Amazon Lens Purchase Question

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Lee
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If you all don't mind please. I've never bought a lens from Amazon before so my question is around UK vs Import. Now on eBay it seems pretty obvious in the wording weather the item has a genuine guarantee or a sellers guarantee or the item location is 'a warehouse in Hong Kong' but on Amazon I'm not sure I can find/see anything to say either way.

Can you take a look at these two listings & spot anything obvious I may have missed please for the £70 price difference?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-SEL55F...pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=AHP7IRFQMJ4FE#customerReviews

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FYRLS...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B00FYRLSK0
 
The first link is sold by a 3rd party but fulfilled by Amazon. I'd email the seller and ask if they provide a VAT invoice. The second link is sold and shipped by Amazon. You will get a VAT invoice if you purchased that one.
 
Both are from UK .. as first is sold by market seller but fulfilled by Amazon and second is sold by Amazon.

it will normally say if is dispatched from abroad somewhere on the page.
 
#1 is sold to you by a company called, or at least trading under the name of, Audio Shack. There is no information whatsoever to say where they are based, where the lens is coming from, whether you might have to pay import duty and VAT, what warranty you have, etc.

#2 is sold to you by Amazon. It will have been imported legally and there won't be any nasty surprises regarding the price or the warranty.
 
I think you will find one isn't a UK model (The Audio Shack one). Having said that it could be just that dealers pricing allows him to sell it at that prices.
I don't know Sony's warranty T&Cs but if it were a Tamron for example Amazon say only theirs are sure to be covered by the 5year warrenty
 
Interesting replies here as currently we have covered all possibilities. In general terms only Amazon.co.uk sell uk models which have full uk warranty. Marketplace sellers should be treated like ebay as some may sell uk models and some greys (price usually tells you). fulfilled by amazon does not mean it's a uk model, it only means the stock is currently sitting in an amazon warehouse for despatch. It could have been sourced as a grey model by the marketplace seller and then sent to the amazon warehouse to be sold as their stock. Just because it's in the uk doesn't mean it's a uk model, it needs to be sold by an authorized uk seller/dealer.

I know amazon is a authorized uk nikon seller, the same goes for sandisk but not sure on sony. I only ever buy anything directly from amazon, I try to never buy from market place sellers. There were several well known marketplace sellers selling fake sandisk cards a few years back.
 
Thank you all. Nice to have input from you. Including some that backs up my concerns.

Both lenses must be in the UK because they have next day delivery. I was presuming the actual Amazon one would be the safer bet though & a legal import with warranty. If I wanted a grey & was willing to take the chance they are on eBay for less than £555 too!!

Edit ^^ Thanks Rob - You posted as I did! Great simple reply & helps me to spend that few extra pounds!! ;)
 
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Thank you all. Nice to have input from you. Including some that backs up my concerns.

Both lenses must be in the UK because they have next day delivery. I was presuming the actual Amazon one would be the safer bet though & a legal import with warranty. If I wanted a grey & was willing to take the chance they are on eBay for less than £555 too!

Anything fulfilled by Amazon must be in the UK for Amazon to fulfill ;) even grey stock that is supplied by third party sellers is sent to an Amazon warehouse by the seller and Amazon then process the dispatch.

You have no worries regarding vat and duty as the item is already imported, you could still have a problem with warranty though on grey stock from third party sellers only fulfilled by Amazon.
 
I bought a watch fulfilled my Amazon. Not only did it come from Italy but it was a fake too. Luckily Amazon dealt with it super fast
 
I bought a watch fulfilled my Amazon. Not only did it come from Italy but it was a fake too. Luckily Amazon dealt with it super fast

You bought a watch on Amazon UK that was fulfilled by Amazon but dispatched from Italy?

How would that work?
 
You bought a watch on Amazon UK that was fulfilled by Amazon but dispatched from Italy?

How would that work?
It's pretty easy shipping things around the EU. A couple of years ago we had an order from a customer in Athens; the lens was picked up by our courier at 4pm on Wednesday and delivered before 10am on Thursday.
 
You bought a watch on Amazon UK that was fulfilled by Amazon but dispatched from Italy?

How would that work?

The watch probably came in to the UK from Italy to a UK importer, and was then forwarded to an Amazon warehouse for them to be able to fulfil the sellers orders.
IE, posted within the the UK by Amazon, but still a dodgy Italian knockoff.
 
I would always buy from Amazon UK, there after sales is second to none from my own experience. I once bought a Canon 60d from them and I had for about 4-5 months before I noticed a bit of dirt was lodged in the eyepiece which would ment sending to CRP. Amazon gave me a full refund even though I had it all this time.
 
It's pretty easy shipping things around the EU. A couple of years ago we had an order from a customer in Athens; the lens was picked up by our courier at 4pm on Wednesday and delivered before 10am on Thursday.

The watch probably came in to the UK from Italy to a UK importer, and was then forwarded to an Amazon warehouse for them to be able to fulfil the sellers orders.
IE, posted within the the UK by Amazon, but still a dodgy Italian knockoff.

That's quite understandable, but not what he said (which is why is asked).

Pete said:
I bought a watch fulfilled my Amazon. Not only did it come from Italy but it was a fake too.

The watch couldn't have come from Italy (in the transaction) if fulfilled by Amazon, it might have been imported from Italy at some stage prior to his transaction, but it couldn't have actually come from Italy when he bought it (IYSWIM).
 
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That's quite understandable, but not what he said (which is why is asked).

Pete said:


The watch couldn't have come from Italy (in the transaction) if fulfilled by Amazon, it might have been imported from Italy at some stage prior to his transaction, but it couldn't have actually come from Italy when he bought it (IYSWIM).

I do see what you mean, however I thought the inference was plain enough in his post ;)
 
I have had fake batteries fulfilled by amazon.
I only buy from amazon directly if there is the possibility of it being fake/ grey import etc where it doesnt matter I just buy the cheapest
 
The watch couldn't have come from Italy (in the transaction) if fulfilled by Amazon, it might have been imported from Italy at some stage prior to his transaction, but it couldn't have actually come from Italy when he bought it (IYSWIM).
Yes it could have come direct from Italy. Amazon could have fulfilled the order from amazon.it and overnight couriered it to the UK. It's not rocket science.

One of the old problems with "fulfilled by Amazon" was that seller's stock was intermingled. So some Marketplace sellers were getting the blame for other sellers putting grey/counterfeit items onto the fulfilment shelves. I believe this problem was fixed a few years ago.
 
Yes it could have come direct from Italy. Amazon could have fulfilled the order from amazon.it and overnight couriered it to the UK. It's not rocket science.

One of the old problems with "fulfilled by Amazon" was that seller's stock was intermingled. So some Marketplace sellers were getting the blame for other sellers putting grey/counterfeit items onto the fulfilment shelves. I believe this problem was fixed a few years ago.

Are you sure of that or is it just a thumb suck opinion?

Amazon don't seem to think so.

  • Can I sell my products on any (or all) of Amazon’s other European Marketplaces?
    Yes. Amazon-fulfilled inventory can be listed for sale on any (or all) of Amazon’s European Marketplaces (UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain) using Amazon’s European Marketplaces Account When an order from these marketplaces arrives, Amazon will fulfil the order from your inventory stored in Great Britain through our European Fulfilment Network .
http://services.amazon.co.uk/services/fulfilment-by-amazon/faq.html

Im sure I would have had at least one such parcel out of the 100s or 1000s we have received from Amazon over the years.
 
@Dave1 - you're reading the blurb of how fulfilment works that's been written for the benefit of informing UK sellers on Amazon.co.uk explaining how their goods can be fulfilled to customers across the EUEA from their stock held in UK based fulfilment centres. I'm not sure you even read what you've quoted. You haven't understood it at all.

European Fulfilment Network
Can I sell my products on any (or all) of Amazon’s other European Marketplaces?
Yes. Amazon-fulfilled inventory can be listed for sale on any (or all) of Amazon’s European Marketplaces (UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain) using Amazon’s European Marketplaces Account When an order from these marketplaces arrives, Amazon will fulfil the order from your inventory stored in Great Britain through our European Fulfilment Network .
It would be very odd if that was a one-way arrangement.

Yes, I've bought Amazon.co.uk fulfilled items and they have been dispatched from non-UK fulfilment centres.
 
Jeeez, talk about splitting hairs. :rolleyes: :stop:

Peter bought an Italian watch through Amazon which turned out to be a fake....... & Amazon sorted it! (y)

:cool:
 
I've bought two new Sigma lenses from Amazon (direct) and Sigma honoured the 3 year warranty on both.
 
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