by “phantom stock”?
When Canon’s site says there’s one item in stock, but it’s not really there. You order it, but then your order says backordered…
The front end of their site seems to have some glitches. I actually had this lens on backorder since October 8th. When I saw this notice about 30 minutes after it was posted I thought “well, then they must have fulfilled my backorder before putting these three copies up for sale on the site”, but no, my account still showed it was on backorder. I actually tried to put another copy in my since it showed that was still in stock, and like you said it then showed it was backordered. When I went one step farther and called Canon USA Direct, I pointed out my concern that my backorder had been overlooked, and the customer support person put me on hold, then came back and said she found an unsold copy and it would be sent to me ASAP assuming my funds went through. Fedex says it is on the way and arriving tomorrow. Strange, but it seems their policy may not be to automatically fulfill backorders first.