Grey items

taff63 · 13 Aug 2013

Looking to get a new lens (sigma150-500) and have seen some them vary in price from £550-800 so my question is what are grey items seen so many people saying bout it .

Mark

Danny8oy · 13 Aug 2013

They are imported from another country usually evading VAT so are somewhat cheaper. But you don't get a warranty as its only valid in the country it originated from.

amfoto · 13 Aug 2013

Danny8oy said:
They are imported from another country usually evading VAT so are somewhat cheaper. But you don't get a warranty as its only valid in the country it originated from.

So from what you say, this 3 year warranty aint worth the site its wrote on ??

Surely they wouldnt advertise a warranty if it wasnt a warranty ??

troutfisher · 13 Aug 2013

Its a warranty but you may find you have to send it back to the original supplier as the UK agents may not deal with it.

Danny8oy · 13 Aug 2013

amfoto said:
So from what you say, this 3 year warranty aint worth the site its wrote on ??

Surely they wouldnt advertise a warranty if it wasnt a warranty ??

Most of the sellers have a "seller warranty" You return it to them and they in turn send it in for repair. But unless you have a valid UK warranty card Canon UK won't repair it free of charge.

DemiLion · 13 Aug 2013

Danny8oy said:
Most of the sellers have a "seller warranty" You return it to them and they in turn send it in for repair. But unless you have a valid UK warranty card Canon UK won't repair it free of charge.

Canon ask for a VAT receipt. Not a warranty card.

Danny8oy · 13 Aug 2013

DemiLion said:
Canon ask for a VAT receipt. Not a warranty card.

I'm pretty sure they would only accept VAT receipts from authorised dealers therefore ones that sell UK products so end of the day your not going to get a grey market item repaired for free..... :thinking:

pastyman · 13 Aug 2013

Danny8oy said:
I'm pretty sure they would only accept VAT receipts from authorised dealers therefore ones that sell UK products so end of the day your not going to get a grey market item repaired for free.....

The warranty is honoured by the seller, ie HDEW, 3 year warranty, the item WILL get repaired, I had a 7D from them, after a month I wasn't happy with the focus, they replaced it without question.
Now there are plenty of, if you like, genuine UK companies that wouldn't do that.....

Danny8oy · 13 Aug 2013

pastyman said:
The warranty is honoured by the seller, ie HDEW, 3 year warranty, the item WILL get repaired, I had a 7D from them, after a month I wasn't happy with the focus, they replaced it without question.
Now there are plenty of UK companies that wouldn't do that.....

Perhaps I'm not quite understanding this whole thread but I was talking about sending a grey market lens in to canon UK to be repaired under warranty when it was imported without VAT. But like Darrin says there are plenty of grey dealers that do offer warranty as you will find on ebay.