Buying from Hong Kong?

Barney12

Barney12

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Hi All

Some of you may have read my disastrous experience with purelygadgets.co.uk and I'm now left confused by all this "grey" import etc etc.

I've read a few posts that suggest onestopdigital and digitalrev are both reputable and appear to ship directly from Hong Kong. But what happens about warranty? The thought of having to send stuff back to Hong Kong for a repair fills me with fear....

any other issues to be aware of?

If it makes a difference I am looking at Sigma lenses.

Thanks in advance

Barney
 
Digitalrev have a UK address you ship the stuff back to - I had to do it with my Sigma 50-500 when the zoom was completely stuck.
 
In the case of some HK suppliers you have to balance the risk of something going wrong with the potential issue you'll have in returning it. You can save a lot of money by dealing direct with suppliers based in HK - but there are risks. I've bought whilst on holiday in HK - and the kit has been absolutely great - no issues - however if it had gone wrong - it would have had to have been shipped back across the globe for warranty.

There are some suppliers like Digitalrev that have a UK return base - so that's helpful.

You just have to balance which factors are most important to you - and make your decision.
 
Personally I'd only buy from a UK company authorised to sell their goods by the manufacturer with their UK warranty and be safe in the knowledge that all due taxes have been paid.
 
It also depends which manufacturer's equipment you're buying. For example Canon lenses have an international warranty, so you can send HK-bought or US-bought equipment to Canon UK for warranty repairs. But Sigma don't.
 
StewartR said:
It also depends which manufacturer's equipment you're buying. For example Canon lenses have an international warranty, so you can send HK-bought or US-bought equipment to Canon UK for warranty repairs. But Sigma don't.[/QUOTE

Do Nikon products bought in other countries have an international warranty that will be honoured in the UK?
Click to expand...
 
StewartR said:
It also depends which manufacturer's equipment you're buying. For example Canon lenses have an international warranty, so you can send HK-bought or US-bought equipment to Canon UK for warranty repairs. But Sigma don't.
Click to expand...

That's very true - however the bodies only have local warranties for some reason!
 
I have bought a number of Items from hong konkg and they have been ok, My rule for this is simple.

I never buy a camera from anyone other than a UK dealer the reason for this is that im my experience cameras a, fail more frequently than lenses B, they are more costly to repair.

If you dont want to take the risk buy from a UK dealer, theur are some good deals about
 
Remember Kelso...

I just bought my 50D and a 70-200 l f4 from him and the experience so far has been as described by most people on this site...graet...I picked it up...and know if there are any probs help is at hand...not always the case with some UK Dealers...

Just my opinion...

STEVIER
 
I wouldn't like to buy from HK, purely because in my experience things DO go wrong.
 
I bought a 17-40mm Canon lens from HK - no problems. My father bought a Sigma 70-300 mm lens from there, again with no problems, but I probably would not buy a camera body as its more likely to go wrong than a lens. Can't remember the name of the company but it was on Ebay.
 
StewartR said:
It also depends which manufacturer's equipment you're buying. For example Canon lenses have an international warranty, so you can send HK-bought or US-bought equipment to Canon UK for warranty repairs. But Sigma don't.
Click to expand...

Please correct me if this is wrong, but as I understand it Canon will only honour a European warranty (under normal circumstances) ie not Hong Kong etc.

Canon stuff from Kerso gets warranty because, even though US sourced, he supplies a UK invoice with a UK address and UK duty/VAT paid. That is what Canon want to see when you check stuff in - the actual warranty card is meaningless, at least in Canon's case.

This is how I understand it works with Canon, but I agree other manufacturers have different policies, and they seem to change quite a bit, with a fair dose of discretion occasionally shown.
 
i wander what prices are like in HK, obviously they are selling on ebay and maybe marking it up
 
In my quest for a new UWA lens I have been considering a Sigma 10-20 F3.5. These lenses are considerably cheaper from Hong Kong (£400) as opposed to official UK dealers (£550 odd). Anyhow, to be on the safe side I thought I would check with Sigma to see where I would stand with them warranty-wise if purchasing a lens outside of the UK, from the horse's mouth as it were.

A quick phone-call to Sigma UK and their response is follows :-

All EX lenses purchased via an approved UK dealer have a standard 3 year warranty.
Lenses purchased from abroad must show proof that UK 15% VAT and 6.7% import duty have been paid. A 1 year only warranty would then apply from the date of purchase.
 
The pound is so weak at the moment that the financial gain from buying direct from HK is less than it used to be. I'm not sure whether the relatively small savings which can be made offset the increased risk. Bear in mind that you should be paying import tax anyway - that's right, it's your legal obligation to make sure that it is paid (although in practice if they don't notice when it comes though customs your unlikely to get caught later I guess). Once this is paid you can end up paying more than you'd pay in the UK anyway.

I live in Japan and the pound is so weak now that many lenses work out cheaper when bought in the UK (although when I lived in the UK the opposite was true...just my luck).
 
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