Grey Imports and Reparis
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It does seem to be a grey area, is the seller or buyer undertaking criminal activity? If you are offered something at discount price do you question it or accept the gift horse? I suspect many would not know the mechanics of how the price is lower than UK RRP.
I expect so, although I expect it would depend on a few factors. I sort of see it something like if you buy a product from one retailer in a county could you expect to take it back to another retailer than also sells the same product?
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If I buy a Nikon camera in Hong Kong I would expect Nikon UK to cover any warranty issues
But as has been mentioned, it would depend on the business model. If Nikon Europe was a financed entity in its own right and it funded the UK repair centre how would it recover warranty costs for a Oceana and Asia product.
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So Guess you don't use any of the these companies then who AVOID paying tax in the UK. Which after all if you buying a grey import you are just avoiding the tax on a much smaller scale
Article published in 2016:
Facebook: The social media titan paid just £4,327 in corporation tax in 2014, despite reporting UK revenues of £105million.
Apple: The US-based technology firm behind the iPad and the iPhone made £34billion in profit during the year to September 2014.
Experts estimate that the UK accounted for £1.9billion of that profit, but the firm only paid £11.8million in British corporation tax.
Amazon: The online shopping giant took £5.3billion in sales from British shoppers in 2014 but paid just £11.9million in tax after announcing profits of £34.4million.
Starbucks: The coffee chain paid just £8.6million of tax over 14 years between 1998 and 2012 when sales totalled £3billion.
But latest company filings show it paid £8.1million in corporation tax for last year on profits of £34.2million.
But they operate within the tax laws set by the UK government, avoidance rather than evasion. Grey Imports evade tax and import duties rather than avoid them
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That is exactly what I want to know. People do move around the world, otherwise when you move from one country to another country, you have to paid tax for every single thing.
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- Stewart
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Not at all. You clearly don't understand the difference between tax AVOIDANCE, which is legal, and tax EVASION, which is illegal.
Also assuming the previous statement was correct, on the single purchase avoiding VAT @20% which applies to the total cost of the item delivered is more that the company avoiding its tax (say also 20%) on its profit. Why don't people accept they want to do a bit of tax fiddle instead of trying to find all sorts of BS to justify it...
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How do the pro get their equipments repair? Say I bought my lens in HK and travel to UK to do a shoot and lens broke a few days before the event. Is Canon or Nikon UK is going to refuse to repair or replace because the lens is not bought within UK?
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The business model is frankly irrelevant. If there's a problem with a product, it is the manufacturer's 'moral' responsibility to fix it - regardless of the legal position, the retailer or distributor, the business model or whatever. It shouldn't be difficult - just send the product to your local authorised repair centre and the cost is passed on to the Japanese manufacturer. Where the product is actually purchased should have nothing to do with it.
Warranty and grey import questions are completely separate issues. Grey import sales are solely driven by tax evasion/avoidance and that hole can only be plugged by HMRC* The fact that they continue to turn a blind eye (and have done for decades) makes me unsympathetic to the 'illegal' aspect of not paying tax. However, there is no doubt that grey sales have hurt UK photo retailers who are now an endangered species, and that's bad news all round.
*Edit: not strictly true - grey imports could be cut to a trickle if manufacturers chose to stop supply, which they could do easily. They know exactly who's selling what and where, but the hypocritical truth is that they actually like to use these unofficial channels to moderate inventory levels.
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Theory and practise tend to be different. While UK distributors often get a fairly bad press over grey import and warranty issues, there are numerous stories where they've bent over backwards to help people out. I remember a report of an Australian couple on honeymoon who not only got their camera fixed FOC, but went straight to the top of the queue and got it back next day.
Canon and Nikon have membership schemes that professionals use for priority repairs. They're free, and open to anyone with a certain amount of high end gear.
Yes I am on it
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I can assure you I do know the difference, the question should be do I care?
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The Nikon one isn't.
Edited to clarify: The Nikon scheme isn't open to anyone with a certain amount of high end gear.
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I think collection by courier is free and the repair if under warranty is also
If you are participating in tax evasion I think it might be in your interest to care [emoji32]
It has a certain criteria of equipment you need to own to qualify
I can't recall the exact details but its something like
1 Pro body (within a certain time frame. The D200 was pro level but is too old for qualification now (i think)
2 Pro lenses
The list is available
And it means that you have free courier service to the Nikon repair centre somewhere down south.
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The NPS scheme is open to professional photographers only, with a criterea of kit
https://www.nikon.co.uk/sites/npsapplication/
The CPS scheme is qualifying kit only.
https://www.nikon.co.uk/sites/npsapplication/
The CPS scheme is qualifying kit only.
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Yes, that's my problem. I have over £300,000 worth of Nikon kit, and I earn my living from it, and many professional photographers rely on my company's services. But because I'm not a professional photographer myself, I'm not eligible for NPS, and I'm treated like a second class citizen by Nikon UK when it comes to servicing and repairs.
and within that £300,000 you don't have a 3 pro level pieces?
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Of course I do. But I'm not a professional photographer and therefore I am not eligible for NPS.
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- matt
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You would be if you owned Canon kit (smug smile - not really). Does seem a bit ridiculous of Nikon to be so pedantic.
Still, I suppose (in a Basil Fawlty way) it keeps the riff-raff out
Matt
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I have about £500,000 worth of Canon kit and the service I receive from them is off the top of the CPS scale.
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I'm coming round to your place to nick it all
Seriously, may be an idea to delete the amounts in case some thieving scumbag reads your posts.
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I'm coming round to your place to nick it all
Seriously, may be an idea to delete the amounts in case some thieving scumbag reads your posts.
I think if you realise Stewarts business then you'll realise why he has so much kit and also why someone once broke in, despite security measures. From that unfortunate occaision, I believe Stewart has taken even further measures.
Canon CPS security elves with ferocious guard dogs. Nikon wouldn't provide any as he wasn't a professional
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I am aware of his business, tongue in cheek commentI think if you realise Stewarts business then you'll realise why he has so much kit and also why someone once broke in, despite security measures. From that unfortunate occaision, I believe Stewart has taken even further measures.
Canon CPS security elves with ferocious guard dogs. Nikon wouldn't provide any as he wasn't a professional
Matt