Sooooo much cheaper- why?

[Mr Perceptive]

That's an interesting explanation of VAT on secondhand items, and explains why it is rarely worth buying 2nd hand if you are VAT registered.

Stewart, do you know if the VAT-registered induividual buying something from a dealer on the margin scheme can claim back the VAT on the margin?

i was under the impression (perhaps wrongly) that some secondhand dealers actually sell on commission (eg Ffordes???) in which case, from what you say, there might be a case for the VAT registered individual buying from them.

You probably didn't want any further questions on this subject but it would clear these issues up for me if you could!

You can't claim VAT back when the item is sold to you on the margin scheme - (unfortunately) - and as a VAT registered entity it is often cost effective to buy new (especially if you negotiate some sort of discount!)

 

[realspeed]

Vat Flate rates including photographers

https://www.gov.uk/vat-flat-rate-scheme/how-much-you-pay

 

[TimHughes]

Unfortunately it is no longer available on ebay.
I spoke to the seller, which was a shop in Manchester and they told me that it was a chap who had bought it last year (and the date code seemed to confirm this) and was changing to Nikon. The lens was originally supplied from the UK and it all seemed OK, plus there was a 30 day return policy. I was quite happy with the explanation - the problem is this is definitely a "Want" not "need" purchase and whilst I pondered over was I saving £3500 or spending £7500 the lens was sold. You snooze you lose as they say.
I have to say that tempted as I am by the 600mm not only is it a huge outlay it appears to be a beast of a lens to carry around and use, I certainly don't think I could hand hold it for anything more than a short burst.

Shame seems like you missed a bargain. It was a "want" for me too and has been extremely satisfying - for wildlife when you need reach I don't think there is anything better. I carry it in a lowepro flipside 500aw with tripod and gimbal head or monopod and find it quite ok and it gets a lot of use, most weekends in normal times of the year. Hand holding is only possible for short bursts as you say.

 

[Fordsabroad]

Shame seems like you missed a bargain. It was a "want" for me too and has been extremely satisfying - for wildlife when you need reach I don't think there is anything better. I carry it in a lowepro flipside 500aw with tripod and gimbal head or monopod and find it quite ok and it gets a lot of use, most weekends in normal times of the year. Hand holding is only possible for short bursts as you say.

You don't make life any easier with posts like that. I was trying to convince myself that it was not just the lens but having to buy a new camera bag etc then you say you that it fits into a Lowepro flipside 500aw which I already have as well as a gimble head and sturdy tripods/monopods. Now I really feel bad about missing the ebay one!
I know it is one heck of a price but anyone that I speak to that has one does not regret buying it and all seem to enjoy it. I would consider an earlier model but that is even heavier and I am not sure how well it performs with TC's

 

[TimHughes]

You don't make life any easier with posts like that. I was trying to convince myself that it was not just the lens but having to buy a new camera bag etc then you say you that it fits into a Lowepro flipside 500aw which I already have as well as a gimble head and sturdy tripods/monopods. Now I really feel bad about missing the ebay one!
I know it is one heck of a price but anyone that I speak to that has one does not regret buying it and all seem to enjoy it. I would consider an earlier model but that is even heavier and I am not sure how well it performs with TC's

You will be ready next time

 

[StewartR]

Stewart, do you know if the VAT-registered induividual buying something from a dealer on the margin scheme can claim back the VAT on the margin?

i was under the impression (perhaps wrongly) that some secondhand dealers actually sell on commission (eg Ffordes???) in which case, from what you say, there might be a case for the VAT registered individual buying from them.

You can't claim VAT back when the item is sold to you on the margin scheme - (unfortunately) - and as a VAT registered entity it is often cost effective to buy new (especially if you negotiate some sort of discount!)

That's absolutely correct.

You probably didn't want any further questions on this subject but it would clear these issues up for me if you could!

Nah, I don't mind. Unfortunately I probably know more about VAT than I do about photography.

 

[StewartR]

Unfortunately it is no longer available on ebay.
I spoke to the seller, which was a shop in Manchester ....

I tried to find it, to see who the seller was. I still couldn't find it.

 

[Tysonator]

You have it the wrong way around.
Tax evasion = non-payment of tax, illegal
Tax avoidance= minimising tax due, legal

yep that seems good explanation

DigitalRev had a good rep as far as I am aware, and cheaper than those mentioned

https://store.digitalrev.com/produc...Mdit3Cmh0viqQeHw2lzH2Jdv1tETJQXRoCIiEQAvD_BwE

They even have their own section in this forum

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/digitalrev.108/

This is the same site that Kai from YouTube use to work for ! ?
So I think this will be a good option for purchasing Grey goods.

I have a Grey EF70-300L IS USM which developed a fault 2 weeks outside its importers warranty. So naturally they would not repair it.
I sent to Canon who mentioned they would repair it for free as it was just out side the warranty, however once they checked it was a Grey import I paid the full repair cost. Which brought me total spend for the lens back to what I would have paid if I had purchased it in the UK !

So now I buy used equipment if I can with services history ( not always possible depending on what you are buying ) as if it ever needs a repair I do not mind ( too much ) paying for it.
.

 

[Csaba]

I have a Grey EF70-300L IS USM which developed a fault 2 weeks outside its importers warranty. So naturally they would not repair it.
I sent to Canon who mentioned they would repair it for free as it was just out side the warranty, however once they checked it was a Grey import I paid the full repair cost. Which brought me total spend for the lens back to what I would have paid if I had purchased it in the UK !

Good t hear that Canon were originally prepared to fix it outside the official warranty period. I had a high street electronics store refuse to repair a faulty laptop 1-2 months outside the warranty period. They caved in as soon as I referenced the Sale of Goods Act and got Consumer Direct/Trading Standards involved.

 

[Fordsabroad]

I tried to find it, to see who the seller was. I still couldn't find it.

Hi Stuart
Well that sort of threw the gauntlet down for me! As it has gone from Ebay and I couldn't find any trace of it I thought I would struggle then I remembered I had phoned them so I googled the number from my phone history and it came up as the Real Camera Company in dale street Manchester.

 

[George]

Unfortunately it is no longer available on ebay.
I spoke to the seller, which was a shop in Manchester and they told me that it was a chap who had bought it last year (and the date code seemed to confirm this) and was changing to Nikon. The lens was originally supplied from the UK and it all seemed OK, plus there was a 30 day return policy. I was quite happy with the explanation - the problem is this is definitely a "Want" not "need" purchase and whilst I pondered over was I saving £3500 or spending £7500 the lens was sold. You snooze you lose as they say.
I have to say that tempted as I am by the 600mm not only is it a huge outlay it appears to be a beast of a lens to carry around and use, I certainly don't think I could hand hold it for anything more than a short burst.

Get a 400 f4 DO Mk 2 with a 1.4 or 2x converter.........brilliant combo.

 

[StewartR]

... the Real Camera Company in dale street Manchester.

They look pretty legit to me. Anything used equipment they sell will almost certainly be on the margin scheme for VAT, in which case the sale price includes an element of unreclaimable VAT on their profit margin. Or it might be a commission sale of course, in which case all bets are off.

 

[GreenNinja67]

They look pretty legit to me. Anything used equipment they sell will almost certainly be on the margin scheme for VAT, in which case the sale price includes an element of unreclaimable VAT on their profit margin. Or it might be a commission sale of course, in which case all bets are off.

they are legit. I've been in there.

It's an Aladin's (sp) cave of everything from cine stuff right up to modern digital. Great place to spend some time mooching in.

 

[Kilrymont]

An ancient thread, but these things can still show up in search results so -
Mention's been made of buying nice recent fresh looking lenses via ebay.
I've done that twice. Both times the lens arrived just as described. but inside several months the auto diaphragm in each went AWOL.
Off to the Canon repairer in Glasgow. ((I'm a Scot, in Scotland) And the bills meant that with carriage I ended up paying overall roughly the new-and-warranted price. With the attendant loss of use and frustration associated with each failure.
These weren't Canons cheap-and-cheerful low grade chinese tripe, both were L grade models. The EF 300 F4L IS USM and the commoner EF 24-105 F4L IS USM.
Each of these suddenly refused to stop down. The tele model also froze up my 7D.
Offering this as a bit of add in info to the wrangle that seemed to result from the original enquiry, which resulted in in one poster mentioning buying a very large and expensive lens used via ebay. hence my reason for tossing in my tuppenceworth. I think that used lenses are only a good buy if you know the seller well and trust his account of the lens's history.
But buying used via ebay can result in very fresh looking examples being, in fact, heavily but carefully used and not therefore quite the good buy they might appear to be.
Certainly I never bought another used lens of ANY sort. (All of the above happened way prior to 2017 when this thread appeared.)
Just remembered. I once sold a 350d with a 17-85 canon zoom to a pal. I'd bought it used, can't recall where now. six months later the lens failed as per my two above. Seems to me that Canon's diaphragms are poorly constructed, in each case it's the flexi conductor that fatigues, then develops an open circuit condition and so switching impulses from the body don't reach the diaphragm actuator.