Thinking of buying a Nikon lens from USA NY trip??

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Taheer
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My brother will be going on holiday to new york for a week in september. An I was thinking of maybe getting him to buy me a lens while he's there. Im after a 50mm F1.8G, but have some questions.

1. Who are the most reputable retailers in NY?

2. Will there be customs payable when he gets back to uk?

3. What is the warranty situation?

4. Also is there anything (Nikon camera gear) definitley worth bringing back from there?

Thanks in advance.
 
not sure how cheap in US are for Nikon gear etc. You might get tax or you might get away, the one that usually get away is after the bought it they take the lens and other stuff etc and put it in their camera bag and leave the box behind etc ........

If you just take the whole shopping bag and leave, you might get tax .......

Not sure how they catch people tho ...... things might change now?
 
Adorama and B&H are the two well-known US retailers.

You'll proably have to pay UK duty & vat.

I wouldn't rely on a US warranty being any use in the UK.
 
Ozei said:
Adorama and B&H are the two well-known US retailers.

You'll proably have to pay UK duty & vat.

I wouldn't rely on a US warranty being any use in the UK.
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Nikon lens warranties are International.
 
badboy1984 said:
not sure how cheap in US are for Nikon gear etc. You might get tax or you might get away, the one that usually get away is after the bought it they take the lens and other stuff etc and put it in their camera bag and leave the box behind etc ........

If you just take the whole shopping bag and leave, you might get tax .......

Not sure how they catch people tho ...... things might change now?
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Well I just checked B&H. The 50mm f1.8g is $220 (£135). Im wondering if its same price instore??
 
PsiFox said:
Nikon lens warranties are International.
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Thanks for that info..

Ozei said:
Adorama and B&H are the two well-known US retailers.

You'll proably have to pay UK duty & vat.

I wouldn't rely on a US warranty being any use in the UK.
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I've just been searching on here and it seems that HMRC allow you to bring back £390 of stuff back before tax. But cant find anything on the official website. :shrug:??
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=257539&highlight=buying+usa
 
You need to multiply the price on B&H by 1.08875 to account for NY sales tax as well.
 
tee_tee said:
... it seems that HMRC allow you to bring back £390 of stuff back before tax.
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Ozei said:
Duty or VAT?
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You can bring in goods worth up to £390 without having to pay any import duty or VAT. There are certain exceptions. Full details on the HMRC website here.
 
I went to New York last month and B and H were really helpful and had loads of stuff! It covered 2 floors so hope he's not in a hurry! I would try this first as they are shut early on Friday and are closed on Saturday as most of the staff are practicing Jews, I could have spent a good few hours and some serious money in there!
 
I meant to add that there is a counter for Nikon, one for Canon, a whole section on Tamron and Sigma........ I think you get my drift, oh and another for tripods and bags....................oh not forgetting Sony !!!!
 
unplugged said:
VAT (or the eqiv) in the states varies from state to state therefore none of the priced their include tax. This is normally added at the checkout but it's only a few % at most.
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And in some states, it can vary from city to city, since cities can levy their own sales tax in addition to the state sales tax.

I lived in california for a while, and the sales tax would vary between the 3 supermarkets I shopped from (each had different selections of 'ethnic food', so I didn't stick with just one of them).

It can be a very confusing system, especially given that the tax isn't included in marked prices, and often isn't shown anywhere at all, just added onto your final bill.

OTOH, unlike VAT it is pretty much a flat tax, you don't have situations whereby it may or may not be applied depending on packaging, or even has multiple levels.

If you're visiting NYC, bear in mind that NJ is/was-last-I-checked sales tax free, and thus many NYers go to NJ shopping malls for their purchases.

(Also, pretty much all of the small camera shops in NYC are scams/fake-goods/etc, so avoid going to shops that you haven't scoped out their reputation online first - the scam camera shops used to be a regular news item when I lived in NY)

Also, it's not really relevant in this case... but FYI, import duty/VAT is waived entirely on personal property that has been owned by you for longer than 6 months, as long as you are not bringing it into the UK with the intent to sell it. The forms for declaring such 'personal property' is quite a pain though.
 
My sister lives in NYC and has just come home on a visit. From what I can see most Nikon lenses and bodies are not worth buying over there.....batteries and battery grips do look like decent value though.

I was recently in the market for a Nikon lens and I can tell you that Kerso was definitely the cheapest price I could find anywhere...that includes Hong Kong, New York etc. Definitely worth asking him, he's got a very good reputation on here. He was more than 5% cheaper than anyone else.
 
Beardy said:
My sister lives in NYC and has just come home on a visit. From what I can see most Nikon lenses and bodies are not worth buying over there.....batteries and battery grips do look like decent value though.

I was recently in the market for a Nikon lens and I can tell you that Kerso was definitely the cheapest price I could find anywhere...that includes Hong Kong, New York etc. Definitely worth asking him, he's got a very good reputation on here. He was more than 5% cheaper than anyone else.
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I did, but I dont think he sells the 50mm AF-S
 
I tried Kerso recently and he appears not to do Nikon any more.
 
unplugged said:
VAT (or the eqiv) in the states varies from state to state therefore none of the priced their include tax. This is normally added at the checkout but it's only a few % at most.
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Not sure if the situation has changed recently, but last time I bought anything from the US I declared that I was exporting the goods and the store refunded the sales tax(es) when I showed them my return flight ticket.
 
Don't forget duty free prices in the U.K. airport. There are sometimes good bargains to pick up.
 
Bristolian said:
Not sure if the situation has changed recently, but last time I bought anything from the US I declared that I was exporting the goods and the store refunded the sales tax(es) when I showed them my return flight ticket.
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PsiFox said:
Don't forget duty free prices in the U.K. airport. There are sometimes good bargains to pick up.
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Thanks chaps
 
PsiFox said:
I tried Kerso recently and he appears not to do Nikon any more.
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He was on a 24-70 last week! Maybe because it's an expensive lens it worked for him.
 
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm

You can bring back whatever you want up to the value of £390. You will be extremely unlucky to be stopped by customs but if you do as long as you have a receipt for the goods you can declare if your stopped.

Personally unless your bring back £1xxx's worth it's unlikely you will have an issue and you would have to be pretty unlucky for them to stop you and ask you to prove all your gear was uk purchased. Sure they can crosscheck the serial but for the sake of a few hundred for a lens I doubt it.
 
PsiFox said:
Don't forget duty free prices in the U.K. airport. There are sometimes good bargains to pick up.
Click to expand...

I have always found that you can buy cheaper away from the airport "duty free" doesn't mean cheap.
 
simonw said:
I have always found that you can buy cheaper away from the airport "duty free" doesn't mean cheap.
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The Nikon 24-70 was £1149 when I went through Heathrow about six weeks ago...cheaper than anywhere else.
 
I've done this many times on different goods when on holiday in Florida.

Never throw the box away, always posted the empty box & leaflets etc back to your home address that way you've got them if you ever decide to sell.
 
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