Last Updated on May 14, 2023 by cameraconsumer
SSE Photo & Video is a camera store on Amazon. If you’ve been shopping for cameras or accessories on Amazon – particularly bundles – you’ve probably come across SSE Photo & Video. But should you make your camera purchase from SSE?
Let’s take a deep look into this store, and their selling history to find out the answer.
With over 2,000 items for sale in their store, they have quite the inventory and selection. SSE Photo & Video has actually been in business since 2007 – over a decade!
And if you’ve been shopping for cameras on Amazon, then you know SSE has the best prices – especially on cameras.
But does that length of time automatically equate to trustworthiness? Maybe.
It can be hard to tell from online reviews. Good reviews might just mean one positive transaction. Negative reviews could just be retribution for a single bad experience. It can be tough to tell which one is telling the true story of a seller.
If we’re talking about a cheap cable, for example, or even a point-and-shoot camera, you probably won’t care too much about the seller’s feedback.
On the other hand, if you’re buying something like a $2800 Sony a7R III Mirrorless camera, you’d rather know up front if the seller is credible, or not.
And you really can’t get that by just looking at a feedback score – it just doesn’t tell the whole store. We need to dive in and investigate.
General Feedback Overview
Currently, SSE Photo & Video has earned about 35,000 positive feedback ratings, with a 96% overall satisfaction rate.
For Amazon sellers, you should avoid any sellers with a feedback score of less than 90%. Anything lower is usually a sign of a store that doesn’t focus on providing customer service, or one that provides bad products. The image below is a quick snapshot from Amazon covering the past 12 months:
Post edit: This post was written in December, and the numbers above might not be current when you read this. This is their feedback page with current stats.
SSE Photo & Video does look good so far. But we’ve only just begun…
What Does SSE Photo & Video Sell
SSE Photo & Video sells the usual camera and photography products, but their specialty, in my opinion, is in the bundles that they sell.
Items like a DJI Spark Portable Mini Drone Quadcopter Fly More Combo Bundle, GoPro HERO7 Hero 7 Black 20-piece Accessory Bundle, or even a Canon EOS Rebel T6i Digital SLR and accessory bundle.
With over 2,000 items in stock, you’ll find the usual camera and photo brands like Canon, Nikon, DJI, GoPro, Sony, Sigma, Panasonic, Fuji, etc.
If you’re looking for camera (or accessory) bundles, click on the “SSE Photo & Video” category in the “Brand” section of their store. That section contains all of the bundles that they carry.
With most sellers offering bundles, you’ll usually just see camera bundles.
SSE carries a myriad of bundles centered around a major accessory. So for example, you’ll have a tripod bundle, that will include extra pieces, cases, etc.
Returns and Warranty Information
SSE Photo & Video offers the standard Amazon 30-day refund policy. You get 30 days to start a return, and 15 days after that to actually send the item back in.
They do reserve the right to charge a 20% restocking fee. (For buyer’s remorse returns).
All products come with the original manufacturer’s warranty.
Company Profile
SSE Photo & Video is located in Hillside, NJ.
While they have been in business since 2007, you won’t find much information about them online as it pertains to “SSE Photo & Video”. This store is actually owned by a company called Power Photo Corp. They are located at 40-50 Montgomery St, Hillside, NJ.
Feedback in Detail
With the general information out of the way, let’s really analyze SSE Photo & Video, and figure out if they are worthy of your business, or if they are just another crooked online seller. With over 100 years of selling experience, there should be plenty of information to dig through.
On the surface, their feedback looks good. They do have a decade in business, and they guarantee that their products are 100% authentic. Which is great – but let’s see what their actual customers have to say.
We tend to use feedback more for eBay purchases rather than those on Amazon. Only a small fraction of Amazon buyers actually use the feedback platform. It’s just not a popular habit with Amazon shoppers.
That said, Amazon buyers certainly to use feedback as retribution for transactions gone wrong – especially when it comes to pricey purchases. And cameras can definitely get pricey!
This is good for us as it tends to easily highlight the bad sellers from the crowd.
Let’s see how SSE holds up…
Current Feedback
Currently, over the past 12 months, SSE Photo & Video has earned 2,207 positive feedback ratings, with only a 7% negative rate. Anything under 10% is quite good.
This is a snapshot of their feedback as of December 20th, 2018. You can read their current feedback stats here.
The numbers look good – very positive!
But statistics sometimes lie. What you should really focus on is what their buyers’ comments say.
As a buyer, you have to differentiate between the various types of negative feedback, and what they indicate about the seller. So, not all negative feedback is equal.
Some comments are harmless, for instance, and say more about the buyer.
I generally ignore the following types of negative feedback comments:
- Slow shipping
- Out of stock issues
- Incorrect item received or pieces missing
These kinds of comments just indicate that a mistake was made at some point along their transaction, which isn’t a big deal. Every seller makes mistakes – so do we. That’s just life.
So these kinds of innocent mistakes shouldn’t influence the trustworthiness of a store or seller.
These types of comments shouldn’t sway your opinion one way or the other. Ignore them. They’re basically white noise.
What should you pay attention to?
Comments that mention:
- Item(s) not being received
- Counterfeit or fake
- Receiving used when new was ordered
- Not receiving a refund
One or two of these types of comments can just be retribution from an angry customer. If you only see a small handful, you can ignore them.
But more than that indicates a trend rather than an exception. That’s when you know this seller is not honest.
So let’s take a look:
Scanning through their recent feedback, you tend to see mostly positive ratings. Like comments that mention “Fast shipping” or “item as described”, for example.
These are the five most recent feedback entries:
But let’s sift through the list of comments and find some negatives. Will they indicate simple mistakes, or reveal red flags? Let’s see…
(Please note: These comments are not consecutive. They were cropped together to save space.)
Notice a trend? None of these are actually red flags.
Two of the mistakes are regarding shipping time – which in this case has more to do with FedEx than with SSE. And another mistake mentions the item being on backorder – inventory issues happen to every seller.
Their negative comments indicate common mistakes, not malicious or shady activity.
So far so good; SSE Photo & Video does appear to be legit. With feedback out of the way, let’s move on to the next criteria.
Any reputable camera seller will be an…
Authorized Dealer (or not)
The final (but equally important) piece of the puzzle is where their inventory comes from. SSE Photo & Video claims to be an authorized dealer. But is that actually true?
You might not be aware of what an authorized dealer is, or even why it matters…
The truth is, with most consumer products, it really doesn’t matter. For everyday purchases like photo paper, or flash drives, etc, especially for items under $25, it’s not even worth the time or effort to check.
But when it comes to an expensive purchase, like a DSLR camera, or a telephoto zoom lens, etc., purchasing from an authorized dealer is the only way to go. Specifically, it’s the only way to avoid grey market products.
Only products purchased from authorized dealers are entitled to manufacturer warranties. It’s the only surefire way to know that the item is not only authentic, but that it carries the full manufacturer’s warranty.
If you purchase your camera from “some guy” on eBay, or Craigslist, etc., your new camera will have no warranty whatsoever.
Needless to say, let’s take a moment and verify whether or not SSE Photo Video is actually an authorized dealer (or not).
DJI
So how about DJI? They carry a large selection of DJI drones and bundle kits. Is SSE Photo & Video an authorized DJI retailer?
Yes, they are an authorized dealer for DJI drones (and other accessories).
If you ever want to know if the seller in question is an authorized dealer, just check the manufacturer’s website. They will usually have a link that says something like “locate a dealer” or “authorized dealers”, etc.
Conclusion
Their feedback history is overwhelmingly positive in nature. They lack the major red flags in their negative feedback comments. And we were able to confirm that they are an authorized seller.
So I think we can conclude that SSE Photo & Video is actually worthy of your business.
If you were thinking about making a purchase from their store, then go for it. SSE Photo Video is legit!
I ordered back in December an EOS Rebel T7i DSLR camera and kit and one of the items was back ordered and was supposed to receive weeks later and was send a contact name and phone # and no answer. The item I didn’t receive is the UM-LED54KIT video light kit with 3 diffusers & bracket.
The advertising picture shows two battery and one backpack should be with my order. Did not receive battery or backpack. No positive response from the seller SSE photo and video
I had brought a DJI Mavic Mini for Christmas during Black Friday and the return policy was only 30 days, so by the time I gave it as a present it was too late to return. I emailed the company to see what I can do because the person I gave it to wanted to upgrade to the 2, and they said no they can’t do anything about it. I don’t understand how during a pandemic they only give 30 days to return and especially a time near Christmas!!!!Terrible I don’t recommend
My product was listed as “in stock,” I placed my order and received my order confirmation right away. Within a couple of days, I received a separate email from the company saying they cancelled my order without explanation. They had already charged me for the product, and I had to wait for the funds to be credited back into my account. I contacted customer service for an explanation, but not surprisingly, never received one. Is this company just a way of pulling $$ out of people’s accounts without any intention of delivering a product?? Pretty sketchy….