buying lenses from hong kong sellers (ebay)

antc

antc

antc

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have any of you guys on here purchased lens from hk sellers on ebay.

does it effect the warrenty in anyway, can they be repaired in this country if there are any faults and did you have to wait long for your purchase to arrive?

im looking at a few different hk sellers that i will not mention due to them being possible competitors

cheers
 
Got my 70-200 L from a HK seller, had no problems with the guy.

[TAX EVASION IS ILLEGAL, PLEASE DO NOT PROMOTE IT ON THE FORUMS] :) The delivery took 5 days and the item arrived perfect, i'd definately order from someone like that again.

Ooer, the dons got me :p

Sorry.
 
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A random name said:
Got my 70-200 L from a HK seller, had no problems with the guy.

[TAX EVASION IS ILLEGAL, PLEASE DO NOT PROMOTE IT ON THE FORUMS]:) The delivery took 5 days and the item arrived perfect, i'd definately order from someone like that again.
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Not a good idea. Tax evasion isn't a good thing to do.

Your best bet is to buy from a HK dealer who will refund the VAT and duty such as Digital Rev or Onestop.
 
xolotl said:
Not a good idea. Tax evasion isn't a good thing to do.

Your best bet is to buy from a HK dealer who will refund the VAT and duty such as Digital Rev or Onestop.
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It's in a LOT of the auction descriptions saying that they'll do that, if it's so bad why don't Ebay pull the auctions? :\
 
Because Ebay doesnt moderate its self at all. It relies entirely on users reporting suspect auctions.

[deleted] Its just not a very good thing to do. While you might get away with it on a small item its going to be pretty obvious if your item gets stopped that a big white lens isn't a gift of no commercial value.

Considering there are sellers who will pay up the VAT its silly to buy from one who would rather try to evade it.
 
xolotl said:
Because Ebay doesnt moderate its self at all. It relies entirely on users reporting suspect auctions.

[deleted] Its just not a very good thing to do. While you might get away with it on a small item its going to be pretty obvious if your item gets stopped that a big white lens isn't a gift of no commercial value.

Considering there are sellers who will pay up the VAT its silly to buy from one who would rather try to evade it.
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But the thing is, with those sellers who are willing to refund the VAT, their prices are usually higher :p People will usually just go for the cheaper price and risk the VAT spike which will be lowered.
 
A random name said:
But the thing is, with those sellers who are willing to refund the VAT, their prices are usually higher :p People will usually just go for the cheaper price and risk the VAT spike which will be lowered.
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They are?

Take the the 70-200 IS for example.

A vat refund auction. £1,029.99 + £56.00 = £1085

A gift one £974.99 + £62.00 = £1037

£48 difference. That's 5%, not much at all. Well worth paying for the extra safety and legality it gives you.
 
A random name said:
:D

Naughty, naughty people.
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It just means that should Customs grab it then they'll save the tax of the difference in price between a non-gift item and a gift item, I think - it's only a few quid anyhow though - so it's somewhat of a myth that marking something as a gift saves it from customs.

Been a while since I read the info though and there's lots of different classifications of goods so really, who knows :D Luck of the draw as to whether or not they grab it I guess. Seems to be good luck most of the time from what I've read on here, though :)
 
xolotl said:
They are?

Take the the 70-200 IS for example.

A vat refund auction. £1,029.99 + £56.00 = £1085

A gift one £974.99 + £62.00 = £1037

£48 difference. That's 5%, not much at all. Well worth paying for the extra safety and legality it gives you.
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That's £50 quid cheaper ;) I know i'd go for the £50 cheaper one :p

Beansprout said:
It just means that should Customs grab it then they'll save the tax of the difference in price between a non-gift item and a gift item, I think - it's only a few quid anyhow though - so it's somewhat of a myth that marking something as a gift saves it from customs.

Been a while since I read the info though and there's lots of different classifications of goods so really, who knows :D Luck of the draw as to whether or not they grab it I guess. Seems to be good luck most of the time from what I've read on here, though :)
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I got spiked and the seller payed it back despite saying in the original auction that it was all my responsibility :) Really really nice guy to deal with.
 
A random name said:
That's £50 quid cheaper ;) I know i'd go for the £50 cheaper one :p
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You would?

Save £50 at the risk of being lumped with a £250 customs bill (VAT + Duty + Courier fee usually works out about 25%). That's something I would be willing to pay.

Its also worth nothing that Sigma wont honour an international warranty without proof you payed the VAT.
 
I bought a Sigma EX lens and saved well over £100 buying from HK without the risk of taxes (although I have bought from dealers who guarantee no tax).
It was a simple pleasant transaction that worried me not a bit since lenses generally only come with a 12 month guarantee anyway!!
 
I've ordered a couple of lenses from HK, Sigma and Nikon branded.

Both came through, with no problems from Customs about money to pay. Id say Onestop are a pretty good bet, as they offer a VAT/Import Duty refund.
 
gobbo said:
I've ordered a couple of lenses from HK, Sigma and Nikon branded.

Both came through, with no problems from Customs about money to pay. Id say Onestop are a pretty good bet, as they offer a VAT/Import Duty refund.
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The owner of onestop is also a really good guy to deal with, really friendly :)
 
I've personally never seen the value (ahaha) in buying lenses from abroad. I'd rather pay a little bit extra and buy a UK lens with an extended warranty to protect against accidential damage and other random occurances.

Over the years it's saved me having to buy a new lens when one got smashed up (£500+) and send a lens in for servicing - I just took it into the store and got it sorted through them. It's also brilliant selling point when you come to flog your lenses as you can transfer the warranty.
 
I bought all of my lenses from HK (Digital Rev) :

Canon 17-40L F4
Canon 24-70L F2.8
Canon 100 Macro F2.8
Canon 100-400L IS

From memory I saved around £800 when compared to cheapest UK prices, which is quite a saving :)

The warranty side of things has been excellent.
The image stabiliser in my Canon 100-400L failed exactly a year after I bought the lens. I contacted Digital Rev by e-mail and explained the situation. They told me to send it to Canon UK and they would cover all repair costs.

I had to pay shipping myself (£20) but Digital Rev covered the £200 repair costs and 1 month later I had a fully working lens again :)

I would definitely use them again.
 
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