Mich said:
Has anybody already bought directly from any Ebay seller from Hong-Kong ?
What is your experience with duty tax ?
Bought my first 2 L lenses from HK about 7 or 8 years ago. I was lucky as they marked the goods as samples and they had no VAT or anything attributed. I believe things are a lot stricter now, and the VAT man will charge you definitely duty and perhaps VAT even on 2nd hand goods!
But, the issue is then simply if you have any problems with the kit, it's a long way for the kit to have to go back... I'm sure the resellers are better now, but trying to get any communications was nigh impossible when I purchased.
I now use the states - either if I am traveling on business or through friends, but I probably go out there every 2 or 3 years so I guess I'm lucky
I think especially on lenses, unless there is a compelling gap, then I would stick to EU companies, as it's easier to return them if you test (after focus calibration) and find the lens to be outside acceptable ranges...