Amazon is clearing out the Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM (non-IS version) for $389.00. This is the cheapest price that we’ve seen in over 5 years, since April 2008. Compare with $449 at other authorized dealers.
It’s not a surprise that this lens is getting cleared out — its “replacement”, the EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM was just featured in a new instant rebate and is now available for $499.
Yesterday we posted about a possible deal at Best Buy where price drops coincided with a new Canon mail-in rebate. There was the potential for some insane deals, like the 24-70 II for $1699 after-rebate, the 70-200 II for $1899 after-rebate, or the 100L Macro for $749 after-rebate.
Although the mail-in rebate form clearly doesn’t have any specific restrictions on Best Buy (only “authorized dealers”, of which Best Buy is one), it’s still unclear whether or not purchases are eligible for the rebate.
Here’s what we know:
Early this morning we made a few calls to the Canon Rebates hotline (1-866-668-9861) and asked if purchases made at Best Buy are eligible for the mail-in rebate. According to the agent I spoke to, the list was not published yet but she felt that Best Buy would not be a valid retailer for this rebate (even though they are an authorized dealer). (If that’s really the case, shame on Canon for not being transparent about this on their mail-in rebate form!)
However, the list was published an hour later and it indeed does clearly show that BEST BUY COMPANY INC is a valid and participating retailer for this rebate. I’ve taken a screenshot and linked it here in case they decide to try to change this later.
I followed up with another call — according to the agent, if the retailer is on the list, they are a valid retailer for the rebate. I recommend that you try calling (1-866-668-9861) as well — if you have an update, please leave a comment.
My recommendation to CanonPriceWatch readers is: if you tried to get in on this deal, there’s still too much misinformation to know for sure whether or not your mail-in rebate will be honored. My recommendation is don’t open the boxes, and don’t cut the UPC codes until we know for sure. Best Buy has a minimum 15-day return policy; wait patiently, and we should know more by the end of the week. Maybe Canon will decide by then 🙂
In the worst-case scenario, you can think of Best Buy’s current sale as an application of an equivalent “instant rebate”. If you live in a low-tax or no-tax state, this may still be preferable to waiting 6-8 weeks for the rebate AMEX gift card to be mailed to you.
You can check out the full list of rebated items and their current prices. The list includes both the instant rebate program and the mail-in rebate program — both started on the same day.
I will update this post as more info is known.
Enough deals for you today? BigValueInc via eBay is running both of their full-frame body eBay Daily Deals today. They have the Canon EOS 5D Mark III for $2549.99 and the Canon EOS 6D for $1499.99. They’ve sold over 800 Canon EOS 5D Mark III at this price in the last two months alone. That’s a lot of cameras! Their last lot of 100 sold out in 12 hours.
The vast majority of people ordering from BigValueInc via eBay (they’re an unauthorized dealer) have received US models eligible for US warranty.
Looks like a sale on L lenses might be on the horizon after all. We’re seeing a massive price drop at Best Buy with savings from $100 to $300 off L lenses, which undoes the price increase seen last month (and in some cases, goes even lower).
UPDATE: It looks like Canon just started a mail-in rebate for this time period, and Best Buy may have accidentally applied the prices as if it were an instant rebate. So this is a price mistake that might be fixed shortly. This might be an opportunity to see if you can double-dip the rebate — buy at the lower price — if Best Buy will fill your order — and still get the rebate. Example: buy 24-70 II for $1999, mail-in for the $300 rebate, net price: $1699.
UPDATE 2: Despite comments to the contrary, this deal is still live as of 6:30 PM ET. Best Buy is still showing the lower prices during checkout. Best Buy is an authorized dealer and thus the mail-in rebate should be valid for them. If you read the fine print on the Canon rebate form there aren’t any clauses that would exclude Best Buy or invalidate the rebate claim. (It’s Canon, not Best Buy, that is paying the rebate and they probably don’t care what the purchase price was.) That being said, please do try this at your own risk. 🙂
UPDATE 3: 11 PM ET: 24-70 II out of stock.
UPDATE 4: I (and several others) called the Canon Rebates hotline (1-866-668-9861) and asked about the Best Buy eligibility. According to the agent I spoke to, the list was not published yet but she felt that Best Buy would not be a valid retailer for this rebate (even though they are an authorized dealer). Shame on Canon for not being transparent about this on their mail-in rebate form.
UPDATE 5: The list is published and I’m getting conflicting information: according to the official rebate site, BEST BUY COMPANY INC. is on the list of participating retailers for this rebate. Here’s a link to the list. I’ve also included a screenshot just in case:
I called them again and they said the list was the official list and will not be changed, and if Best Buy is on the list, they are eligible. I recommend calling yourself to confirm: 1-866-668-9861.
Here are some of the drops we saw:
Last night’s price drops were a new instant savings on 16 lenses and 3 speedlites. Unfortunately there are no L-lenses on that list, but it’s good to see Canon prices starting to trend down as they have been on an upwards march for the last half year.
The best deals are on five lenses that were already featured in price drops at the beginning of September. Recall that the new IS primes were introduced at $849, and the 17-55 IS was recently $1059 and the 10-22 was recently $759:
You can check out the entire list of what’s included in this instant savings.
Some dealers are jumping the gun again and we’re noticing many price fluctuations that indicate that a new Canon rebate (or a pricing change) will be happening tonight.
At this time we’re seeing the following early changes:
There may be others, so please check back in a few hours, or subscribe via the notification button, and we’ll e-mail when more details are known. Also, the last price drop was accompanied by price increases so we’ll be on the lookout for those as well.
UPDATE: The sale started and is called an “Instant Savings” at most dealers. No L-lenses moved in price, but most non-L lenses were discounted (generally around $50).
Today only, Roberts Camera via eBay has the optically-stabilized Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM for Canon for $429.99. They’re an authorized Sigma retailer, and this is the cheapest price from an authorized dealer that we’ve seen since tracking this lens in 2011.
Compare with other authorized retailers who are currently asking $569 for this lens. This lens was due for a price-drop as the Canon equivalent EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS saw a price drop from $1059 to $879 a few weeks ago. At less than half the price, this Sigma version is a fantastic deal.
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