A Review of Beach Camera – On Amazon

Last Updated on May 14, 2023 by cameraconsumer

Beach Camera Same Day Shipping is a camera and electronics store on Amazon. They claim that they have…

• What you want
• At the price that you want it
• With impeccable service

But is that true? You came here to find out, so let’s see if their claims are true.

Beach Camera has been in business since 1983 – that’s almost 40 years! A business that’s been run for that long is surely successful. But does success correlate to credibility?

Well, it definitely means some of the lowest prices on Amazon – check out their current specials…

 

Let’s review them from top to bottom and find out if they’re worthy of your money, or if you should shop somewhere else.

The majority of reviews you find online are individual experiences.

If the reviewer had a good experience, you’ll get a positive review. If they had a poor experience, you’ll get a negative review. Individual experiences don’t accurately tell the whole story.

For the full scoop, we need to look at the entirety of the store and its history.

If you’re considering a purchase from Beach Camera, you’re probably looking at something expensive – maybe a telephoto zoom lens, or a new mirrorless camera. If you’re about to spend  $100s, or even $1,000s, you’d like to know if Beach Camera is legit. 

So let’s do that. Let’s find out if Beach Camera is an honest seller, or if they’re just another typical online business looking to make a quick buck.

General Feedback Overview

Currently, Beach Camera has earned about 330,000 positive feedback ratings, with a 95% overall satisfaction rate (and 95% over the past 12 months as well). 

With Amazon stores/sellers in general, you want to stick with stores that maintain a 95% satisfaction rate consistently. Anything less, and you’re just not guaranteed a positive buying experience.

They might ship late, they might send you an incorrect item, etc. Less than 95% indicates less than stellar customer service.

 

Post edit: This post is from February, and the numbers above might not be current when you read this. This is their feedback page with current stats.

So far so good, Beach Camera passes the first test. So let’s keep going.

 

 

What Does Beach Camera Sell?

Beach Camera sells cameras and various imaging products, but they also sell consumer electronics as well, like houseware, video games, computer-related products, etc.

Items like a Canon T6 EOS Rebel DSLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm lens bundle, Cuisinart DLC-2ABC Mini Prep Plus Food Processor, or even a Garmin Forerunner 35 GPS Running Watch.

 

With over 4,000 items in stock, they carry common camera brands like Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Sony, DJI, etc. 

Beach Camera started off as a camera shop and does indeed focus on camera and photography equipment, but these days they are a full-fledged electronics store – something like an east coast version of Best Buy.

 

Returns and Warranty Information

Beach Camera has a generous 45-day refund policy. If you’re not satisfied with your purchase, you have a full month and a half to return it. Most online stores give you 14 to 30 days – so the added time is definitely a plus.

They have no mention of a re-stocking fee, also a plus.

After that, everything is pretty much standard. Shipping is free within the 48 contiguous states. All products come with the original manufacturer’s warranty. 

 

Company Profile

Beach Camera is in Edison, NJ.

They have been in business since 1983. They have retail showrooms in the New Jersey area, as well as their own 100K square foot warehouse. This is important to note, as you know they have your item in their inventory; this is not a drop-ship operation.

Beach Camera has also been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 1999. Currently, they do have an “A” rating.

 

If you need to contact them, their phone number is 800-572-3224.

 

Feedback In Detail

We went through what they sell and how they sell it, now let’s analyze their selling history. Beach Camera has been in business for 36 years now, so there should be plenty of selling activity to use for a vetting process.

Their feedback passed the first test, and they have withstood the test of time in terms of their business success. Their store on Amazon is wildly successful, and garners tons of traffic, which is great – but how about their actual customers? What do they say?

 

It’s important to look at the entirety of a store’s feedback history, to understand what a seller is all about. New feedback pushes older comments down the list and tends to hide the nuggets of information found among those comments.

Every store, both good and bad, gets its share of negative reviews. If you dig deep enough, you’ll always find a handful of these comments. When doing so, try to find negative feedback from various points from at least the last calendar year. That will give you a true reflection of their current selling practices.

 

Current Feedback Stats

That said, currently, over the past year, Beach Camera has earned 19,069 positive feedback ratings, with only a 4% negative rate. Anything under 5% is quite good – especially when you consider that most Amazon shoppers don’t actually leave feedback. It’s mainly used as a tool for revenge against a transaction gone wrong (for whatever reason).

Here is a quick snapshot of their feedback history as of February 22, 2019. You can also read their current feedback stats here.

 

The numbers definitely look good. Their feedback data is impressive enough to assume that Beach Camera passes the feedback test. Let’s just confirm with their customers. Let’s hear from them. 

When looking at customer feedback, you have to remember to recognize the different types of negative feedback that customers leave, and what they indicate about the individual transaction.

You can generally ignore negative comments that mention:

• Receiving the item late
• The seller was out of stock
• The customer didn’t like the product
• Received an incorrect or partial order

These types of feedback are indications of mistakes made somewhere along the selling process. They don’t reflect dishonest selling practices. Everyone and every seller makes mistakes. They just happen.

While you can safely ignore the comments above…

 

What should you pay attention to?

Comments that mention:

• Items not being sent out
• Counterfeit items being sold
• Representing used products as “new”
• Refund hassles

While one or two of this type of comment isn’t a huge red flag (everyone online thinks that they are an authenticity expert), you can start to doubt significantly doubt the credibility of a seller once you see a common (foul) pattern in their feedback history.

So let’s take a look.

Just looking through their most recent feedback, you mostly see 5-star positive feedback. Comments that mention things like… “Very fast shipping” or “excellent customer service”, “very pleased”, etc. Like these:

 

Kind of what we expected, given the feedback scores we looked through. Now let’s look at some of their negative feedback comments to see what they indicate. Have they made simple (and basically harmless) mistakes, or are they running a shady business?

 

Let’s see…

 

Notice a trend?

All of their negative feedback comments indicate mistakes being made, some of which they aren’t even responsible for.

One comment mentioned slow shipping due to issues with FedEx, while another complained about shipping time with a company that was not disclosed.

Two comments were the fault of Amazon’s distribution center – and they took responsibility for them.

And another comment was regarding an incorrect item being received, which was ultimately corrected. Their negative comments definitely do not show a pattern of dishonest tactics.

Beach Camera passes the feedback test, but what if they’re just doing an incredible job of fooling their customers? Is there a way to confirm?

Yes, there is! Let’s find out if they are…

An Authorized Dealer

Asides from assuring great feedback, the only way to be sure that you are receiving authentic merchandise is to purchase from an authorized dealer.

Authorized dealers are those who purchase their inventory straight from the manufacturer. In case you’re wondering – yes, many sellers obtain their inventory from other sources.

Buying from an authorized dealer has another, and significant, advantage. Cameras, lenses, and other electronic products are only warranted when the item is purchased from an authorized dealer. If you buy a brand new camera from “some guy” online, you won’t be entitled to the full and original warranty – even if the seller claims that you are.

Beach Camera claims that their items are authentic and that they are authorized dealer of the brands that they carry. But just to be safe, let’s confirm it.

Let’s start with the major brands:

Canon 

Canon is a name brand known worldwide right? Even people who don’t own a camera are familiar with Canon, for example. So is Beach Camera authorized to sell Canon cameras, lenses, etc.?

Yes, they are a Canon-authorized reseller.

 

Olympus

How about Olympus? 

 

Yup, they are authorized Olympus dealers as well.

DJI

Beach Camera sells drones and drone accessories. So, let’s check with DJI…

 

 

Confirmed with DJI as well!

Audio-Technica

Let’s check one more just to be absolutely sure. Beach Camera does sell all sorts of electronics, so let’s confirm with Audio-Technica:

 

And yes, we can also confirm their status with Audio-Technica.

Conclusion

So, given their awesome feedback scores, lack of any harmful negative comments, and confirmation of their buying relationships with the major brands, we can definitively say that Beach Camera is an honestly run store on Amazon.

Beach Camera is legit. Purchase with confidence!