The potential pitfalls of...

H

Hoodi

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OK, what are the potential pitfalls of getting a friend visiting the land of the rising sun to pick me up a D200?

I don't expect warranty to cover here, I expect the manual to be in Japanese (who reads these anyway? Pffff) and the interface should be language selectable, right?

Anything really big and obvious I'm missing?

Also, anyone know of any japanese shopping search engine thingys? Google keeps on giving me UK or US sites, even when I use Google Japan!
 
He could get busted coming through customs , embarassing for hime and expensive for you :)



Not that I've ever done such a thing :baby:
 
busted? For what? Buying himself a camera?

Worst case scenario they sting him for import tax - it's still a shedload cheaper than getting on here - or am I missing something?
 
You can download the manual in engrish.pdf format.

You can buy an international guarantee for any camera from macCam (google for them)

As per mrgubby, he could get busted but not that likely if he's only carrying the one camera plus bits and it's in a camera bag! so get him to leave the box behind and buy you a bag at the same time.
 
If he gets stopped at customs, it's import tax plus VAT on the purchase price plus a plastic coated finger up the jacksy if he's snippy abouit it ;)
 
Um, when I was in Japan last year it was actually cheaper to buy a Canon 350D in the UK than in there.
 
About £750 at the moment - even with VAT that's not too shoddy.
 
assume 22% for vat and import duty
 
That's with a grip, too - and I get free "finance" with my mate :D
 
Hoodi said:
how is import duty calculated? Forgot about that >.<
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It's 0% if you walk through the green channel and don't get caught .

Declare it in the red channel & it's about 5% then add on another 17.5% VAT .

Remember if caught in the Green channel it's the above + rubber gloves + fine = Not friends anymore ;)
 
mrgubby said:
Remember if caught in the Green channel it's the above + rubber gloves + fine = Not friends anymore ;)
Click to expand...

On a serious note, does that mean that customs worldwide are likely to be more tetchy with my mate? He travels a lot, and I obviously wouldn't want that...
 
Just tell him to get it for you, throw the receipt and box away and you will be fine if he goes through the green channel and gets caught it costs you a little extra but at the end of the day it's his arse not yours for the glove treatment!:D
 
mrgubby said:
Remember if caught in the Green channel it's the above + rubber gloves + fine = Not friends anymore ;)
Click to expand...
some might get cought 'on purpose'...:puke:

so hoodi, after an upgrade?
 
The D70 aint gonna last much longer...

Think I'll just get him to declare it. He's doing me a favour after all!
 
How would they know? I never carry reciepts on me to prove I bought my kit in the UK - and I carry about £20,000 worth of kit around with me, even on holiday.

Just give him an old-looking camera bag to put it all in and brief him up on how to use a camera - they may ask him to demo the kit (worst-case scenario) to prove it's not a bomb - in the same way that laptops have to be switched on at customs if you get spot-checked to prove it actually works and again, isn't a bomb.
If they say it looks new he just says "I look after my kit - it's expensive!"
 
I would agree. What you do is flat pack the boxes and mail them to yourself/whoevers getting the camera, and then carry the camera through

They have no way of proving it isn't his.

Simple :D
 
Why do you need the boxes? I chuck them straight in the bin along with all the polystyrene cr*p. The hard cases that lenses come in (apart from mega-tele's) never get used either, so they can be dumped as well.
 
agreed, dump the packaging, post the reciept and walk on through proud to be a nikon owner :)

who knows that you didnt have the camera on the way out? i've nerver been caught, infact the only time i bought a camera abroad i got them to refund the australian tax for me when i left the country!

ps i'm thinking the same as i'll be in singapore in a week :)
 
I carried my 24" Dell widescreen LCD monitor from across the pond. :D Might have been difficult to find an excuse if I got stopped.

PS: My manager is not thinking of carrying a 30" Dell widescreen LCD from across the pond. :O
 
Update as to what happened with this little escapade :

Decided that I couldn't be arsed to get a camera bag & lens up to my mate (he's living in Cambridge) - so the plan was for him to post the camera & grip back over. If customs picked up on it, then hey ho, that's life.

Except that he was too busy relaxing in saunas, wandering up Mt. Fuji, playing dodgy games & going "Oooohhh" at all the pretty lights to get around to posting it. So he took it back with him.

Nothing was said, nothing happened. He got in some trouble for "sneaking" a bottle of water on board, which resulted in them triple checking his passport & luggage... but still nothing was said about the new untaxed camera :D
So yes, all being well he should post the camera tommorow (plus a few choice bottles of saké, apparently!!) and I'll have it Thursday. Groovy!
 
Just picked up on this thread and thought I would share my experience.

I pre-registered the address Iwas staying in Nevada with my credit card company. Bought camera from New York and was posted across states (avoiding sales tax) to address in Nevada. Posted manuals CD's etc to myself in UK. Carried camera as tourist would and no problems.

The good bit? Saved about £500. :)
 
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