Is it cheaper in to buy in Europe

the black fox

the black fox

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Jeff
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a post elsewhere has got me thinking , in this day and age is it cheaper ( with cash in hand) to hop on a easyJet or Ryanair flight go elsewhere in Europe while we still can , and buy our gear there and fly back same day . My reasoning hinges on a trip to Poland a few years ago and when I was out shopping I browsed a couple of retailers one small camera shop and one large Currys type superstore , and found the prices to be substantially cheaper than the u.k , saying that everything was I.e a Big Mac meal cost the equiv. of £1.17p .
We have a wide spread well travelled community so any thoughts on this
 
I would imagine it comes down to many variables. For example here in Portugal photography equipment seems to be very expensive, it is much cheaper (usually) to order from Spanish stockists and have it posted.

However it would have to be a significant difference in cost to be worth going through all the trouble of taking a day to another country?
 
Cheaper to buy camera equipment? Generally not. You can sometimes find bargains, just like you can in the UK, but overall there's no major structural reason why prices in other European countries should be cheaper. They have pretty similar rates of VAT to us, and they import stuff from Japan using the same channels that we do. Exchange rates may make a difference from time to time, but camera gear is essentially priced in Japanese Yen, and if Sterling strengthens or weakens against the Euro that doesn't necessarily change the relationship of either of them with the Yen.

And anyway, even if you can find a bargain it would make more sense to just buy it on the retailer's website and have it shipped to the UK. No customs charges within the EU (for now), of course. For example I've bought stuff online from Foto Konijnenberg.
 
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General pricing is very closely aligned and it comes down to offers from the retailer. I bought my 1DxMkI's here in France but the MkII's and the Pentax 645Z were both cheaper in the UK. I've sourced lenses in Belgium and Germany when benefical discounts were to be had.
 
The pound against the euro is like 1:1 almost, it has dropped about 20% in the last 2 years.

I don’t don’t even buy camera gear in Japan or Hong Kong, the age of exchange rate where it will make it a bargain even after paying import tax at the airport is over. The £ has lost like 50% to the HK$ in the last 10 years, I recall £1 get you like $15/16 but now it’s like $10HK. So everything has become 50% more. Very similar thing with Japan, 200yen yen to £1 down to around 135yen now to £1.
 
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On a recent trip to Majorca, I popped into a pretty decent sized photography store in Palma, I actually found prices to be dearer than the U.K., But that's more than likely down to the devalued pound, Nikon D7500 with a 18-140 lens worked out to £1,650, WEX sell it for £1,529, many years ago (2003) again back in Spain i picked up a D70 and 18-70 lens, luckily the dealer over there had just had their delivery, the pound to Euro was around €1.50 to the pound, worked out at £730, when the same package back in England was over £1,000, sadly those days are long gone.
 
Many car parts are way cheaper from Germany as they are made there. It is not so clear cut with major camera brands. Airport retail prices always left me scared wherever I went...

Poland in general is one of the cheaper places to do the shopping of most things from fuel to food to hardware. If you go through the hassle of getting there you may as well spend a few days and enjoy the great cities such as Krakow and the mountains in the south.
 
Why bother jumping on a plane when you can get deals from grey importers ?
 
I'm not sure how it is now, but years back I bought a lens from Holland, a 70-200 2.8, and saved €500. I didn't need to travel though, found it online, just had to use translate as the whole site was in Dutch. I remember sweating for 2 weeks over it, they would only accept bank transfer, and there was zero communications for the 2 weeks I awaited delivery, no ETA, nothing. It did arrive though, everything as it should be. I used the lens for about a year then sold it for more than I paid because gear is so damned expensive over here.
 
Here in Switzerland prices are a bit lower even adjusting for VAT differences. Not sure it’s worth making a special trip.
 
Retune said:
A naive desire to pay all the legally required tax?
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If he took a flight to buy camera gear, when returning to the UK, unless he declared it he would be avoiding import duties so it would no different from buying from a grey importer
This is why I suggested it the op in the first place.
 
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hashcake said:
If he took a flight to buy camera gear, when returning to the UK, unless he declared it he would be avoiding import duties so it would no different from buying from a grey importer
This is why I suggested it the op in the first place.
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If bought in the EU then no taxes or duties are due to be paid in the uk. If bought outside the eu(per the other thread running at the moment) you are correct and it should be declared.
 
In my experience, no. There's very little in it.... and often the UK price is a few pounds cheaper when you take into account currency exchange. But to me the most important thing is the warranty. You are much better off trying to get an exchange or refund from a big UK dealer than a big dealer on the Continent.
 
In my experience yes.. Just not he way your thinking.. I bought a brand new lens for £5,900 and it was imported that would have cost me £6,500 in the UK .. so yes saved some money.. all above board.. canon uk covered the warranty ... nice little saver..
 
Barryboy said:
In my experience, no. There's very little in it.... and often the UK price is a few pounds cheaper when you take into account currency exchange. But to me the most important thing is the warranty. You are much better off trying to get an exchange or refund from a big UK dealer than a big dealer on the Continent.
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isnt the saving relative to how much your spending... 300 quid lens not much point.. As for the warranty.. depends on the company and what your buying... everyhting you put above is the opposite to my eXperience..... too many variables to say YES or NO :)
 
I bow down to your different experience, Kippax - as a relatively impoverished hobbyist I have never thought of £6K lenses........... As you show, the savings to a Pro can be considerable and manufacturers will be more likely to honour the warranty. However for those of us whose amateur purchases are far more modest, I stand by my opinion that it's not worth the bother - better to deal with a reputable UK grey-dealer.

Rob
 
I personally find more convenient to buy here in UK or through grey market. A trip to Italy doesn't worth the money. I also find more convenient the trade for used stuff between pvt here in UK than Italy
 
I would be in Barcelona often, and I have found prices vary. FNAC has some great prices, check the web site the Sony 6300 with 16-50mm for the equivalent of £685 as opposed to £879 in the UK, there are bargains to be had.
 
Barryboy said:
I bow down to your different experience, Kippax - as a relatively impoverished hobbyist I have never thought of £6K lenses.......
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Hence why i mentioned that its relative to how much and other things rather than a blanket no... i thought I managed it without the childish sarcasm in mine :(
 
hashcake said:
If he took a flight to buy camera gear, when returning to the UK, unless he declared it he would be avoiding import duties so it would no different from buying from a grey importer
This is why I suggested it the op in the first place.
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The thread is about Europe and, since Jeff says 'while we still can', I assume he means the EU before Brexit. There is no grey market on cameras in the EU, there is just the Single Market, with nothing to declare when you travel between member states or order something from another one.
 
I stand corrected, I assumed goods bought within Europe would be subject to taxes.
Would the likes of canon & nikon honour a warranty on products purchased from another country within the EU?
 
hashcake said:
I stand corrected, I assumed goods bought within Europe would be subject to taxes.
Would the likes of canon & nikon honour a warranty on products purchased from another country within the EU?
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You pay tax locally, and the EU is a ‘customs union’ meaning we’ve agreed that our broadly similar customs charges mean we can have free movement of goods. I would have thought every adult in GB would have a full understanding of this after 4 years of Brexit discussions. Not a personal dig, but interesting that it’s passed you by.

As for warranty; It varies with manufacturer and product...

Ie Canon have a uk warranty on cameras and an international one on lenses.
 
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Phil V said:
I would have thought every adult in GB would have a full understanding of this after 4 years of Brexit discussions. Not a personal dig, but interesting that it’s passed you by.
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I pay very little interest in politics in general and what with all the bickering between those who wanted to stay and those who wanted to leave, no matter what I thought nothing I can say or do would make any difference.
However if I wanted to bring goods back to the UK from another country within the EU, I would look into it beforehand just like did years ago when I was buying region 1 dvds when travelling back from the USA.
The OP does lead to an interesting question as where we will stand once we've left the EU with regards photography equipment from EU countries.
 
Phil V said:
You pay tax locally, and the EU is a ‘customs union’ meaning we’ve agreed that our broadly similar customs charges mean we can have free movement of goods. I would have thought every adult in GB would have a full understanding of this after 4 years of Brexit discussions. Not a personal dig, but interesting that it’s passed you by.

As for warranty; It varies with manufacturer and product...

Ie Canon have a uk warranty on cameras and an international one on lenses.
Click to expand...

It’s an EU wide warranty on all products (I actually think it’s currently a legal requirement of the single market).
 
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