Review of 33 Street Camera – A Store on Amazon

Last Updated on May 8, 2023 by cameraconsumer

If you’ve been shopping for cameras on Amazon, particularly camera bundles, you’ve probably come across 33 Street Camera.

They claim that their goal is to provide “high-quality products at affordable prices”. So, let’s see if their claims are true. Let’s review 33 Street Camera on Amazon!

33 Street Camera is a relatively small camera and photography store. This isn’t to say that this is a small store – just that they have less of a product offering than some other national and regional chain stores. But, they do have the best prices on camera bundles.

Currently, they have a bit over 2,000 items in their Amazon store.

This is far from a bad thing, as they can focus on providing a certain segment of products, and really strive to offer the best service that they can. In this case, 33 Street really seems to have a solid footing in the camera and drone bundle market. I do think this store can be of interest to those entering the photography hobby, for example.

You probably came here wondering “Should I buy a camera (or bundle) from 33 Street Camera?”. Let’s answer that question.

Feedback Overview

Let’s start with a quick glance at their feedback. If it’s generally positive, we can keep going. If not, we can stop and conclude that this is not a store to purchase from.

Over the lifetime of their store account on Amazon, 33 Street Camera has earned about 7,000 positive feedback ratings, with a current 98% satisfaction rate. Over the past 12 months, they have had a 95% positive satisfaction rating.

On Amazon, 95-98% is actually a very high score. The average store on Amazon has a rating of around 90% – which makes 95-98% above average (and actually fairly high).

This is a snapshot from their seller profile on Amazon:

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

So far so good. Let’s move on.

What Do They Sell

33 Street Camera sells the usual camera and photography products and accessories from brands like Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Bower, Pentax, Fujifilm, Rokinon, etc.

As mentioned above, they have an extensive selection of camera bundles, like this Canon EOS Rebel T5i DSLR Camera bundle that includes a Canon lens, and multiple accessories like memory cards, adapters, a tripod, etc:

 

 

If you’re on their Amazon store page, click on the “33rd Street Camera” brand category if you’re curious about what other bundles they have in stock.

Based on their inventory volume, I’m assuming that bundles and kits account for a significant portion of their sales.

While I don’t think that camera bundles or accessory kits are something of interest to serious photography enthusiasts (or professionals), I do think they are an attractive option for those entering the photography hobby. They generally contain everything you need in order to get started.

As you learn and grow, you can upgrade the individual components – but these bundles will generally get you started with everything you need.

For example, this Canon EOS R8 Mirrorless Camera 35 Piece Bundle:

 

If you’re starting a YouTube channel, for example, or making videos for another application, this bundle contains all of the essentials.

And, if you add up the cost of all of the individual components, you would end up spending hundreds more than the cost of the bundle itself.

Returns And Refund Policy

33 Street Camera doesn’t have a stated return policy – they just default to the standard return policy on Amazon. And of course, you’re also entitled to the A-to-z guarantee.

Some sellers just offer a 14-day return policy – so defaulting to the standard Amazon return policy is actually a positive.

Shipping

They offer free shipping for all products within the continental 48 states. Their handling time is 1-2 business days. Pretty standard stuff so far.

With the general stuff out of the way, let’s put them under a microscope and find out if this is a reputable, honestly run camera store, or if you should take your business elsewhere.

33 Street Camera Feedback In detail

33 Street Camera wants to be your “one stop shop for all your camera needs”. So, let’s see what their feedback has to say about that:

Currently, over the past 12 months, 33 Street Camera has earned 7,062 positive feedback ratings, with only a 3% negative rate. That’s actually very impressive! Anything under 5% is actually quite positive considering that Amazon buyers offer the most scrutiny of any selling platform out there.

This is a glimpse at their feedback history as of March 27th. You can also read their current feedback stats here.

Now let’s see what their actual customers have to say. Looking at just their feedback history isn’t always enough. It’s important to look at what their feedback comments actually say, of course.

Are they receiving negative feedback comments over meaningless stuff like late delivery? Or something more serious like items not received, or worse – counterfeit products being shipped out?

Every seller will get their share of negative feedback comments. You can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try. Mistakes happen – it’s just a part of life. So when you analyze a seller’s feedback, that’s what you should look for. Is the feedback in response to a mistake that happened, or is it in response to the seller doing something dishonest, for example?

Meaningless comments that you can look past:

• Shipping time – One area where honest mistakes happen. In many cases, it’s the fault of USPS or FedEx.
• Order cancellations – Mistakes happen in inventory management. It’s quite common.
• Not satisfied with the item – You can’t please everyone, and neither can manufacturers.

With that said, let’s take a look at what customers have said about 33 Street Camera to answer that question:

 

33 Street Camera Customers

Scanning through their recent feedback comments, you mainly see things like “fast shipping”, “love this seller”, etc. Comments like these:

 

The fourth one on this list is actually good to see. It indicates a willingness to correct a mistake.

Now let’s take a look at some of their negative comments, for instance. These will provide some insight into whether this is an honestly run store or not.

 

If you read their negative feedback comments, one is an error by Amazon’s fulfillment center (not the fault of the seller), two of them are about not being satisfied with the actual product, and one is about receiving incorrect merchandise. This one might also be an Amazon fulfillment issue. We’ll have to check back to find out.

Based on their exceptional feedback history, and the nature of their negative comments (indicating mistakes as opposed to being purposefully dishonest), I would say that 33 Street Camera is an honestly run business in terms of order fulfillment.

Let’s just confirm one more thing…

 

Authorized Dealer

I can’t say it often enough. When buying a camera, camera lens, or other photography products, always make sure you’re purchasing from an authorized dealer!

It’s the only way to ensure that you not only receive authentic merchandise but also that your camera (or lens) comes with the full manufacturer’s warranty. A camera being sold from sellers who are not authorized to do so is what’s known as “grey market”. Grey market goods are NOT entitled to a warranty, customer support, and firmware updates in many cases.

So, with that said, let’s look and see if 33 Street Camera is an authorized dealer for the brands that they carry:

Canon comprises a great deal of its actual inventory, so let’s start there.

Are they a Canon authorized dealer? Let’s confirm on Canon’s website:

 

Yes, they are a Canon authorized dealer.

How about accessories like lenses, flashes, filters, tripods, etc? They sell Sigma lenses and photography accessories. Let’s check with Sigma:

 

 

Yes, they are authorized to sell Sigma photography products as well.

If you’re ever curious to know if any seller or store is an authorized dealer, just check the manufacturer’s website. They will usually have a link that says something like “locate a dealer”.

With Sigma, for example, it will look like this:

 

 

From there either enter your zip code or look for a section that says “online dealers” or “online sellers” (if you’re shopping online).

Conclusion

So, given both their exceptional selling history on Amazon, and since we confirmed their status as an authorized dealer, I would say yes, 33 Street Camera is an honestly run camera store, worthy of your business. They are legit!

Pro tip: If you are thinking about purchasing a camera or lens bundle, make sure you check the 33 Street brand section in their store. You might find a bundle with a better deal!