Shopping Discussion

Why Don't New Digital Cameras Come In Sealed Boxes?

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Deal Addict
Feb 20, 2004
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Why Don't New Digital Cameras Come In Sealed Boxes?

All of the camera gear (cameras, lenses, flashes, etc.) I've bought in recent years did not come in sealed boxes.

This is good for the manufacturers and retailers because they can re-sell returned products as brand new. But almost all other expensive electronics (laptops, tablets, phones, televisions, game consoles, etc.) come in sealed boxes, so why not camera gear?
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Deal Guru
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Aug 20, 2005
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Nowhere
Where are you buying stuff? It is the retailer opening things. Everything I have bought has come in sealed boxes.
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Feb 20, 2004
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Cheap Cat wrote: Where are you buying stuff? It is the retailer opening things. Everything I have bought has come in sealed boxes.
Go into any BestBuy or FutureShop and check the glass cabinets or cages where they keep all the new Canon/Nikon/Sony digital cameras, lenses and other photo gear. None of the boxes have seals on them.

What camera gear have you bought that came in sealed boxes, and where did you buy it?
Newbie
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Dec 1, 2014
81 posts
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Vancouver, BC
lynk wrote: Go into any BestBuy or FutureShop and check the glass cabinets or cages where they keep all the new Canon/Nikon/Sony digital cameras, lenses and other photo gear. None of the boxes have seals on them.

What camera gear have you bought that came in sealed boxes, and where did you buy it?

I just hate stuff that does not come new factory sealed...... Mindfuuuuuk me every time
Deal Fanatic
Jun 17, 2013
5120 posts
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Montreal
they come in sealed boxes...someone opened it. usually it is to show a customer, but you never know
Deal Addict
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Jul 12, 2005
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North York
That's quite strange, I've bought Canon and Fuji gear over the past few years and none of them come sealed (I'm 100% sure they're new, and they come from reputable retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Futureshop, Henry's, Vistek, etc) - not sure what everyone else has been buying that has the seal, but it's not Canon (includes standard and L glass) and Fuji.
Deal Addict
Jun 13, 2014
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Mississauga, ON
Typically the boxes that come with the camera stuff I buy are just cardboard boxes with a clear tape to hold down one of the panels.
Deal Addict
Apr 15, 2004
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Toronto
why does 7-11 and tim hortons have locks on their front doors.... cuz every time i look they also say 24/7 lol
i dunno certain industry trends
Deal Expert
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Mar 6, 2003
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some stuff doesn't have a seal but some stuff does. By SEAL, I mean some kind of sticker or plastic that indicates that the box has not been opened before.

Eg. Sony A7 has a white seal around the flap, the Sony RX100 doesn't
I don't think Nikon has any seal either (e.g. D600 body)

I really wish they would seal the box on all camera gear. Futureshop once sold me a Nikon body which had been opened and had a shutter count of about 40 pictures. I could tell it was opened because the camera didn't boot to the setup screen
Deal Expert
Jan 27, 2006
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In a past life, I've worked in photographic sales for over 12 years from sales and into management and most camera equipment (everything from higher end filters to $2,000+ lenses and bodies) don't come in "sealed" boxes. I've seen stuff right from the manufacturer's own warehouse as well as in the manufacturer's warehouse and generally nothing is sealed. The only stuff that is really sealed is the cheap stuff like lens caps and other small plastic accessories.

Anyone who says that they get their equipment in sealed boxes are either real special or the retailer they are going to is pulling a fast one.

There are only a few ways to truly tell if any equipment is "factory new":

1. When opening the box, you can tell how the cardboard bends if it's only been bent once (ie when the lid was closed). If the box was opened a few times, the act of opening the box changes how the lid opens.
2. The plastic bag that the device comes in has a clean "pressed" look to it without any wrinkles. If the bag has extra wrinkles where there should be any, then the device has been removed from the bag and put back in.
3. There a certain feel to new plastic and rubber parts - not smooth but kind of rough.
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Feb 23, 2004
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Why is some items sealed but inside have fingerprint marks
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May 25, 2009
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warpdrive wrote: some stuff doesn't have a seal but some stuff does. By SEAL, I mean some kind of sticker or plastic that indicates that the box has not been opened before.

Eg. Sony A7 has a white seal around the flap, the Sony RX100 doesn't
I don't think Nikon has any seal either (e.g. D600 body)

I really wish they would seal the box on all camera gear. Futureshop once sold me a Nikon body which had been opened and had a shutter count of about 40 pictures. I could tell it was opened because the camera didn't boot to the setup screen
Almost all DSLR bodies are sold with some degree of shutter counts on it already, it's part of the QC process as they roll off the assembly that they test the shutter by firing it a number of times to make it work. 40 sounds slightly on the high end but isn't entirely unusual, I've heard anywhere between 10 and 30 typically on most photography forums.
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Jul 23, 2005
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yea the garmin navi i bought over the christmas was unsealed as well.. weird they would do this.
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Mar 6, 2003
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Winkle wrote: Almost all DSLR bodies are sold with some degree of shutter counts on it already, it's part of the QC process as they roll off the assembly that they test the shutter by firing it a number of times to make it work. 40 sounds slightly on the high end but isn't entirely unusual, I've heard anywhere between 10 and 30 typically on most photography forums.
In my case, the camera was obviously opened and used. The timezone screen was already set up, and the wrapping wasn't as neat (more wrinkled). I exchanged the body and the new body actually had a shutter count of 0. I think it's quite normal for Nikon bodies to have zero actuations (maybe they reset it before it leaving the factory)

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