How is Canon going to compete with the grey market in Australia?

[melbournite]

Canon warranty?

Yes, that was the first question I asked him but you can double check (my exact question was 'is the camera Australian stock' - which the answer was yes). Furthermore because Leederville are part of 'Camera House' chain, (should you have any warranty issues) you can return the camera to any Camera House close to you.

In regard to DigitalRev, I am pretty sure that anything over $1000, GST and Duty still apply. The question is whether the item gets checked at customs?

 

[wickidwombat]

In regard to DigitalRev, I am pretty sure that anything over $1000, GST and Duty still apply. The question is whether the item gets checked at customs?

Its a lottery, might get checked and it might not

 

[noxious_nasties]

Leederville just upped the price by $300 to $3899.
I don't know whats going on with canon's pricing but it looks like nothing is confirmed.
Wish I ordered from them when I had the chance...

http://www.leedervillecameras.com.au/digital-slr-cameras/canon-dslrs/canon-eos-5d-mkiii-body-only

 

[rmhowie]

In regard to DigitalRev, I am pretty sure that anything over $1000, GST and Duty still apply. The question is whether the item gets checked at customs?

They state that they will pay any customs charges.

 

[te4o]

Yes, the 3599 A$ was a mistake! Someone did the wrong calculations and lucky ones who ordered immediately. This is now @ 3899A$ - still better than the outrageous 4299+.
I was very tempted to go for it yesterday and missed it. Well, I'll have to wait until better tests are out there. And until it is on the topbuy page. BTW the 5D2 is down to 1870 A$ there and dropping! I am strongly tempted to save my money and buy this one. It's just this silly psyche of mine: ah, there is something better, run for it!...

 

[melbournite]

Yes, the 3599 A$ was a mistake! Someone did the wrong calculations and lucky ones who ordered immediately. This is now @ 3899A$ - still better than the outrageous 4299+.
I was very tempted to go for it yesterday and missed it. Well, I'll have to wait until better tests are out there. And until it is on the topbuy page. BTW the 5D2 is down to 1870 A$ there and dropping! I am strongly tempted to save my money and buy this one. It's just this silly psyche of mine: ah, there is something better, run for it!...

Wow, happy now that I ordered already. I wonder if it was really a mistake or whether Canon sent them an email? A lot of people read this site including competitors who might not have been happy seeing such prices, so early?

 

[melbournite]

In regard to DigitalRev, I am pretty sure that anything over $1000, GST and Duty still apply. The question is whether the item gets checked at customs?

They state that they will pay any customs charges.

Only if the item gets checked at customs... and then will they? When the custom man wants his money, he will ask it from you to release the goods, then if DigitalRev are good to their word they will pay you what the custom man charged you.

 

[Pyrenees]

I try to buy local for the following reasons
- It supports local businesses who are often small businesses fighting to survive and our retarded governement seem to actively try and destroy small businesses when they are in reality the life blood of our country (dont really want to digress into politics though )

Wicked, I would never claim that our fed government is an angel on the topic. However, I can tell you with confidence that the major source of high prices in Australia (not just in regard to Cam gear) is not the government but in fact the big, overseas corps like Canon (or sometimes the greedy, local distributors) who inevitably whack on 30%+ on top of prices based on the perception that Aussies are prepared to pay up. It's common knowledge amongst marketing types.

I also like to support local small businesses where possible, but as you eluded to, there is a limit to what I'm prepared to pay based on the principle of the whole thing, and based on how much I can afford.

 

[wickidwombat]

if digital rev say they will do something i have every confidence that they will do it
my experience with them have all been excellent

and to pyrenees i agree with you 100% +1
(I just like to stick the slippers into our governement whenever i get a chance )

 

[noxious_nasties]

Yes, the 3599 A$ was a mistake! Someone did the wrong calculations and lucky ones who ordered immediately. This is now @ 3899A$ - still better than the outrageous 4299+.
I was very tempted to go for it yesterday and missed it. Well, I'll have to wait until better tests are out there. And until it is on the topbuy page. BTW the 5D2 is down to 1870 A$ there and dropping! I am strongly tempted to save my money and buy this one. It's just this silly psyche of mine: ah, there is something better, run for it!...

Wow, happy now that I ordered already. I wonder if it was really a mistake or whether Canon sent them an email? A lot of people read this site including competitors who might not have been happy seeing such prices, so early?

I was wondering about the price increase too. My locals in Sydney claimed that it may actually come out lower so I held off. Now it looks like I'm suffering the consequences of not ordering while I had the chance.
It's still early days though so nothing is fully confirmed (except those who got it at 3599 - kudos to them)

 

[wickidwombat]

i'm really wishing i had ordered 2 now :-[
i almost ordered the 24-70II bundle but really wanted to try the lens out first
vs the 24 f1.4 II

 

[noxious_nasties]

Ok all,

Just found out that DWI has listed it for $3589. Coincidence that it was below leedervilles price? I think not.
Something fishy is going on if you ask me. I know they are grey imports but I still don't feel right with all of
this.

http://www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au/store/product.asp?idProduct=4160

 

[nighstar]

Leederville just upped the price by $300 to $3899.
I don't know whats going on with canon's pricing but it looks like nothing is confirmed.
Wish I ordered from them when I had the chance...

http://www.leedervillecameras.com.au/digital-slr-cameras/canon-dslrs/canon-eos-5d-mkiii-body-only

Yes, the 3599 A$ was a mistake! Someone did the wrong calculations and lucky ones who ordered immediately. This is now @ 3899A$ - still better than the outrageous 4299+.
I was very tempted to go for it yesterday and missed it. Well, I'll have to wait until better tests are out there. And until it is on the topbuy page. BTW the 5D2 is down to 1870 A$ there and dropping! I am strongly tempted to save my money and buy this one. It's just this silly psyche of mine: ah, there is something better, run for it!...

i really do think that it was just a mistake because this price change now brings Leederville's price in line with CameraPro's. the $3,5xx was the price of the camera without GST added. CameraPro has GST as being $351.36, so $3,5xx (camera) + $3xx (GST) = $3,8xx.

 

[mcintoshi]

I didn't know that any of the grey market sellers would claim to pay customs & import costs, but I know DigitalRev have a good reputation and reading their clearly stated wording (http://www.digitalrev.com/help/import-handling-for-non-hong/MTQx) combined with the free shipping to Australia and the $3650 price, I can't find any 5D3 prices that beat that at the moment. Am I missing any cheaper ones?

 

[Bennymiata]

I've bought lots of stuff from Top Buy and others, and even though some of my orders were well over $3K at a time, I've never been hit with GST or any taxes.
The couriers have always just delivered the stuff to my door.
I would doubt that many private imports get charged GST.
Customs here don't have enough people working for them to check every single shipment, and they are too busy with commercial imports.

There's a couple of funny things going on with Canon here.
Digital Camera Warehouse sent me an e-mail today about the release of the 5D3 and the G1X.
Their price on the 5D3 is $4199 for the body, which is $699 higher than than B&H and Adorama, yet their price for the G1X is only $749.00 ($50 less than B&H and Adorama)+ they'll sell you a Sandisk 32ig card for only $40 instead of the usual $100 if you buy the card together with the G1X.
So, Canon Aus CAN sell some stuff at the world price, or better, but they obviously choose not to sell the 5D3 at the world price.
The cost of freight from Japan to Aus is actually less per kilo than the rate from Japan to the US (much shorter distance), but I would imagine that Canon US buy so much more than Canon Aus, that they can get better pricing out of Canon Japan.
After all, if you had a customer that bought say $5M a year from you, would you give him the same price as a customer that bought $100M from you per year?
However, as the world is getting so much smaller, and importing stuff from other countries is now so easy, companies like Canon should have a world pricing structure, so that the retail prices around the world should be the same everywhere + local taxes.

Personally, if the local price of a genuine Canon Aus camera is within say 15% of the price I would pay grey, I'll buy it locally (mainly because I can claim back the GST from my BAS), but if it's more than that, I'll buy it grey.

 

[melbournite]

I was wondering about the price increase too. My locals in Sydney claimed that it may actually come out lower so I held off. Now it looks like I'm suffering the consequences of not ordering while I had the chance.
It's still early days though so nothing is fully confirmed (except those who got it at 3599 - kudos to them)

I wouldn't worry as there's no doubt the price will come down before long. With so many various options to buy including the 'grey channel markets', when there's enough stock in the shelves, you will be saying lucky I didn't pay 3599 for it!

Edit: Although I was always going to purchase the 5DIII, I never intended to buy it at A$4400 when it was selling in the states for US$3499 (a conversion of A$3314). I was prepared to wait. Even a trip to the states would save me money if I purchased some lenses and accessories and the plane ticket. But when I saw the price of A$3599 (which also includes GST) I thought this is on par with the US price and fair, so I bought it sooner rather than later and I am excited.

 

[pwp]

The high volume grey importer Discount Digital Photographics in North Sydney is listing the 5DIII for $3739
http://www.d-d-photographics.com.au/categories/Digital-SLR/Canon-Digital-SLR/Canon-5D-Mark-III/

The better authorised dealers are a lot closer to grey pricing than they used to be...just bargain hard. They know full well they are losing sales to the grey importers and they know they have to compete. The fact is their margins are pretty thin.

I prefer to buy from the authorised dealers because of the quality and scope of their service to loyal customers, plus the requirement of purchasing from them to qualify the item for CPS support.

But having said that, a lot of the grey pricing is so compelling it's almost impossible to ignore.

Paul Wright

 

[noxious_nasties]

For what it's worth I hear the 5diii will be at retailers on the 14th of march. This will not be when they sell them however.

 

[mcintoshi]

Interesting about d-d-photographics...their corresponding Singapore store has it at $3452, with about $50 shipping to Aus.

http://www.d-d-electronics.com.sg/products/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-III-Digital-SLR-Camera-Body.html

 

[samueljay]

I'm not sure what's got into digitalrev, but they've put the price up on the 5D to $4000!! That's only $200 less than Teds, which kind of makes the whole buying grey to save pointless!

I think I'll pick mine up from Camera Pro, will give them a call during the week, has anyone bought from them before that doesn't live in Brisbane? (I'm in Melbourne) Any idea on what you would do if you're interstate and had a warranty issue?

Cheers!
Sam.