Buying lenses from eBay

Leebert

Leebert

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Hi all,

I'm on the lookout for a lens and there's a brand new one on eBay but it's in Hong Kong.

The seller is Chinaarts who have 100% good feedback and there has been at least one positive mention about them on here.
The price is a fair old saving to the equivalent lens over here and the seller states that a worldwide warranty card will come with the lens.

I'm guessing the worst case scenario is that I get stung for import duty and VAT (as well as the couriers admin charge) although the seller implies that a lesser item value is declared for the item. Either that, or the lens will be treated badly and damaged by the courier.

Has anyone bought a new lens from an international seller from eBay? Has anyone got any experience - good or bad please?

Many thanks,
Lee
 
I've bought a original battery grip from malaysia before. goods is not damage and in perfect condition. Camera item warranty usually world wide i think.

Only thing you need to worry is Tax and admin charge. admin charge usual around £10 approx and tax is depend on the value of the product. Sometimes is not worth it and sometimes is cheaper even you get tax.
 
Be prepared to add Vat (20%) and import tax (6%) plus any handling charge levied by the courier.
Strictly speaking, the taxes are calculated on the item value and not the price paid although I suspect it's rare for the authorities to enforce this.

Bob
 
it could be price paid for. Because i've bought a battery grip for £135 and the declare value is $100 then i got tax £13 plus £10 admin charge (thats paid to courier).

Work out cheaper than here still.
 
Tori_T said:
You should read this.
If it's spotted, HMRC can't touch Chinaarts, so they'll get you instead.
Click to expand...

Well yeah you right about that and the seller.

But camera product sell way way less over in china, hong kong and malaysia etc. Thats even in retail. i.e jessop sells £500 for a lens, hong kong sell it for £350-400.

If the declare value is correct without lied than is fine but you have to consider tax on top as well to see weather is worth it or not. I know Digitalrev price is all include VAT and still slightly cheaper than uk compare to some retail or shops.
 
I got a bill for VAT and Import Duty THREE YEARS after I bought a lens from Hong Kong :gag:
 
I bought a lens recently from Hong Kong and wasn't charged, however after reading the above I'll not count my chickens just yet!
 
You don't say which make it is but if it's a Nikon the worldwide warranty might not apply. You need proof of purchase in your name and it needs to be from a recognised camera retailer for it to be valid....so if the eBay seller is an individual selling lenses or other things as a sideline you might not be covered. A copy of an eBay transaction won't be enough.

I spent a lot of time looking into this when I bought a grey market lens...I bought from a UK based retailer so was sure of no added import duty and also contacted Nikon approved repair centres to find out what was needed for warranty work. The repairers I spoke to both said you don't need the warranty card but you Must have a receipt in your name.
 
Try onestop-digital as they guarantee NOOOO import tax etc & if you do get stung they will refund it... or there's also digital-rev

Also have a look at hdew as some members here have used them in the past (they do "grey market")

I'd be a bit weary of buying a lens from a Ebay HK seller regardless of how much +ve FB they have.....
 
Thanks for all the comments :thumbs:

The lens in question is a Tamron 90mm Macro for my D5000. The lens in question has the in-built AF motor which I wanted. Quite a few on ebay are the non-AF ones (on a D5000) and they are not advertised as such.
After doing the sums, if I did get stung by customs the lens would be nearly the same price as a lens brought locally to me.

Although I have bought a fair few bits n bobs from HK ebay sellers, it's all been low value stuff for models. All of that has come straight to me with no problems (yet :eek:)

The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to buy from a UK / local shop.

Cheers,
Lee
 
I've had quite a few lenses from HK sellers over the years. I think the most expensive was a Nikon 70-200mm VR I. I've not really had any bad experiences as such. About the only aggro I had was when I bought a Sigma 150mm Macro and the seller didnt actually have it in stock. I had a right old time trying to get my money back from Paypal. I did in the end, but it took about 5 weeks.

I wouldnt let that put you off though, as some of the sellers are good as gold. If you work on the basis that you are going to pay VAT and Duty on the lens you wont be disappointed.
 
Obviously dependent on the lens but right now it generally just doesn't seem to make sense to import. I've been looking to buy a Nikon 24-70 for the last couple of months, prices from well known UK retailers have consistently been the cheapest. I imagine the likes of HDEW must be really struggling, I bought my 70-200 from them six months ago because they were £200 cheaper than anyone in the UK...on the 24-70 they're the same price as Grays and more expensive than Calumet, Mifsuds etc
 
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