Do you import or buy local?

[Pixual]

So, in South Africa our options for buying photography gear are limited to a couple of online dealers and maybe one or two pro shops (if you are in JHB, CT or PTA). There is always the option of buying from B&H, Adorama and others, but there are of course issues with buying new kit from these guys sometimes, especially if something is new on the market.

Where do you buy your gear?

 

[satanboy]

http://www.cameraland.co.za/

 

[APoc184]

I've bought all my gear from ODP so far.

But considering to option of importing my next body (D7000). I've done laptops and plenty other stuff. Not sure about a DSLR.

 

[bwana]

I refuse to buy anything from Canon SA any more so everything comes in from overseas through one channel or another.

 

[Pixual]

Does anyone ever buy from these drop-ship agents who pollute the pages of bidorbuy?

 

[hilton]

Does anyone ever buy from these drop-ship agents who pollute the pages of bidorbuy?

Yes but with hesitation.

I've bought from Cameraquip who also sell there online but I bought off their website though. Good service BTW and will definitely buy from them again.

 

[APoc184]

Yes but with hesitation.

I've bought from Cameraquip who also sell there online but I bought off their website though. Good service BTW and will definitely buy from them again.

They have the best price I have seen so far on the Nikon D7000. Might just give them a shot.

 

[Dolby]

I refuse to buy anything from Canon SA any more so everything comes in from overseas through one channel or another.

I always thought there was a massive difference in price - maybe the more expensive, the better the saving?

I took a 50mm 1.4 at Orms at R3,195.00
amazon.co.uk is 287 pounds (R3,326.00)
amazon.com is 379 dollar (R2,785.00)

At R500.00 saving, I'd get it at Orms :/

 

[hilton]

Yeah I went through all this very recently as I had someone coming over from the UK.

Bottom line, I found prices in the UK to be either on par or more expensive than SA whilst in the USA you could certainly save a bob or two if you bought a few items and redistributed the cost of the delivery.

In fact the only things I've found in the UK which are significantly cheaper are clothes, CDs and certain woodworking tools like router bits.

 

[bwana]

Yeah I went through all this very recently as I had someone coming over from the UK.

Bottom line, I found prices in the UK to be either on par or more expensive than SA whilst in the USA you could certainly save a bob or two if you bought a few items and redistributed the cost of the delivery.

In fact the only things I've found in the UK which are significantly cheaper are clothes, CDs and certain woodworking tools like router bits.

Did you get them to reclaim the 20% vat when they left the UK?

 

[hilton]

Did you get them to reclaim the 20% vat when they left the UK?

Yes, did remember that except most of the stuff I bought online so VAT is not reclaimable :-(

 

[bwana]

Yes, did remember that except most of the stuff I bought online so VAT is not reclaimable :-(

I don't think I've come across that restriction before?

 

[hilton]

Yes unfortunately so. I downloaded all the forms and the official blurb was quite explicit about goods purchased from an online supplier.

See here.

 

[Tygerr]

It depends on the specific product, and how new it is to market. In general, even with shipping, customs and VAT you can get it cheaper from the States (not the UK/Europe though). However you run the risk (certainly from Nikon) that they won't honour your warranty here and you'll have to ship it back to the States to get it fixed if anything goes wrong:

I've bought the following from B&H in New York:
Nikon 18-200 VRII
Canon S95
Nikon D7000
Sigma 10-20 f3.5

All of the above items arrived in SA within 2 days of shipping from B&H (+- 3 days from my order), and spent about 5 days in Customs here, so arrived at my door in just over a week. Some of them (like the S95) worked out to 40% cheaper than the price I could get it for in SA at the time (incl shipping and taxes).

I've also bought tons of lighting equipment from all over the world (Hong Kong, US, UK, etc) either direct from vendors off eBay. In most cases it is significantly cheaper than SA vendors. For cheaper/smaller items (brackets, clamps, etc), most places in Hong Kong don't even charge shipping to SA.

I have used http://www.sacamera.co.za/ before and they were pretty decent.

 

[bwana]

Yes unfortunately so. I downloaded all the forms and the official blurb was quite explicit about goods purchased from an online supplier.

See here.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to keep that in mind for the future!

 

[BigAl-sa]

Canon SA are supplied by Canon Europe who actually set the prices (AFAIK, the same holds for Nikon). You'll find marginal price differences between Europe and SA. When I was in Germany a while back, some lenses were actually cheaper here.

If you want to score, buy from the US.

 

[Pixual]

All of the above items arrived in SA within 2 days of shipping from B&H (+- 3 days from my order), and spent about 5 days in Customs here, so arrived at my door in just over a week. Some of them (like the S95) worked out to 40% cheaper than the price I could get it for in SA at the time (incl shipping and taxes).

I've also bought tons of lighting equipment from all over the world (Hong Kong, US, UK, etc) either direct from vendors off eBay. In most cases it is significantly cheaper than SA vendors. For cheaper/smaller items (brackets, clamps, etc), most places in Hong Kong don't even charge shipping to SA.

I have used http://www.sacamera.co.za/ before and they were pretty decent.

Thanks for the post. I have bought from B&H in the past, but used the USPS delivery option which took almost a month to get to me (after clearing customs). Admittedly this was a very long time ago.

What shipping option are you using that gets it delivered to your door? Do you have to pay duties to the courier or are these dealt with in the shipping price?

 

[Tygerr]

I used the UPS Worldwide Saver shipping option - door-to-door courier delivery.

Unfortunately, duties are not included in the shipping price - you have to pay those to the courier. So make sure to factor those costs in when you're ordering. You'll find that some items still work out much cheaper than in SA even with shipping and duties, but some items are only marginally cheaper - then you have to decide whether that marginal saving is worth the risk of not having SA after-sales support.

For instance, I ended up buying a 35mm f1.8 here in SA simply because it only worked out to about R250 cheaper from the US - not worth the hassle of importing it.

 

[Pixual]

It's weird how this duty thing works. A couple of years ago a friend sent me a lens from Europe using DHL. He sent it on a Monday and I had it three days later, delivered to my door and I didn't have to pay anything.

I suppose it depends on the senders options?

 

[hilton]

I don't think you pay duty on lenses.