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Buying grey market lenses ? bodies?

Normo

By Normo
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Normo Apprentice

Normo

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Hi, I have been wrestling with upgrading from an Xe-1 to the XT3 or Xt 4. Can't figure out which would best meet my needs/wants but this post is more about where you purchase gear.  I have used B&H, adorama for decades.  But in looking at current prices I can save alot of money on an XT 3 body at adorama, and use the extra towards purchasing a lens from Hong kong.  Do folks here feel comfortable buying grey market?  Lenses or bodies?  Both? Neither?  I am curious at peoples' experiences.    Thanks. Norm

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itchy shutter finger Enthusiast

itchy shutter finger

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I rolled the dice on such a deal about six months ago, and it turned out well in a spectacular way. I'm not sure how it would go in the post-COVID world.

When I buy from the major New York companies, delivery usually takes a week. I bought a certain Fujifilm lens from Kong Kong, and delivery took thirty six hours. The price was thirty six percent of retail in the US. The lens arrived in standard Fujifilm factory packaging, albeit without warranty papers, and it is clearly first quality. It is indeed my favorite lens.

At the price I paid, I would risk this again, but the closer the price gets to US retail, the more I would be inclined to buy in the US for the warranty. Since buying one lens from Hong Kong, I bought three in the US because there was simply no price advantage from overseas. However, if a substantial opportunity ever surfaces again, I would take advantage quickly. 

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Pierre Enthusiast

Pierre

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I don't want to buy grey market lens or body. Because of no VAT included (illegal in my country, France). You can have problem when crossing borders and have to pay the VAT. And I think grey market product will not be repaired by Fujifilm in my country, I have to send it back to "exotic" seller I don't trust in.

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johant Mentor

johant

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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Pierre said:

I don't want to buy grey market lens or body. Because of no VAT included (illegal in my country, France). You can have problem when crossing borders and have to pay the VAT. And I think grey market product will not be repaired by Fujifilm in my country, I have to send it back to "exotic" seller I don't trust in.

For the first one; how are customs going to prove that you didn't pay VAT? Nobody (when I still travelled) ever asked me for an invoice of my camera. And especially when the camera looks used, I think it would be reasonable when you cannot produce a receipt anymore.

The second one; no Fujifilm service from Fuji Europe is more relevant for me. So far, I got good service from Kleve, but I don't think they would want to repair (for free) a camera or lens that is not covered by EU warranty. For out of warranty repairs, they probably don't care.

So it depends on the savings, and how much could go wrong. I bought my XF 27/2.8 as a grey market item, but I would not do that with e.g. a camera body.

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Pierre Enthusiast

Pierre

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On 6/12/2020 at 11:48 AM, johant said:

For the first one; how are customs going to prove that you didn't pay VAT? Nobody (when I still travelled) ever asked me for an invoice of my camera. And especially when the camera looks used, I think it would be reasonable when you cannot produce a receipt anymore.

The second one; no Fujifilm service from Fuji Europe is more relevant for me. So far, I got good service from Kleve, but I don't think they would want to repair (for free) a camera or lens that is not covered by EU warranty. For out of warranty repairs, they probably don't care.

So it depends on the savings, and how much could go wrong. I bought my XF 27/2.8 as a grey market item, but I would not do that with e.g. a camera body.

To prove, you have to show your invoice. Below two examples, with VAT and without VAT (grey market from SG in this case). I already had to show my camera invoice when travelling.

Fujifilm Europe refuse to repair under warranty body and lenses bought outside Europe.

My choice is to never buy grey market.

 

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Gavroche Newbie

Gavroche

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Hello everyone.... newly registered member here.  I'm a very long time member of another (shall remain nameless) forum/site... and I'm a bit disillusioned with it so I'm going to see how things are over here...    🙂

Like a few of the posters above me, I've also ordered from E-Infinity.  I ordered both the 16mm 1.4, and the 56mm 1.2.  Both amazingly arrived in a couple days for me as well, in what seemed normal Fuji packaging.  Quality was perfect, and the price was amazing.  Something of note... E-Infinity, like some other known overseas grey market sellers, sells both on their own website, and on eBay as well.  It seems that they generally charge a slight premium to buy on eBay versus their own site... which likely is to account for the eBay seller fees they incur.  Additionally, you will be charged sales tax on eBay, and not through their site.  I do not say this to encourage tax avoidance... its of note if you happen to live in an area that does not have a sales tax, or if you qualify for tax-exempt purchase and don't want the hassle of submitting documentation to avoid it.  But there are some advantages to using eBay that may justify doing so.  First, eBay acts as the middleman... and if there is a problem that the seller is dragging their feet on addressing, you can seek recourse through eBay.  And it seems they tend to usually favor taking the side of the buyer.  Second, most legitimate sellers are going to care about their feedback rating/reviews.  Bad reviews can cost them sales, and if I'm not mistaken can affect they volume of listings they are allowed to put/sell.  

T.

 

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