Selling on a used lens that was a grey import?

P

petersboulton

Messages
13
Name
Peter Boulton
Edit My Images
Yes
A couple of years ago I bought a lens from E-Infinity, a Hong Kong company. I knew it would be a 'grey' import. E-Infinity claimed to pay all import duties etc. so the price I paid was the price I paid. I believe they ship single bulk shipments to the UK, where a distribution company splits the contents into everyone's individual orders and sends them to each individual customer. So I received no import documentation whatever - the item was shipped, at least to me, from the UK.

The experience was great, I've bought several items from them and saved lots of money.

I'd now like to sell the lens. I listed it on Amazon and eventually received an email from Amazon, which opened with "We are contacting you because we received an intellectual property report from the rights owner listed below. The rights owner indicated that the items have been imported into the European Economic Area (EEA) without consent." Not sure how the rights owner knew this as the item is available to purchase in the UK, but I do accept it was a grey import, so I cancelled the listing.

So, my question is, is the lens now virtually unsaleable? If I advertise it as a grey import then, presumably, I run the risk of being chased by the ip owners of the lens. If I don't, that's not fair on the buyer.

Any wisdom will be most appreciated! Just don't slag me off for buying grey - if it turns out the lens is unsaleable then I'll just continue using it. I'm still 'ahead' from savings through grey imports.
 
There should be no reason why you can’t sell it on EBay or privately on here and elsewhere etc. Probably best to be upfront that it is grey though. You could also part exchange it at WEX and MPB I have traded grey equipment to them in the past with no issue.
 
Just sell it privately and let the buyer know, most, if not all of us know what a “grey” is, so it’s all fine, lots of people sale grey stuff on here and eBay, but to avoid problems just sell it privately, here, gumtree, Facebook market place etc.
 
petersboulton said:
A couple of years ago I bought a lens from E-Infinity, a Hong Kong company. I knew it would be a 'grey' import. E-Infinity claimed to pay all import duties etc. so the price I paid was the price I paid. I believe they ship single bulk shipments to the UK, where a distribution company splits the contents into everyone's individual orders and sends them to each individual customer. So I received no import documentation whatever - the item was shipped, at least to me, from the UK.
Click to expand...
A lot of these companies use carefully phrased language that seems to imply all required tax will be paid, but actually means they will only pay up if something is caught, which it usually isn't.

But the rights owners, whoever they are, don't care about tax. They are only concerned they are losing out when people use unofficial import channels that are less profitable to them. I'm curious about how they knew your item was grey. Did you have to enter the serial number or EAN/UPC barcode, or did you upload a photo that showed the serial number, barcode, receipt or packaging? Did you create a new ASIN, or did you assign the lens to an existing ASIN associated with a stock photo that may have suggested the lens was grey?
 
Last edited:
How do they know, that you didn’t go on holiday, buy the lens, declare it upon re-entering the U.K., and pay any revenue required, or is this not allowed either ?
 
Last edited:
As had been said already, sell it on ebay. You might have been the second owner anyway
 
Last edited:
I'm sure I read that Wex won't take grey goods. I recently sold a grey body and didn't bother getting a quote from them after reading their terms.
 
Hi there!

OP here. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to respond to my post. I understand the position much better now, thank you.

I checked the photo I had added to my Amazon listing and the serial number of the lens was not shown. So I suppose Sam*yang challenge every Amazon Seller listing as a routine.

Lots of alternative 'under-the-radar' options identified here, so clearly it's not a problem reselling greys.

Thanks again!

Pete
 
Seems like an aggressive and rather petty tactic. I wonder if it's the manufacturer, or the UK importer? If the item is listed as 'used' and there's no indication of how it was imported, then this will also hit their 'official' customers who simply want to resell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top