Originally posted by Kim Coxon There is still the "other" problem I mentioned. Most of the big players have cash back promotions either for outright sales, or a trade in bonus. And yes many shop online, though I would be reluctant to make such an investment for something I hadn't seen. I suspect many might look/try in the retail before trying online to get a better deal. There is also the lack of "demo days"
I hear you with regard to cash back promotions. Those are a good idea. Same with demo days, though Ricoh Imaging's clear lack of desire to carry out strong marketing makes it unlikely that we'll ever see those kind of activities. The last such Pentax demo day I attended was back in 2013 or 2014, at Jessops in the West End of London...
Having said that, there are regular discounts on a variety of Pentax equipment throughout the year from all of the big dealers. It's been some years since I paid full street price for Pentax gear. The last item I bought was the DA*60-250, from SRS... I paid £200 less than the current best street / online price, and £500 less than SRS or Wex are selling it for today. When I bought my K-3II (again, if I remember correctly, through SRS), I paid less than they were typically selling for used, and close to the best price I've ever seen it before it was finally discontinued a couple of years later.
All of the bigger Pentax dealers get their chance to offer lower prices on selected products at different times of the year, so I'm assuming the schedule is managed in conjunction with Ricoh. So, whilst there may not be cash-back promotions, there's incentive to buy products - just in a different form.
As for online vs high street buying... The last time I bought a major photographic product in a shop was late 2014. I picked up a FujiFilm XF-1 compact for a ridiculously-low £109 from Currys. Everything I've bought since has been online... including my Hasselblad HV + Sony Zeiss 24-70/2.8, which came from B&H in New York