B&H import outside U.S. How did the warranty-card look?

[vvizard]

There's something I have been thinking about for a while. The business-model of parallell-importing is legal in Norway. What that mean, is that I can sell Canon-equipment without ordering it through Canon Norway. Instead I can buy it straight off B&H, and make a business of selling it here, without Canon having any way to stop it (legally). The requirements are of course that I pay Norwegian import-tax on the equipment, and else follow the Norwegian laws for warranties (which is quite strict). It basically means I can buy lenses with the U.S warranty from B&H, and sell them profitable in Norway, cheaper than our currently cheapest webshops offer. With a U.S warranty, Canon would also have to do repairs for it one year, even though they probably wouldn't like it. But according to Norwegian warranty-laws, I need to provide at least two years of warranty. That means I would need to cover an additional year of service out of my own pocket (since the international warranty only last one year outside the U.S). I know a lot of photographers in Norway have thought of this as a money-making process, and quite a few shops probably do it this way. What came to my mind now, was if B&H actually is encouraging this kind of resale?

I bought the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 from them last year, and the warranty-card isn't stamped. There's no date of purchase or store purchased from on it. This means that I could just sell it through my own company in Norway. Print out a receipt from my company, slap my company-name and todays date on the warranty-card, and the buyer will get one year of sigma-warranty from today. It almost looks as B&H on purpose have avoided to mess with the warranty-card, just to encourage foreign shops to import from B&H instead of using their local sigma-dealer. I was just wondering if B&H have forgotten to mark my warranty-card, or if this is standard procedure when you order lenses from them outside U.S.

What have happened to you guys? Was the warranty-card filled out from B&H, or was it left blank for you to mess around with if you wanted? What make was the lens you ordered? I personally think it's kind of "cheating" on canon/sigma, if it's standard procedure for B&H to export blank warranty-cards. On the other hand, if they can drive foreign shops to buy lenses from them instead of directly from canon, there definetley would be economical reasons to justify it. And economy probably is the most important factor in this game =D

[Mthorpe_Davies]

I got an even better idea for you. Why don't you advertise the product then order it from B&H and have them post it to you then you forward to the user. Doing it this way means you don't have to carry any stock.

Let me know how you get on. My wife is Norwegian and we will be moving to Norway in about 18 months.

[vvizard]

I have already thought of that one, but I don't really fancy the idea. Let's say B&H should run out of stock on a product I advertised. Then I would have to come up with all kind of lame excuses on why I can't deliver on time. I hate companies that do that :/ I'm an honest business-ma.. boy, so I really try to avoid such things that may create bad reputation fast.

Stocking up a couple of 50mm f/1.4 and 17-40's etc shouldn't be any problem, cause they're so popular. But of course (even though I had the money to back it up), stocking 200mm f/1.8's of course isn't an alternative =)

Welcome to Norway then :) What part of the country? You're in for some nice landscape-shooting soon I guess :)

[evilenglishman]

i dont thnk this is limited to B&H - all of the camera gear i have bought over the past 12 months in the UK hasn't had warranty cards stamped

[Jyoti]

Evilenglishman, where do you buy your stuff from? And are they running a similar scheme to that laid out by vvizard? Or is there something else going on?

[PekkaM]

I'd suggest you see how my order goes through before ordering internationally: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30657

I'm not saying they are unreliable or anything but I've not been enjoying my experience so far...

[tommykjensen]

I have not tried them myselves but all I have heard from Danish users are positive. I have not heard or read one single negative thing about ordering from B&H to Denmark (except for the danish import tax :evil: ).

[scottbergerphoto]

It's not just Canon and it's not just B&H. I've bought alot of Nikon and Canon gear from B&H and J&R. The warranty cards are never stamped. That goes for bodies, lenses, remotes, etc.
Scott

[evilenglishman]

Evilenglishman, where do you buy your stuff from? And are they running a similar scheme to that laid out by vvizard? Or is there something else going on?

i get my lenses here: http://www.cameraking.co.uk/ and no, theres no scheme.

[Mthorpe_Davies]

My wife is from Eide but we will probably move to Oslo as my Norwegian sucks and it will be easier for me to get a job in a city than a small town.

[Jyoti]

i get my lenses here: http://www.cameraking.co.uk/ and no, theres no scheme.

Ta! :)

[Jim_T]

FWIW..

One thing I've noticed about the North American Canon warranty cards is that they are printed with Canon U.S.A Inc and Canon Canada Inc. in bold letters across the top.. Below is a shot of the top of one of my warranty cards I got with one of my lenses.

http://members.shaw.ca/jamestownsend/warranty.jpg

Not only that, but it says in the fine print of the warranty:

The Limited Warranty set forth below is given by Canon USA Inc. in the United States and Canon Canada Inc. in Canada (herein referred to collectivley as "Canon").

Later it states that this is for products.. purchased and used in the United States or Canada

I would want to find someone in Europe that can say FOR SURE that Canon will honor the warranty card that comes with products sold in the US and/or Canada....

[vvizard]

I'd suggest you see how my order goes through before ordering internationally: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30657

I'm not saying they are unreliable or anything but I've not been enjoying my experience so far...

It went smoothly for me. I ordered, then after a day or two I got a mail from one of their salespeople stating they hadn't received any fax of my creditcard. I replied to the mail saying I didn't have access to sending faxes, but that I had enclosed a photocopy of the front/back of my mastercard, and attached it as regular mail-attachment. Didn't get any mail back, but less than 48 hours later UPS phoned me and said: "Hi, think we'll be at your home in about 2 hours, are you home?" 48 hrs for crying out loud!! =D From New York to Hønefoss (30 miles outside Oslo (norways capital)) That's impressive! Beats the hell out of the Norwegian mail-service at least =D

[vvizard]

I would want to find someone in Europe that can say FOR SURE that Canon will honor the warranty card that comes with products sold in the US and/or Canada....

I mailed Canon Norway once to get an answer to this question. Didn't get any reply. It's 23:30 PM now, so guess there's no one there to pick up the phone, but I'll try phoning them tomorrow to see what they have to say about it. Will post update here.

[vvizard]

My wife is from Eide but we will probably move to Oslo as my Norwegian sucks and it will be easier for me to get a job in a city than a small town.

Yeah probably. I'm living 40 min of driving outside, but are probably moving to the north of the country this summer for two years of military services. Anyway: Velkommen til Norge ;)

[Mthorpe_Davies]

I thought military service was only a year. My brother in law is in Kosovo at the moment, he's making a fortune and is thinking of going back for another 6 months after he finishes his current service.

[vvizard]

I thought military service was only a year. My brother in law is in Kosovo at the moment, he's making a fortune and is thinking of going back for another 6 months after he finishes his current service.

It's kind of a complicated story, and basically military service is one year, but the (Norwegian at least) military got quite an attractive educational model, which simplified means you can take different educations in the military, in exchange for working for the forces the same amount of years that the education takes. It's attractive because first of all it's free, but you actually get paid for doing it. And when you're finished (with let's say a bachelor degree) and start working (for them) you're guaranteed 3 years of well-paid jobs, which will look good on your CV. That's the model simplified: Let them pay you for your education, and work for them..

In my case I won't take my "real" education there, but I will take one year of leadership. It means the first year I'll be trained in leadership, and after graduation that year I'll be a Sergant. The next year which will be the "working year" I'll have to give in return, I'll be training new soldiers, and after that year I'll get the rank Second Lieutenant. That one year of leadership is accepted as a substitute for the first year of a civilian bachelor degree in leadership if one want to pursuit that profession on a university sometime later in life. But more importantly (for me) is that it bump my military degree quite fast, giving me a very good chance of signing a contract for foreign services like your brother. So if I manage, I will spend a third year in Kosovo/Iraq/Afghanistan or wherever the Norwegian military got forces at that time. And as you said, that has huge economical benefits. Don't remember how long you serve at one time out of the country, but think it's 8-10 months or so. For that you get paid roughly $60.000. After taxes.. Possible you even get paid more as a sargent or second lieutenant. That amount is about the same (possible higher) than what's the average to have in educational-loan after finishing a five year master-degree education in Norway. That's the motivation :)

I'm skilled in computer-programming and networking, plus I got two years of electronic-education from highschool, so most likely my time in the military will be spent in electronic warfare, working to keep up the communication between own troops, while hindering the enemy from using theirs.

After finished service I plan on a masterdegree in one of cybernetics, electronics or computer-programming. I then got a (slim though) chance of the military accepting to pay my education on a civilian school in return for me working for them (well paid for second lieutenants) for the amount of years they pay my education (normally five for a masterdegree). If so happen, I get paid while educating myself, and won't need an educational loan. I would then have those $60.000 (or so) from foreign services to spend on L's ;)

That was a long off-topic story, but I hope it made clear why some people stay one and others stay two in the Norwegian military. Don't know if the same model applies to military in other countries though.