CowboyStudio

Do NOT BUY KITS from this company or make a large order with them.
They have a return policy which you must say you’ve read before you buy which says they will not pay for return shipping. Of course, WHO thinks they’re going to return something when they decide to buy it? And even if we did, WHO looks up the price for shipping an item back before they buy it?
Because I bought a small, umbrella light kit from them before and loved it, I ordered a lighting kit for $ 235 plus shipping = $ 260. When it came it was too flimsy and WAY too difficult to set up. Because I didn’t check what it would cost to send the kit back to them if I didn’t like it, I was not expecting to see that it’ll cost me between $ 50 and $ 75 to ship it back (I live in CA). Even though it makes sense because it’s a 25lb box.
I asked if they could pay just half of the shipping for me. Absolutely not. They are completely relying on the fact that you agree to paying for returns before you buy it. So I will be out $ 50-​$ 75 once I send this back (because I have no room or desire to keep junk in my storage) and I will have nothing to show for that money. As if I threw it down the drain.
Don’t buy large items from these guys. It’s too much of a risk.

I went to to the Cowboy Studio location in Allen, Tx today, 11÷3÷2015, to purchase Black and White collapsible backdrop. Got there told them what I wanted and I was told they were out of stock. I said that their web site showed 77 in stock to which the clerk replied,“oh no, we’ve been out of stock for quite awhile.” He checked any way and sure enough 0 in stock. I suggested they find a new webmaster if the website is not accurate. I was told that that will not likely happen because the owners wife maintains the website. It was a wasted 85 mile round trip for me. Shame on me for trusting the accuracy the Cowboy Studios website and not calling ahead… Shame on Cowboy Studios for being sloppy with their inventory. Moral of the story? Don’t trust the information you read on this website.

I’ve seen their products on Amazon and eBay so I knew going into the store that they sell cheaper camera gear and/​or equipment.
The gentleman that greeted me as soon as I walked in and help me research and find exactly what I needed for my DSLR rig and helped me find a color temperature dimmable light for a quarter of the price of what I paid six months ago at a more popular store down the street.
If you buy equipment on eBay you’re going to find everything you want here except their local.

I ordered a product and paid $ 200 extra to expedite shipping. They never shipped the product. They never called or emailed me to let me know they would not be shipping it. When I finally called them, they said that they decided not to ship because my shipping address was not the same as my billing address and so they concluded that my order was «fraudulent». Fine, but they should have called to let me know they would not be shipping. As a result, I lacked the equipment I needed to do a shoot. I will never do business with this customer-​unfriendly company again.

Cheap or mediocre photography products popular with beginners. Mostly cheap knock-​offs that only look similar to professional products. Poor design, lack of quality control, cheap materials and no durability. Cowboy Studio has several different usernames on eBay, so if you try to buy there instead of the website it is still them or a subsidiary. Customer service is terrible even when items are received defective or broken. You are lucky if you get a reply to e-​mail. By phone, they say everything is made overseas so not their fault. They tried telling me defects in a speedring were «design changes». With that rationale, any warranty they offer becomes worthless. You must also pay for return shipping even if you received a broken item and they charge a restocking fee even when the poor quality made the product unusable.

I purchased Photography/​Video Portrait Umbrella Continuous Triple Lighting Kit, on Amazon, and it’s garbage. As soon as I received the product, I started to put it together and two of the three light socket deals came apart. I made a video of it and uploaded it to Amazon. Luckily I purchased it with Amazon Prime, so I don’t have to go through all the issues of trying to return it. The lighting kit is worthless.
I tried calling them 8 – 10 times and all I get is a busy sound. Who has busy sounds now and days. Anyways, don’t spend your money on it. Looks for someone else’s lighting kit.

I was a professional photographer in the pre-​digital dinosaur age and spent thousands of dollars on the best strobe studio equipment available. Fast forward to the present, I decided to set up a studio in my home. Not being a pro any longer, I was not going to spend the extra $$$$ on top of the line equipment. I did much research and read reviews (some not so good) and still decided to give Cowboy Studio a try. Instead of strobes, I opted for a continuous light set up. I purchased a kit with two soft-​boxes, two lights (1500 watt equiv. coil florescent each), two collapsible 5×7 two-​sided backdrops/​screens and a posing stool– all for around $ 350. I just received everything yesterday and set up my new studio. Yes – the packing wasn’t the best, but it was sufficient. Everything arrived in one piece– nothing broken. Right– no real instructions were included. However, I knew this already from my research and also knew that on-​line video tutorials were available. Also, included in the box was a postcard with the website and you-​tube info for instructions. I assembled and set up my studio within an hour and began to test the equipment. Everything worked great! Now – having the experience of being familiar with the quality of high-​end equipment, of course I noticed the difference. But I didn’t expect to get $ 10,000 quality for $ 350!!! So far I am very satisfied and happy that there is an alternative out there for someone like myself. Also, I do recommend ordering directly from the company instead of Amazon or eBay. I was able to call– get my questions answered– and talk to a real person. I did not experience any difficulty in getting a customer service rep to take my calls! Hopefully this review will be of help to someone who is considering this brand but is put off by some of the other reviews. Again– I just received them so they haven’t withstood the test of time, etc., but so far I am satisfied with my purchase. Yes, you do get what you pay for and if having top of the line equipment is what you need then there are excellent choices available out there and you should save up your pennies and be ready to spend what they are worth. In other words, don’t expect to get a 7 series BMW for the price you would pay for a Fiat!

I have purchased several items from Cowboy Studio and not once have I been disappointed. I’ve always gone into their store and purchased my items. Their product isn’t high end but for the price it’s all good.

I am a semi-​pro Photographer and needed this flash bracket for an event, I ordered this item &paid S&H to received it before my event.. My product arrived 6 days later via UPS Ground. Called Cowboy Studio & they would not refund my S&H and also learned that I would have received this same product w/​o paying $ 9.45 S&H. Not to mention that this piece of crap flash bracket broke on my first time using it. Not a happy camper with Cowboy Studio’s return/​refund policy. Will not ever order any products from this company again. Too bad I didn’t read the reviews on Unilocal before I order these China made products. I spoke to Rachel & let her know that I was going to write a negative review about their services & she said «Go ahead». Ok!

Zero stars. But Unilocal does not give that option.
Terrible. I ordered a back light. Two days later Cowboy Studio cashed out of my account the fee for the product and shipping. The day after that UPS sent email saying Cowboy Studio canceled the shipment. I called Cowboy Studio the following day and have not heard a back. I have since filed a claim against Cowboy Studio with my bank.

Ok, this review is for their online service, rather than their showroom.
I am a semi-​pro photographer. As such, I really don’t have the funds to blow on equipment 90% of the time, yet I still expect results with what I do buy. Here’s an inside tip if you have yet to figure this out:
Cowboy Studio brand gear is relabeled equipment from China.
If you understand this, you won’t have any issues. There is an inherent roll of the dice you take when buying cheap Chinese anything, though this is how you get items so heavily discounted. You can easily trick out an entire home studio with 2 – 4 strobes, triggers/​receivers, and backdrops for under 5 – 700 $
Now, for what I’ve purchased from them, I will say, their triggers and receivers are dicey at best, complete shit at worst. Be careful with these. Their strobes are plenty fine… I’ve never had a single issue in over 2 years with one and I’ve ordered 4 of them. Their backdrop stands, and really their stands in general, aren’t the highest quality… but they do work. I had my backdrop setup for a shoot a while back when my cat came tearing through the room toppling it. One of the stands broke. The equipment, overall, will get the job done in a pinch, but ultimately will need to be replaced by more reliable gear.
Quit acting like Cowboy Studio provides high end equipment and understand this is the Dollar General of studio supply and youll have no problem…

I was super excited to order my own lighting kit to do some photos and video work, so when I found CowBoy Studio on Amazon I thought I had hit pay dirt!
I picked out one of their kits that came with two lights and a backdrop and ordered it right away. I thought I was safe because most of their kits seem to have around a 4 star average on Amazon, right? Well, I should have read more into the reviews; if I had I would have noticed a bunch of fake 5 star reviews followed by actual real reviews of their products.
I special ordered it to arrive in only 3 days so I paid an extra $ 30 or something (strange, it doesn’t actually say how much you pay until later… hmmmm). The kit arrived on time and I was very excited to get started. Sure, this stuff is made cheaply and I figured that much ahead of time. But, what I got… I was not prepared for.
The first thing I noticed, I actually barely noticed, which was that one of the extra items I ordered from them was sort of ‘thrown’ into the box. It’s small enough that I almost missed it and it conceivably could have been thrown into the trash with the packaging waste.
The next thing I noticed was when I pulled out one of the light stands and it was all scuffed up from being used already. Ugh. The other one was new which led me to a more insidious conclusion: when they get returned items that have been used or whatever, they don’t just package them up and offer a discount on a used item, instead they part them out into different kits so that when you get one you might not even notice. Very scummy. (Put one of your used pieces in several different new products and send it out as new!)
Then, after I relaxed a little bit and tried to put one of the lights together, I could not figure out why the soft box mount I had did not match the one in the picture. Hmmmmm. No matter how hard i tried, I could not get it to come together and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was not right here.
What was not right was that the soft box mounts did not match up with the light covers and no amount of messing around with it was going to fix that. They did NOT fit!!!
Good lord.
So, I immediately sent them out a few emails to let them know I was not happy and please respond ASAP.
Did I get any response?
Nope.
My advice?
Stay away from CowBoy Studios! Rip off

If you are a photographer on a budget, this is the place to go. I know they have an online presence, but I have shopped in the brick and mortar store. I have had an issue with the quality of product in some cases, but, it’s mostly knock off stuff from china… I didn’t expect Nikon or Canon quality. The staff were helpful, and when I had issue with a product, I had no hassel with returning it.

After I placed my order, I received my tracking number a few days later. After about a week went by and no sign of my order, I checked the tracking number and it said the product hadn’t been checked into a UPS facility yet. From what I understand, that meant Cowboy Studio made a shipping label, but then didn’t ship it out. I gave Cowboy Studio another week. Still no updates on the tracking number. So I called Cowboy Studio and had to leave a message because no one was answering. The following week, I hadn’t heard back so I called them again. This time I got through and they informed me that the light stands I ordered were out of stock and will ship out as soon as they get more. The representative I was speaking to also offered to order a different model of light stand for me which, according to her, were practically the same except for a few minor specifications. I agreed and they were shipped out. I received them promptly thereafter.
Overall, the representative was nice and they arrived quickly once the situation was taken care of. I’m also happy with my product. However, I am a bit annoyed that Cowboy Studio didn’t take the initiative to at least call me or email me to let me know that my shipment would be delayed because the product is out-​of-​stock. I waited two weeks for an update when it could have been taken care of in a much more efficient amount of time. It is also bad customer service to not answer your messages as a business.

This company is downright horrible.
Their lens adapters do not fit correctly and will cost you either a broken lens or a hefty service bill to have it removed. Their customer service is useless. They will send you a link to a youtube video pretty much admitting,‘in case it gets stuck.‘
Junk from China. Avoid this company at all cost. They will not give you a refund either!

I recently bought some products from Cowboy Studio through Amazon. For the price, my expectations were exceeded. One of the lighting products had a bulb that didn’t work. I called them, got a real person on the line who very professionally handled the situation, sending out a replacement for no charge and with no hassle. At least with the three products we’ve purchased with Cowboy Studio thus far, I have no problem giving them 4 Stars and recommending them to you.