Grey Imports

[Matthew Bromley]

I recently moved to Australia and in the search for cheap photographic equipment came across these sites, among others.

http://www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au/store/index.asp
http://www.unioncameraltd.com/

After some research I have established that these sites are so cheap as the products you buy are "Grey Imports"

A grey market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer. (from Wikipedia)

This essentially means you get the same new, boxed product but without the manufactures warranty, often the sellers own warranty (presumably inferior?)

Has anybody bought on the grey market? The savings are substantial, for example.

Jessops uk, Nikon D3s £3589
DigiWorld International (Fedex from Hong Kong) £2954

Over £600 cheaper! What do you guys reckon?

[OldBoy]

Grey market just means that a company sets different prices in different countries. So, in country A, which is rich they can charge more than country B which is poor. A firm can buy it's product in country B and then sell it cheaper in country A whilst getting the same profit margins. The only ones who lose out is the maker who gets less profit from country B than A therefore, the makers doesn't like this and tries to make it difficult to do this hence, restrictions on the warrenty.

Never brought from the grey market but have read comments from some who have, which suggest that some have had a bad experience but most have done OK. Need to research the company you are buying from to see if they are OK or not. I know some HK traders always get bad reviews from buyers but others are OK. Also, remember when buying this way you might not get the same protections on consumer rights as you might get in your own country. Credit cards are a case in point as, if you buy outside your country you might not be able to claim the cost back from them if something goes wrong.

[kiffy]

when i decided which camera i wanted i looked around for the best deal, and no suprise these grey's where a very good deal. one i found just to hard to resist. i bought mine through a company on ebay called wolu or soemthing like that. i emailed first asking about warrenty cover they said as most do return to us and we will honour the warrenty through our london workshop. their customer service does seem good... but ive not had reason to question it so far and hope i dont but for just over the standard kit price for the 550d i got a 75-300mm lens as well

[GeoffWessex]

The Nikon D3S mentioned works out at 3191 pounds here in Canada (and that's from a shop not noted for bargains). It's different prices for different markets, as OldBoy says.

[chris-p]

Dunno about the Aussie tax laws but, from within the UK at least, any non EU model will be liable for taxation and excise at customs (if it's found).

Also, remember that with cameras they may not conform to local safety regulations (HK models are not CE certified for example - technically illegal within the EU) and the warranties are localised as well. The worst case scenario if you buy from HK/Far East and ship to UK is that you get stung at customs for the excise duty and possible importation charges (depends on where it's coming from etc), you get it and it has a non-European firmware which you try to update. It fails as it won't load European firmware (this is actually quite common with Canon and Sony) which causes you to take the camera to an authorised repair company who tell you your warranty isn't valid and you've got a camera that doesn't comply with EU safety regulations.
Best case - you save a bit of cash and it's fine. Dunno what the rules are in Aus though.

As an aside though, it's worth knowing that lenses DO have global warranties (usually).