When I bought a refurbished online digital camera, I thought

When I bought a refurbished online digital camera, I thought I was getting a great deal. On the surface, it was one of the best buys that I had seen in a long time. I spent several months looking in the windows of camera retailers, dreaming about getting into photography myself. The problem was that I didn't even know where to start. Every camera retailer would tell me something different. Some of them the more honest ones would tell me that I should start out with a simple camera, something basic and functional. Other camera retailer clerks would tell me that I might as well buy the nicest model now. There is one thing that they all had in common, however: they all sold cameras that were out of my price range.

That I found a place on the Internet that sold refurbished cameras. It seemed like a sweet deal. Although some of the clerks in the camera retailer store cautioned me against buying refurbished products, I thought they were just saying that because they wanted to make money off of me. I figured that, no matter what I was considering buying on the Internet, they would probably have something negative to say about it. After all, if I was taking my business elsewhere they would lose out on a valuable sale. Although they have come down in price recently, new cameras are still expensive. Every sale counts.

It seems like those folks at the camera retailer store were actually telling me the truth after all. When I first got the digital camera, it worked well for the most part. There were some suspicious problems with it from the beginning, however. Every once in a while, it would turn off for no reason. Some of the settings didn't work, or only work sometimes. What I didn't realize at the time was that there was a serious problem with the electronics. The lens worked well, but the internal circuitry was all messed up. It was only a matter of time before the camera completely failed.

Getting a good deal is only worth it if you're getting a deal on something that will last. Going to a camera retail store, in the long run, makes more sense than buying something online. When you buy cameras online, you never know how long they will last. Maybe you'll get lucky, but then again maybe you'll be out of luck, with no warranty to cover it.