Buying lenses abroad...

Lord Carson

Lord Carson

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I am going to Tenerife in a couple of weeks and was wondering if it was cheaper to buy a couple of new lenses there. Has anyone ever done this ?
 
sometimes warranties aren't honored - you would have to ship it to tenerife for thee waranty to be honoued, if you get an international warranty then no problems ;)
 
It sometimes is cheaper to buy abroad,but check out any import tax you might have to pay before you buy.:):thumbs:
 
I have just come back from Cyprus and rest assured that due to the ever falling Euro against the pound you aint getting anything cheaper abroad.

Electronics worked out so much more expensive and even basic things like bottles of water have rocketed over there so I doubt Tenerife will be any better.
 
Even though it's supposed to be tax-free Tenerife isn't the best place for bargain shopping. A few years back, when the pound was getting around the 1,48€ mark, a Rolex Submariner, which could be bought here (Rolex dealer) at the time for £2350 worked out at nearly £2700 and that was before any tax/duty you'd have to pay if you got caught bring it back through.

I also don't recall ever seeing any "proper" camera shops in the main resorts in the south, but I suppose there must be some....
 
hmm, i don recomend walking into any electronis store with an asian or indian man standing outside (or inside) telling you he'l give you "good price,asda price" or if he cals you del boy. done this before, swiped my dads card twice, cos us double for a video camera. the cam didnt work and we had to call the police after my dad rang his card company.
please note that i dont have anythign against asian or ndian gentlemen and i dont mean to cause offence to anybody( sorry if i do) but these stores are all linked through a family anf these families are generaly indian.
 
daugirdas said:
Can someone explain me please, how can they tell where and when the lens was bought (presuming you don't have the boxes and posted the receipts beforehand)?
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The usual way they do it is if they suspect anything they seize the item and then it's up to you to prove the duty has been paid.....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The usual way they do it is if they suspect anything they seize the item and then it's up to you to prove the duty has been paid.....
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So, if I go abroad with a new-ish looking 2nd hand lenses - I may be in trouble when coming back?! Or do I have to take a photo of me with them near Big Ben also showing their serials numbers and print it?
 
daugirdas said:
So, if I go abroad with a new-ish looking 2nd hand lenses - I may be in trouble when coming back?! Or do I have to take a photo of me with them near Big Ben also showing their serials numbers and print it?
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It's quite possible, yes. Like I said, if you have something that HMRC suspect hasn't had the duty paid on it they can seize it. You honestly think they don't know people post boxes for lenses or watches or whatever home and then waltz through the green channel with them? :lol:
 
No, you don't have to take a picture of you and Big Ben....you just need to produce a bill of sale/receipt or if purhased privately a letter of purchase.

Simples.
 
daugirdas said:
Can someone explain me please, how can they tell where and when the lens was bought (presuming you don't have the boxes and posted the receipts beforehand)?
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Customs have a database of serial numbers which are related to the market they are sold in. Been there.

(Sorry, can't answer anything further till end of week. Going away now)
 
When the £ was strong against the dollar I regularly bought from B&H in the US, it worked out cheaper even paying the taxes which were collected by the international shipping company before delivery.

doubt that's the case now though :'(
 
Phobic said:
When the £ was strong against the dollar I regularly bought from B&H in the US, it worked out cheaper even paying the taxes which were collected by the international shipping company before delivery.

doubt that's the case now though :'(
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You might be surprised.

Yesterday I was thinking about buying a Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS USM. Cheapest UK price (excluding dodgy eBay sellers who are trying to hide from the VAT man): £7300+. Price from B&H in New York: £5750, including shipping, import duty and VAT. Amazing.
 
About a year ago I priced up every lens in B&H and all of them, except the 50mm 1.8, were cheaper to buy, pay at least $100 for shipping (up to $350 for heavier and more expensive items), pay import duty at 6.5% (IIRC) and VAT at 17.5%.

If buying multiple lenses the price got even lower as only 1 lot of shipping etc.

Having just had a look again most of the longer lenses are cheaper on B&H than from the UK
 
Just an quick update......
I have returned from holiday in Tenerife and treated myself to a lens for my D40. I bought a Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS with a couple of filters for 275 Euros ( about £240 ). I reckon I saved a few bob even with a poor exchange rate.

BTW there was no problem at customs :)
 
chrisforshaw said:
I've just had a look at the B&H website, where does it say import tax is paid? If it is I'll be ordering myself a canon 100-400L pronto
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I ordered from B&H recently, and UPS actually charged the Duty/VAT for HMRC, then obviously (hopefully) pass it onto them...
 
Flash In The Pan said:
You honestly think they don't know people post boxes for lenses or watches or whatever home and then waltz through the green channel with them? :lol:
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What is the chance of getting stopped though?

Most of my stuff is mint and apart from the shutter count on the body, it would probably pass for brand new......and logistically they couldn't ask for the details on every new looking expensive item, so it is just a random sample or something?
 
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