Rip off!

[dewmuw]

You may have seen my other post where I am idly spending all of my bonus on DSLR kit!

Well I thought I'd have a look see at how much the prices in the US compare and came up with this:

Best UK Price for all the kit I listed: £3304

First price from US without searching for cheap deals: £2307

A friend from Oregon is coming to see me in the summer. I am inclined to order the gear, get it sent to his place in Portland and ask him to bring it over with him. I can also order a LowePro bag for him to carry it in! And give him some spending money as a thank you and save myself £1000!!

[tommykjensen]

Yes the differnce in price in US and Europe is shocking.

However You should be able to save money purchasing from Technikdirekt in Germany. I have not yet bought anything from them but they are highly recommended by many from Denmark and for us at least the price in Germany are close the the final price if we order at B&H. Obvoiusly they can't compte with the price buying local in US.

[dewmuw]

Yes the differnce in price in US and Europe is shocking.

However You should be able to save money purchasing from Technikdirekt in Germany. I have not yet bought anything from them but they are highly recommended by many from Denmark and for us at least the price in Germany are close the the final price if we order at B&H. Obvoiusly they can't compte with the price buying local in US.

Thanks for the tip. I guess that would help with warranty too under the new EU rules!

[Ikinaa]

Possible reasons :
* the actual low dollar
* In the USA, there's no VAT on the goods, or not everywhere , I think

You could also spend the £1000 for a trip with the family to the USA and buy the gear yourself ? ;)

Try this site too : www.topvision.lu (http://www.topvision.lu)
I buy nearly all my gear there, they've the lowest prices I've found on a lot of items...

[malla1962]

remember when you buy from the usa,unless you have it sent to you ,you will pay local sales tax.i wish i could find a way round it as i am going to pick up a 100-400 when i go next month.

[Andy_T]

Damian,

if you consider buying from Germany (no problems with warranty, no hassle with customs), you might find the following price comparison sites helpful ... if you are able to understand some basic German:

www.preistrend.de
www.guenstiger.de

Also, http://www.fotoboom.com/ in Spain used to be a cheap source for Canon products (especially lenses), but that was maybe before Canon Spain raised lens prices.

I found a shop that had the 20D available and had good reviews on www.preistrend.de. Of course, it might take some research to find one that ships to the UK, but if you need some help, just drop me a PM. www.technikdirekt.de are also in there, but they are not the cheapest.

Best regards,
Andy

PS: I have heard some horror stories about customs officials not being stupid at all and checking your high-priced photography equipment when you, say, come back from a holiday. So as tempting as it might be for me to get Canon gear from abroad (I travel to Asia sometimes, as my wife is from Taiwan), I'm rather reluctant (ok, most likely I'm a sissy :lol: )

[aam1234]

PS: I have heard some horror stories about customs officials not being stupid at all and checking your high-priced photography equipment when you, say, come back from a holiday. So as tempting as it might be for me to get Canon gear from abroad (I travel to Asia sometimes, as my wife is from Taiwan), I'm rather reluctant (ok, most likely I'm a sissy :lol: )

Hi Andy,
If you buy some gear from Asia then spend few weeks there as a holiday, wouldn't your gear be considered "used". Just a thought.

[dewmuw]

Damian,

if you consider buying from Germany (no problems with warranty, no hassle with customs), you might find the following price comparison sites helpful ... if you are able to understand some basic German:

www.preistrend.de (http://www.preistrend.de/)
www.guenstiger.de (http://www.guenstiger.de/)

Also, http://www.fotoboom.com/ in Spain used to be a cheap source for Canon products (especially lenses), but that was maybe before Canon Spain raised lens prices.

I found a shop that had the 20D available and had good reviews on www.preistrend.de (http://www.preistrend.de/). Of course, it might take some research to find one that ships to the UK, but if you need some help, just drop me a PM. www.technikdirekt.de (http://www.technikdirekt.de/) are also in there, but they are not the cheapest.

Best regards,
Andy

PS: I have heard some horror stories about customs officials not being stupid at all and checking your high-priced photography equipment when you, say, come back from a holiday. So as tempting as it might be for me to get Canon gear from abroad (I travel to Asia sometimes, as my wife is from Taiwan), I'm rather reluctant (ok, most likely I'm a sissy :lol: )

Thanks - really useful links there and with my VERY basic German I've found I can get a 20D for £820!

Thanks for taking the time to post those links Andy - I appreciate your help.

[Andy_T]

Damian,

Also, if you look at the prices for the EOS 350D (including 18-55 kit lens) on amazon.com, you'll notice quite a difference for the kit for
EUR 899 from amazon.de (that's about GBP 625) (http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007UB6BA/ref=br_lf_ph_14/028-4329397-2747713)and
GBP 799 from amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007R6CHQ/qid=1111149511/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1_1/202-4664830-4407846)

Quite a difference. Some of it is due to the introduction offer of EUR 100 versus the list price of the 350D kit at the moment, but not all of it.

As to buying the 20D from the shop that has it in stock (www.digitalpear.de) for EUR 1194, I haven't bought from them so far, but their feedback seems decent and they deliver to the UK. Call them at 0049-700 - 73278455, they mentioned that they speak English fluently. Also, with the new online shopping laws, you have very little to fear.

Best regards,
Andy

[Andy_T]

Damian,

what was the result of your quest ???

Best regards,
Andy

[dewmuw]

Still working on it! :(

[BarbM]

remember when you buy from the usa,unless you have it sent to you ,you will pay local sales tax.i wish i could find a way round it as i am going to pick up a 100-400 when i go next month.


Actually, if you visit your friend in Oregon there is no local sales tax.;)