- Messages
- 1,908
- Name
- Tony
- Edit My Images
- Yes
was that with DHL
and please use their services
Buying from DigitalRev
- Thread starter Magic3rds
- Start date
- Status
was that with DHL
- Messages
- 7,505
- Name
- Dave
- Edit My Images
- Yes
The likelihood will always exist that some parcels will get through, just like the smuggling of cigarettes and drugs, for every interception they suggest another one (or more) gets through.
All the HMRC crackdown does is up the chance you will get caught, not that it becomes impossible.
- Messages
- 1,490
- Edit My Images
- No
Just ordered a 24-105 with them. The price for a new lens is £529 which is within £50 of where plenty sell their second hand ones.
Having been stung once buying a second hand lens on ebay which was effectively only any use as a door stop I made a choice.
1. Buy from WEX who want £819 and have looked after me in the past (all be it they are currently out of stock).
2. Buy second hand. I have to admit that paying £500 for something I can get new for £30 more is a struggle in my tiny mind.
3. Buy from Digital Rev having read that their delivery is generally excellent (although with a couple of known issues of late) but take a chance on warranty issues needing resolution. I've been buying camera gear for a fair while and touch wood this has never been an issue - for me.
They got my order this morning and if it all works out I have a lens that I saved £300 on and it will be worth £100 less after a few years at worst.
I've just put the kiss of death on it haven't I?
Having been stung once buying a second hand lens on ebay which was effectively only any use as a door stop I made a choice.
1. Buy from WEX who want £819 and have looked after me in the past (all be it they are currently out of stock).
2. Buy second hand. I have to admit that paying £500 for something I can get new for £30 more is a struggle in my tiny mind.
3. Buy from Digital Rev having read that their delivery is generally excellent (although with a couple of known issues of late) but take a chance on warranty issues needing resolution. I've been buying camera gear for a fair while and touch wood this has never been an issue - for me.
They got my order this morning and if it all works out I have a lens that I saved £300 on and it will be worth £100 less after a few years at worst.
I've just put the kiss of death on it haven't I?
Last edited:
- Messages
- 1,490
- Edit My Images
- No
Are your weddings done and dusted now Horney? I was going to say if they weren't and you were close by that I might be able to help out by loaning you a body. I don't like to see someone struggling.
Tigger.ufo
Lady Penelope
- Messages
- 5,927
- Name
- Heather
- Edit My Images
- Yes
no mate UPS delivered both parcels ordered 4 days apart both arrived yesterday the weekend was in between
both were in fed-ex bags if that means anything ?
- Messages
- 1,908
- Name
- Tony
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Just curious as the issue mentioned about customs holding the camera up was with DHL
No as I told Digital Rev I wouldn't escalate it to a claim until the 9th as this is 28 days after the order was placed and seemed to me to be a reasonable amount of time to wiat before making a claim. This is still well within the timeframe for turning a dispute into a claim according to the case details on paypal.
nick
- Messages
- 1,490
- Edit My Images
- No
- Messages
- 185
- Name
- Anthony
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Interestingly I asked Panamoz about their policy if things are held in customs, I mentioned I'd heard it was happening with orders from DigitalRev more often recently. They said if an item wasn't delivered with in two weeks they would issue a full refund. May be an alternative if you're set on ordering from HK? They claim to offer a 3 year warranty on lenses too.
I also asked why they were selling the Panasonic 25mm 1.4 for £760 and they then lowered the price on their site to £380! :bonk:
Digital Rev have been in touch today and I even got a PDF letter from Ivy Tang thier Head of Operations. They have offered two options.
1) 10% refund for the wait and keep waiting until 30th September when they will give me a full refund or sencond dshipment.
2) Full refund or 2nd shipment now if I sign a document stating I will return the 1st shipment when/if it arrives.
Option 2 remains available even if I choose option 1.
I went with option 1 as the likelyhood of getting a 2nd shipment by thursday afternoon for my friends wedding on friday is slim. A full refund could have worked with an order then placed with Hdew but again next day delivery by the time I have sorted the refund and made a new order would be very touch and go.
Option 1 therefore seems the way to go as I get 10% off what I ordered. I'm going to Spa race circuit in Belgium on the 19th and I really really want the kit by then. If by the 12th it hasn't turned up I will switch to option 2, get my refund and order from Hdew.
Much as this whole saga has been irratating and of Digital Rev's own making due to the way they under value items as part of their business model the communications from them have been very good.
1) 10% refund for the wait and keep waiting until 30th September when they will give me a full refund or sencond dshipment.
2) Full refund or 2nd shipment now if I sign a document stating I will return the 1st shipment when/if it arrives.
Option 2 remains available even if I choose option 1.
I went with option 1 as the likelyhood of getting a 2nd shipment by thursday afternoon for my friends wedding on friday is slim. A full refund could have worked with an order then placed with Hdew but again next day delivery by the time I have sorted the refund and made a new order would be very touch and go.
Option 1 therefore seems the way to go as I get 10% off what I ordered. I'm going to Spa race circuit in Belgium on the 19th and I really really want the kit by then. If by the 12th it hasn't turned up I will switch to option 2, get my refund and order from Hdew.
Much as this whole saga has been irratating and of Digital Rev's own making due to the way they under value items as part of their business model the communications from them have been very good.
- Messages
- 7,505
- Name
- Dave
- Edit My Images
- Yes
If Customs release the item there will be a demand for duty (if relevant) and import vat, as well as an admin fee.
You can work out at the duty/tax amount at http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/
- Messages
- 7,505
- Name
- Dave
- Edit My Images
- Yes
There will also be an admin charge for the customs handling. I don't know what DHL charge, I know Royal Mail charge £8.
- Messages
- 3,839
- Name
- Chris
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Interesting that the under-valuing aspect is coming out of the woodwork more and more with DR.
With that in mind, more out of interest than anything else, are there any companies that offer a 100% legit (in terms of taxes) grey import with proof that all relevant fees have been paid on its journey to the UK? If so, do they actually end up much cheaper than a genuine UK supplier?
With that in mind, more out of interest than anything else, are there any companies that offer a 100% legit (in terms of taxes) grey import with proof that all relevant fees have been paid on its journey to the UK? If so, do they actually end up much cheaper than a genuine UK supplier?
- Messages
- 185
- Name
- Anthony
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I think kerso, flashcameras, does everything officially. Imports are from the US. The price is usually a little less than UK retailers but obviously not as much as the HK importers.
From memory the cheapest I could get my DR order for from UK stock was about £800. With DR the cost was £560. A saving of £240. Even if i have to pay the import duty, VAT and handling charges it'll be approx £700 total so still a £100 saving. Not to be sniffed at!
- Messages
- 18,340
- Edit My Images
- No
Which is all well and good unless it develops a fault. Then the realities of their "worldwide guarantee" smack you in the face.
- Messages
- 11,513
- Name
- Stewart
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I don't think there are any. Increasingly these days, grey market = black market (ie illegal).
People are keen to spout off about rip-off Britain, but the reality is that the market for camera gear in the UK is, by and large, extremely competitive. Prices here only seem high compared to USA, HK etc because of VAT, but there's no way for any retailers (other than very small ones) to *legally* avoid VAT.
big soft moose
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy...
- Messages
- 20,964
- Name
- Pete
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I think Hdew provide a vat receipt - so presumably they are paying it
Vat isn't the only reason that UK prices are stupid - look how many releases have done the dollars vs pounds thing.. that is if they cost $999 dollars stateside , the uk release price is £999 .
Vat isn't the only reason that UK prices are stupid - look how many releases have done the dollars vs pounds thing.. that is if they cost $999 dollars stateside , the uk release price is £999 .
- Messages
- 1,490
- Edit My Images
- No
True but then 'you pays ya money you takes ya chance'.
If nothing goes wrong the buyer saves £240, if he cops for the import tax he saves £100. If he ends up with a warranty issue he could lose his £500. But realistically how often do these things fail and you need to claim? You have been one of the unlucky ones and it's rubbish for you, but you'll probably find that for every one of you there are a 100 or a 1,000 with no issues. I'd also wager that there are plenty of UK buyers who have had UK warranty issues that took time and patience to sort?
Last edited:
- Messages
- 3,696
- Name
- Frank
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Yes, but nobody pays the release price unless they have more money than sense. Just look at the price of the 6D, £1800 at launch and £1400 today. LINK
- Messages
- 11,513
- Name
- Stewart
- Edit My Images
- Yes
That *only* applies to prices of new equipment. For some reason I don't understand, UK retailers are more willing and/or more able to charge inflated prices to the must-have-it-now brigade than US retailers are. Look at the prices for equipment which isn't newly released and you'll see that, excluding taxes, UK prices are consistently lower than US prices.
How did you get those figures?
- Messages
- 3,839
- Name
- Chris
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Having just returned from two weeks in the US (across 4 states) I can safely say it's nowhere near the haven of cheap electronics for UK shoppers as some would think.
Not a single item jumped out at me as being significantly cheaper once you've factored in the proper, legal cost of bringing it back into the UK.
Not a single item jumped out at me as being significantly cheaper once you've factored in the proper, legal cost of bringing it back into the UK.
From the DR price & Duty you stated earlier + the VAT.
- Messages
- 3,696
- Name
- Frank
- Edit My Images
- Yes
It doesn't matter how many times you point this out, Daily Mule readers will still chant the 'rip-off Britain' mantra every chance they get. Whereas normal people who can think for more than three seconds can use Google to discover the truth...
Canon 70-200 f4 IS
B&H $1350. Add duty and VAT = $1728 = £1150
WEx = £954
Canon 6DWEx = £954
B&H $2000. Add VAT = $2400 = £1600
WEx = £1480
WEx = £1480
And it's the same for just about any canon goodies that have been out for several months. And these figues ignore shipping.
If you happen to be in NYC and think you can save a fortune by buying in person from the B&H store and smuggling it into the UK - add 7% NY sales to the f4 IS price and you get $1444.5 = £963 and you've just ripped yourself off to the tune of £9 (as well as risking a criminal record and a full body search).
- Messages
- 1,236
- Name
- Paul
- Edit My Images
- Yes
The pound isn't particularly strong against the US dollar at the moment which doesn't help. But the pound does seem to be strong against the Japanese Yen. A quick look on Amazon Japan shows the Canon 70 200 f4 USM at about £560 and the Canon 6D body at £1010.
So even with duty and VAT you're looking at about £720 and £1200 respectively (assuming I've read it correctly). Even bigger savings if you want to chance the rubber glove route!
- Messages
- 11,513
- Name
- Stewart
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I sometimes think everyone on this forum, except you and me and ukaskew, must be Daily Fail readers.
- Messages
- 11,513
- Name
- Stewart
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I think that's at least questionable. Flash Camera have confirmed in writing that they are not registered for VAT. With a turnover on their eBay site alone which exceeds the VAT registration threshold, I don't see how that can be legal.
It is often said around here that kerso has devised some dodge which means he can import from the USA legally without paying and charging VAT. If he really has, good for him - but I believe there is no such dodge. If there were, don't you think Amazon and such like would be employing it?
Unfortunately kerso has repeatedly declined invitations to explain the situation.
Yes. However questions have been asked - and not yet answered - about the fact that they seem to only provide VAT receipts on request. Unfortunately it raises the suspicion that perhaps not all of their turnover is declared for VAT purposes. I hope that's not the case, but I haven't seen any explanation for their practice.
- Messages
- 3,696
- Name
- Frank
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Hmmm, 70-200 is ¥119,000 which is around £762, or £970 after duty and VAT.
Were you looking at the non-IS version?
- Messages
- 1,236
- Name
- Paul
- Edit My Images
- Yes
No you're right, I was - I'm not a Canon user
I have found that lens for 111,000 Yen (plus you can deduct 5% sales tax if you're buying in person) which gives a landed cost of £870 but I agree, probably not a significant enough difference unless you were prepared to smuggle it.
Last edited:
big soft moose
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy...
- Messages
- 20,964
- Name
- Pete
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I thought he explained it last year
I think the short version was that he pays VAT on the cameras he imports , but he isn't eligible to be VAT registered because he's an American company.
As i'm sure you know being VAT registered has no bearing on paying VAT (we all pay VAT - unless we smuggle) it revolves around the ability to charge VAT to your customers and to reclaim it where paid.
therefore as he said at the time it would be advantageous to his business to be able to charge Vat, but he's clarified it with HMRC and he can't
I'm not sure what further explanation he could reasonably give ?
- Status