Buying From Japan

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I'm currently hankering after a Nikon F2 looking on Ebay most what appear to be 'good deals' are form either Japan or the US has anyone had any experience for buying a Camera form Japan or the US I assume I will be hit with import charges on top of the purchase price
 
Yup you'll be hit with import charges + the service's handling fee. Might be lucky and not pay at all. Work out the charges using a calculator and if it's less than what F2s in similar condition go for here then buy one, however being patient does pay off. I was looking at Pentax 67 55mm SMCs on eBay for a while until a local one turned up and ended up being way less than what I would have paid for a Japan sourced one even if it managed to slip through customs undetected.
 
I've bought a few LF lenses and an RB67 from Japan all have ended up with customs charges but even with those they were still bargains compared with what was available locally.
 
I have found the quality and condition of the Japanese stuff to be very good, they really look after the kit and describe it very accurately.
 
I've bought quite a few items from Japanese and Korean eBay sellers and their service has always been excellent. Very fast postage and everything has been at least as good as described, and often better. Honestly, I'd rather buy from those guys than people in the UK, who have palmed me off with junk on several occasions.
 
I got one an F2A from Japan off of ebay. The camera was as described & I have been very happy with it. The seller even included a hand written enjoy the camera letter with a green tea teabag.

As others have said, expect to pay VAT & the Royal Mail handling fee on top of it. Wonder what has happened to the £ vs the Yen post Brexit? The camera might have been a bit cheaper a couple of weeks ago? When I got my bits even with import charges they were a better deal than buying from the UK. Might not be if the £ has plunged against the Yen?

I have heard horror stories of kit from Japan having fungus inside it due to climate. As well as the F2 I have had a finder for an F4 & an old Nikkor S 50mm F1.4 from Japanese ebay sellers & all have been fine. All sellers have had 100% feedback.

Am hoping to get an AS from ebay Japan later in the year for a me to me Christmas present. :)
 
steveo_mcg said:
I've bought a few LF lenses and an RB67 from Japan all have ended up with customs charges but even with those they were still bargains compared with what was available locally.
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I'm in the same boat as Steve.

I bought an RZ67 from Japan, which turned out to be a broken RB67 ;) I got to keep it but got stung with the import charges (about £60 from memory), although it's probably worth that as parts.

I then bought a "proper" RZ67 Pro II followed by 4 lenses individually, all from Japan. All of those were excellent and I think about half didn't stop at customs.

Worth remembering that if customs do detain and charge you get hit with the admin charge of the courier as well (between £15 and £30 normally, IME). As Steve says though, if you buy wisely and you're buying more expensive gear, it can still be well worth it. There's probably a price point below which it's just not worth the hassle.

Also worth noting that a few items arrived in 3 days (that includes the odd grey import I've bought too)!
 
Same here. No problem with service and delivery.
I've never had to pay import duty etc (so far! ) and prices are very keen.

US P&P costs an arm and a leg. I never buy from there for that reason.
 
pjm1 said:
bought an RZ67 from Japan, which turned out to be a broken RB67 ;) I got to keep it but got stung with the import charges (about £60 from memory), although it's probably worth that as parts.
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That's some description error!

Yeah meant to say that, EMS from Japan is usually quicker than second class from Glasgow only downside is that it's usually delivered by parcel farce who leave packages in my local post office which is only open two hours a day for giro dispensation and lottery tickets.
 
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I've bought several things from Japan and it's been no more hassle than buying mail order in this country except for ParcelFarce. Parcels are usually in the country within 3 or 4 days, then they sit in a pile at the point of entry until someone gets around to determining the duty and rolling a couple of dice to find out how many extra days that PF will use it as a door stop or paperweight.

Import duty for cameras is 4.2% and lenses are 6.7% of value (source), then VAT is calculated on the total including the import duty and finally you've got the hostage fee from PF (or other carrier). Basically, the carrier pays Customs the amount due and charges that on to you with their fee for this "service" added on top, despite your never having the opportunity to pay the duty yourself direct to Customs. The carrier has been paid by the original sender to deliver the parcel to your door, the "service" charge is to cover their administrative costs of providing the service, which you can't decline and which was written into law a few years ago after people starting asking why they had to pay it.

All carriers charge a hostage fee, the reason PF annoys me more than the others is that they have two charges - £8.95 if the item was sent for 48-hour delivery or £13.95 if it was sent for 24-hour delivery (prices correct as at the last time I imported anything). I've never been able to find out why there's a difference and no one at my local PF has had any explanation beyond, "that's what it says here". Regardless of how long it's supposed to take, you'll usually have to wait a couple of weeks for them to inform you of the amount due.

So always add on all the charges before deciding whether or not something's worth importing. I've only had a problem with one item, a camera that was described as perfect but where the metal shutter blades were creased (Canon P, it's a common issue which is why I'd confirmed that the blades were good with the seller). I asked for a part-refund and the seller contested it until I uploaded some photos of the shutter blades to ebay in the dispute along with their original confirmation that they were unmarked, at which point the seller immediately withdrew their objection.
 
Thanks for all your replies guys much appreciated
 
Strappy said:
despite your never having the opportunity to pay the duty yourself direct to Customs.
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You could employ a customs agent and import it yourself, although I have a feeling it might be more expensive than getting Parcelforce to do it.
 
abdoujaparov said:
You could employ a customs agent and import it yourself, although I have a feeling it might be more expensive than getting Parcelforce to do it.
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I can pay my electricity bill online. I can set up my council tax payment online. I can buy my groceries online. Yet for whatever reason, I'm unable to make a payment that I'm quite willing to pay without the unsolicited "services" of a third party, which I'm then charged for on the basis of a number pulled out of thin air.

I've enquired about the process - items received at the airport are put into a trolley, which is taken into the Customs shed where someone goes through them determining the import duty and VAT due based on the value stated on the declaration stuck on the outside of the box. That amount is totalled and passed to the relevant carrier, who makes a single bulk payment and the items are released to that carrier for onward transportation to their warehouse where they are held for ransom.

It's not bulk importation, there's no need for a bonded warehouse, it's essentially a conveyor belt process. Please let me know if I've missed something though, I'd really like to understand where the "service" comes from that I'm paying for.
 
abdoujaparov said:
According to the HMRC website, you can get the sender to write "goods to be declared by importer" on the declaration, and HMRC will send you a letter telling you how to pay the duty.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/documents

Takes up to 4 weeks, though.
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And imagine trying to explain that you need this letter from a Japanese seller on ebay when all he wants to do is pop your camera or lens in the post. It's not exactly a solution to the issue of an unsolicited service, is it.
 
In terms of customs, it's kind of a lottery really. I've bought a couple of LF lenses from Japan now and while one, the cheaper by far, was charged customs and import, etc, the more expensive one wasn't. No idea to this day why.
 
Woodsy said:
In terms of customs, it's kind of a lottery really. I've bought a couple of LF lenses from Japan now and while one, the cheaper by far, was charged customs and import, etc, the more expensive one wasn't. No idea to this day why.
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Wonder if this would change on leaving the EU and have a trade agreement with Japan.......................................................
 
Woodsy said:
In terms of customs, it's kind of a lottery really. I've bought a couple of LF lenses from Japan now and while one, the cheaper by far, was charged customs and import, etc, the more expensive one wasn't. No idea to this day why.
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WHS

This has been exactly my experience. I have bought some great items, mainly Pentax 645 kit which has proved hard to get at sensible prices in the UK. The kit has been excellent and the sellers descriptions spot on. The additional costs for bring into the UK appear to have been utterly random though. That said, I would still source kit this way.
 
Woodsy said:
Just when you thought three full stops wasn't enough.......................................................

;)
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I've read papers with fewer...
 
Woodsy said:
In terms of customs, it's kind of a lottery really. I've bought a couple of LF lenses from Japan now and while one, the cheaper by far, was charged customs and import, etc, the more expensive one wasn't. No idea to this day why.
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If the declaration label didn't state a value above the duty threshold (£135) you'd not have to pay that but you'd still be liable to pay VAT as the threshold for that is lower (£15) or you got lucky and they skipped your parcel. That happened to me once about 8 years ago and every time I placed an order I'd be hoping for it to happen again. :)
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I've managed to pick on up off E bay form in the UK got a few lenses with it too just hope it's ok now!
 
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