Grey imports

Bob

Bob

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Would you buy a grey import and save about £110 compared to uk prices or would you buy from uk dealer and pay full price
Bob
 
Cheapest Ive seen in UK is£499+P&P import £407 inc P&P
Bob
 
Bob said:
Cheapest Ive seen in UK is£499+P&P import £407 inc P&P
Bob
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is this a lens?

There isn't a great deal of difference between grey imports and standard items, as its the same item, one with the full warranty for that country and one with the warranty offered by the dealer (or in the case of HK retailer). Repairs would be done by the dealer rather than the item manufacturer. The question you should ask yourself is, what is the personal experience of others who have bought from this company that offering the grey import, what reviews have this company had on customer service etc, quite a few of the companies that offer grey imports in this country I won't touch with a barge pole, so there are other considerations to factor in other than price. Food for thought I hope
 
Have all taxes and collection fees been taken into account? How much will it cost to return the item to HK (or wherever it's sourced) if it needs to go back? Personally, I would go with a UK dealer, ideally on the high street, just in case.

Seeing that the OP's a Cannoneer, it's probably worth him getting in touch with Kerso.
 
I think we need a little clarity here, a grey import has the same spec as a UK item. This includes the tech spec of the item and the warranty spec.

eg; if your Jessops CanNokion 600mm lens comes with a lens cloth supplied then the grey import should too.
 
admirable said:
I think we need a little clarity here, a grey import has the same spec as a UK item. This includes the tech spec of the item and the warranty spec.

eg; if your Jessops CanNokion 600mm lens comes with a lens cloth supplied then the grey import should too.
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Also bear in mind the term grey import is often incorrectly used.

Many items bought from abroad by individuals have a manufacturer warranty.

Nikon Lenses do although the bodies don't
 
This is a Tamron lens posted in the UK imported from abroad Japan possible
Bob
 
Bob said:
This is a Tamron lens posted in the UK imported from abroad Japan possible
Bob
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You're still being abit vague about this lens. I assume that you mean, the lens is posted for sale on the web in the UK, but actually the lens will be delivered from Japan/HK etc, so have you included import duty / tax etc on top of the delivered price you've quoted.
 
My Canon 55-250 is a grey import and has a 1 year seller warranty so I am not too fussed.
 
The lens comes from Japan with 1 year seller warranty and if required is covered by Japanees warranty . It is posted in the UK so no VAT or import tax I know its dearer than 1stopdigital have quoted but at least they have it in stock so getting very tempted to buy one before its to late and there all gone
Bob
 
I buy most of my gear from Hong Kong and the USA. My most recent aquisitions have been a Canon 7D (£1060 New York), 17-55mm F/2.8 IS (£670 New York), 70-200mm F/4 IS (£760 Hong Kong). The 7D was purchased at the time UK customers were being charged £1699 so some of the savings I have made are very large.
 
So your advice would be to buy and save myself some money
Bob
 
Orville said:
I buy most of my gear from Hong Kong and the USA. My most recent aquisitions have been a Canon 7D (£1060 New York), 17-55mm F/2.8 IS (£670 New York), 70-200mm F/4 IS (£760 Hong Kong). The 7D was purchased at the time UK customers were being charged £1699 so some of the savings I have made are very large.
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So you would say buy and make a saving
Bob
 
There's nothing wrong with grey imports per se, It'll be made in the same factory, by the same people, the only difference is that it's not imported by the official UK distributor. But this does have implications in terms of warranty and support. A £200-300 saving would be definitely worth going for, £100 os so... well it's borderline really. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any particular loyalty to any UK company at all, (they're all just after your cash), but you do need to consider some of the issues.


Is that £110 saving still there if you pay customs duty, VAT and the carriers handling charge?
If not, and it's effectively evading duty, then I'd be very wary of taking it out of the country again, Customs aren't daft and if you can't prove duty has been paid you're in trouble. Unlikely but not impossible.


What happens if it turns out to be a lemon and needs fixing, can you get this done under warranty easily?
Again, more than likely it will be fine and you just won't need any warranty support at all. But it's not unknown to get an absolute dog, and you can't half get the run around if the supplier is at the other end of the world.

No I don't usually look on the black side of everything :) and to be honest only you can decide if it's worth it. But do be realistic and consider the options.

cheers
 
Bob said:
The lens comes from Japan with 1 year seller warranty and if required is covered by Japanees warranty . It is posted in the UK so no VAT or import tax I know its dearer than 1stopdigital have quoted but at least they have it in stock so getting very tempted to buy one before its to late and there all gone
Bob
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Is this an Ebay seller based in London?
If it is the same person I am thinking about and the same lens, you can get it here in the UK for £5 more.
Just come clean about the seller, no one in here is going to rob you of a deal and as I said, I'll be able to point you in the right direction for the lens if I am correct
 
hashcake said:
Is this an Ebay seller based in London?
If it is the same person I am thinking about and the same lens, you can get it here in the UK for £5 more.
Just come clean about the seller, no one in here is going to rob you of a deal and as I said, I'll be able to point you in the right direction for the lens if I am correct
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This is a link to the trader on ebay hldigitalbestbuy ( 7304) 99.8%
Bob
 
Bob said:
This is a link to the trader on ebay hldigitalbestbuy ( 7304) 99.8%
Bob
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Yup, that's who I was thinking about.
Are we taling about the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8VC ?
 
hashcake said:
Yup, that's who I was thinking about.
Are we taling about the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8VC ?
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Yes but if you know a uk seller thats only £5 more I would prefer them so if you will let me know I will give them a try
Bob
 
Bob said:
Yes but if you know a uk seller thats only £5 more I would prefer them so if you will let me know I will give them a try
Bob
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If you had a good look in this section of the forum you would have found the answer :)
Clifton cameras = £405
There is no current UK stock of the Canon version but the distributor (Intro 2020) have told me that they are expecting delivery at the end of the month.
Stuart from Digital Depot will match their price and he has one on back order for me :)
Plenty of members have bought from digital depot and speak highly of them.
I met Stuart and his staff when they joined us on a photowalk.
They brought along a bag full of lenses for people to try and this when I got the chance to try the Tamron 18-270mm VC and then I bought one.

https://www.digitaldepotuk.com/
Give them a call or send a message via their website and Stuart will email you quite quickly as his Blackberry is attached to him :)
Tell him I sent you.

It'll be worth the wait and a full UK warranty.
 
Sorted thanks to hashcake just have to wait now for delivery
Cheers Bob
 
Just a quick update to say Stuart at digital Depot came thro with a great price for my Tamron and it was delivered earlier this week after a bit of messing about on my side.:clap: So thanks for advice and thanks to Stuart only down side is I have to wait for christmass to use it as wife has claimed it for my christmass present:gag:
Bob:clap:
 
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