buying a 5DIII overseas or local?

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april

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#1
;D I'm happy that finally I can upgrade my 50D to FF but I feel so sorry for us Aussies having to pay more for such gears. That is why I'm thinking of buying it to overseas B&H, Adorama, Amazon etc.. D-D-Photographics (singapore) was the cheapest I found. With these, there's two things i want to know.

1) if i'd buy it from let's say U.S., do I need to pay GST when it comes here or just the product & postage?
2) If I need to claim for warranty, do I need to sent it to where I bought it or just send it to the nearest canon center?
 
#2
If you're in Oz and you buy it from Singapore, Hong Kong or the US, the chances are you won't pay any GST.
However, as the purchase is over $1,000, legally, they can charge you GST on the import, but with all the gear I've imported over the years, I've never had to pay it, and the goods have just arrived on my doorstep.
But there is still a chance.

As far as warranty is concerned, forget about Canon Australia covering the warranty, and if something goes wrong with the camera, you'll have to return it to the seller to get warranty work done on it.

If you buy from the US and have to return it to the US, there is some quaestion about whether the warranty will be valid, as Canon US has some sort of fine print in their warranties about the goods being exported out of the country and hence voiding the warranty, but you'd have to get an assurance from the seller to verify this.
 
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#4
yeah, i wouldn't even try it. especially not with something worth so much both because of GST and because of the warranty issues. better off just fitting the high bill for the camera and then reaping the benefits of the warranty.

btw, Camera Pro in Brisbane has Mark III kits & the body only price is $3,865. they ship nationally and i don't know if you'll find it for a better price anywhere else. :)
 
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#6
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#8
april said:
D-D-Photographics (singapore) was the cheapest I found. With these, there's two things i want to know.

1) if i'd buy it from let's say U.S., do I need to pay GST when it comes here or just the product & postage?
2) If I need to claim for warranty, do I need to sent it to where I bought it or just send it to the nearest canon center?
Click to expand...

Hey april, I've been researching this stuff for a few months now. If you purchase a $3.6K camera from DDP(sing) legally customs is allowed to charge you 10% GST if the products are over $1000... so $360 extra. BUT these grey importers can sometimes put the price on the box as $8-900 or something and hope that your item is not spot checked and you would pay $0 GST and it would arrive on your doorstep as a previous person has commented. A lot of grey importers also offer warranties with MACK serivces here in australia and you can get diamond MACK warranties...water dust damage etc. Ive read that mack can be a bit difficult sometimes in the warranty matters sometimes though.

So you are almost better off looking at DDP in sydney as all there prices are GST inclusive and you wont have the worry of the GST spot check. But yeh look around, Australian shops like camerapro offer aus stock with aus warranty, which can be important if you rely on your camera for work etc.

hope this helps
 
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#12
april said:
thank you very much for that enlighting reply which means I don't have a choice after all unless I wanted to gamble ;)
Click to expand...

Actually, you do! You can purchase an International extended warranty at the same time. Many customers from outside the US find that even with the cost of the warranty added, they can still make a considerable saving - and have piece of mind.

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
[email protected]
 
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#13
A few years ago I bought a 24-70mm lens from Adorama and had it shipped to New Zealand. Customs in NZ is very thorough, so it was stopped at the border and I had to pay tax (12.5%) and register with NZ Customs as an 'importer' to get it delivered. I wasn't aware that I could purchase an international warranty, so I did not, but the lens was in great condition and is still going strong years on. Back then, I saved about NZ$500 (about US$300) buying from Adorama, even after paying shipping and the import taxes.

Now that the US dollar is relatively weak, it's about the same to buy from a local camera dealer in NZ as it is to buy from places like Adorama and B&H and having it shipped (oh how times have changed). But I'm still considering importing one, just because I don't know when they'll be available here... :)
 
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#14
Actually, you do! You can purchase an International extended warranty at the same time. Many customers from outside the US find that even with the cost of the warranty added, they can still make a considerable saving - and have piece of mind.

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
[email protected]
[/quote]

thak you for the info I'll note of this as I still need some more gears.
 
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#15
Ozdigital online (ebay seller)
ship from hong kong grey market and offer a full warranty, the difference i found with these guys and the other hong kong sellers is if you need to return it the return address is in NSW not in hong kong and this saves a bundle of cash if you need to send something back

I have purchsed several lenses from them and returned one not because it was faulty but just because it was a tamrom and such utter rubbish I couldnt stand it. they happily accepted it back and gave me a credit with which i purchased a couple of canon lenses to replace it. great service worth a look, a little more expensive than the other ebay sellers but the Aus return address in the event of a problem is a nice draw card IMO.

I have also purchased a fair bit from digital rev but if you need to return stuff to them its got to go back to hong kong (expensive)
 
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