It always amazes me how many are willing to incriminate themselves on this forum by saying they’ve done it, what they bought and how much they saved vs UK high street price! Talk about making it easy for HMRC if they do eventually decide to act!
The grey vs used vs UK high street debate is always a divisive discussion
).Topics like this always end up with quite a debate, it's an interesting one for sure. It's an interesting one about the buyer being responsible for making sure the import duties are being paid and not the shop though. It is quite confusing for the end user when you check the FAQ's of people like Panamoz and HDEW who state that they do have UK warehouses (as well as others) and that they state "all import duties will be covered by us fully". Based on this one could assume import duties are being paid (I'm trying wanting to open up another debate on this though
I guess anyone looking into it has to make as much of an informed decision as they can, and then it's up to them. I do wonder how many people are actually aware that they are buying grey imports and just buy them because they think it's cheap?
HDEW have been discussed on here several times and are an interesting case as it’s not obvious how they can provide prices much lower than other UK high street sellers and they can provide a VAT receipt on request.Topics like this always end up with quite a debate, it's an interesting one for sure. It's an interesting one about the buyer being responsible for making sure the import duties are being paid and not the shop though. It is quite confusing for the end user when you check the FAQ's of people like Panamoz and HDEW who state that they do have UK warehouses (as well as others) and that they state "all import duties will be covered by us fully". Based on this one could assume import duties are being paid (I'm trying wanting to open up another debate on this though
I guess anyone looking into it has to make as much of an informed decision as they can, and then it's up to them. I do wonder how many people are actually aware that they are buying grey imports and just buy them because they think it's cheap?
A quick google brought up canon's product repair page which says 'Canon Service Centres cannot provide warranty repairs without receipt'. I guess they could work out if its covered by UK warranty by its purchase location. The proof of warranty, like insurance, is when you make a claim.
Its not like they receive hundreds of the same parcel at the same time, it would be spread out across many different shipments in amongst other stuff. At present I think border control, HMRC etc all know it’s going on and turn the other way to it as they don’t have the resources and at present it’s not their highest concern that they have to deal with. I think we all know they can’t check every parcel that comes into the country to check the declaration is what it says it to be. The sheer volume of freight and their resource levels means that’s not possible. It’s not like they open every single parcel in every single container on every ship or every parcel on board aircraft that arrives in a UK is it? It’s spot checks at best and even then probably go by what’s on the declaration label rather than opening it up to look.
HMRC are currently frying other fish (being busy implementing the full force of the loan charge). Their stated aim is to retrieve as much of the estimated £3,200,000,000 as they can from those who thought they could avoid their fair share: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ax-avoidance-loan-schemes-and-the-loan-charge
It always amazes me how many are willing to incriminate themselves on this forum by saying they’ve done it, what they bought and how much they saved vs UK high street price! Talk about making it easy for HMRC if they do eventually decide to act!
The grey vs used vs UK high street debate is always a divisive discussion
Bear in mind that while bodies/kits are not liable for import duty, they are liable for VAT (which is the bulk of what you pay).
Are you saying grey importers don't pay VAT?
I think that genuine competition exists but the retail margins are so tight these days that the prices cluster around the lowest point they can all get to. When "de guvmint" did away with Resale Price Maintenance in 1964 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resale_price_maintenance ) the law of unintended consequences kicked in with a vengeance: which is why we now have box shifters instead of retailers who can compete on quality of service.
I think that one reason they are all selling cameras/lenses for the near same price is because those doing so are what were the deep discount cost cutters which drove out all the rest of the competition. So, there's no room to cut any further. Competition is through other means like one may offer a longer trail or return period. Or one may offer some sort of 'next purchase' discount. Etc. What this means is that the buyer has to compare all the fine print or extras that may be offered rather than simply price.
