UK/Ireland Rip Off!!!

[tonytony]

I was comparing the prices of BHPHOTOVIDEO with the best online seller in Uk and Ireland. Geeeez... eg. If BHPHOTOVIDEO sells something for $300 than I can get the same from UK at £330 or so (equivalent to $580).
Double the price!!! :evil: I am not too happy about this and I want to take action, a small personal action...

I am thinking to buy directly from BHPHOTO and screw the bastards! :D
I know that at the end I will pay 30% of import taxes, but it is still a far better deal and I have the joy of not giving away too much money to this rip off system.

What do you think about this? Have any of you already adopted my solution for medium/big orders?

Thanks in advance,
Antonio

[RichardtheSane]

Done it already.
B&H shipping ot the UK is great, although I don't recommend UPS. Their handling charge for customers in astronomical!

[condyk]

Maybe you need to shop around a little better, or buy second hand. From previous posts you only seem to want to buy from a few (not that cheap!) suppliers. :lol: :lol:

If you save 25% ordering via B&H then Ok, maybe it's a good deal, but if it's much less than that then you may be sorry if you have to send a duff copy back or you have a warranty issue! Have you checked out prices via 7dayshop, Kerso on ebay, or there's another ebay outfit in Dudley that offer Ok prices? Use pricerunner, dealtime and kelkoo web sites for comparison prices.

Not sure who the 'bastards' are: we all pay VAT and Duty every day on any imported items we buy in any shop. Tax is spent on health, social and community services, etc. That's how things work in Europe as you know.

[KennyG]

Just one point - WARRANTY. For cameras and accessories you won't have a valid warranty, period. This fact has been confirmed with Canon many times. You are OK with lenses however as they do have an international warranty. Some people are prepared to take the risk, their choice. Others value peace of mind and a good relationship with a supplier. It takes all sorts.

I am surprised Canon has not gone the same way as Nikon. A US retailer can lose his franchise for Nikon if he ships outside the US.

[chtgrubbs]

It seems to work both ways. I am a big fan of British HiFi gear, but when it reaches American shores it costs at least twice the British retail price (including VAT) !

[CyberPet]

Tony, if it's any comfort, it's worse in Sweden since our VAT is so much higher. Everything is relative. :D

[tim]

Thing in NZ can cost more than double what they cost from B&H, so I get almost everything camera related from there. Never had a problem, they're a great vendor.

[benhasajeep]

Your just complaining about photo gear??? Your income taxes and fuel costs are extremely high compared to the states. And your worried about camera gear. I guess your a photo nut. :) :)

[wintoid]

On a related note, I read recently that Vic Oddens has gone into liquidation. My father always told me that Vic Oddens was the best camera shop in the world. It seems that the prices of UK internet shops are so low that small UK family run stores cannot compete.

[tommykjensen]

I am surprised Canon has not gone the same way as Nikon. A US retailer can lose his franchise for Nikon if he ships outside the US.

I hope that never happens. Remember how the big Hollywood millionares overcharge DVD's. That industri have had big success putting limits on the regions where DVD's can be sold. In Denmark it is against the law for a company to import region 1 DVD's unless the movie company give permission. That way the movie company can milk us on the region 2 release with much fewer features.

Hopefully something like that will never happen with camera equipment or other products for that matter.

It is completely rediculous that a lens must cost twice as much in Denmark (UK) as in USA. The entire extra cost cannot be explained only as high VAT, Tax and shipping costs.

A couple examples:

EF 85 mm f/1.8 cost in USA (BH) approx $320 in Denmark the same lens cost approx $750!
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM cost in USA approx $1400 in Denmark the same lens cost approx $2300

[tommykjensen]

Tony, if it's any comfort, it's worse in Sweden since our VAT is so much higher. Everything is relative. :D

Well not as bad as Denmark :( Scandinavian photo is a little cheaper than most danish shops.

[CyberPet]

Tommy, Scandinavian photo is cheaper than www.cyberphoto.se? I do all my shopping at cyberphoto. But maybe cyberphoto don't ship to Denmark? What about german sites? Should have less VAT than any of the scandinavian countries. If you go to www.fotosidan.se and their forums I know there's some links to german sites (at least I know they had some in the Canon SLR forum).

[tommykjensen]

Tommy, Scandinavian photo is cheaper than www.cyberphoto.se? I do all my shopping at cyberphoto. But maybe cyberphoto don't ship to Denmark? What about german sites? Should have less VAT than any of the scandinavian countries. If you go to www.fotosidan.se and their forums I know there's some links to german sites (at least I know they had some in the Canon SLR forum).

I don't know if Scandinavian photo is cheaper than cyberphoto.se, I did not know cyberphoto.se.

German TechnikDirekt is cheaper but not as cheap as B&H in US. TechnikDirekt is popular among many danish photographers. I have not bought anything from them yet.

[CyberPet]

Yeah, I've heard of TeknikDirekt too... but never dared to buy from them. Plus I don't know german to understand a german manual. :D

[tommykjensen]

Yeah, I've heard of TeknikDirekt too... but never dared to buy from them. Plus I don't know german to understand a german manual. :D

Well thats not a big problem. Usually You can download the english manual on the internet. Personally I don't care if I get a danish manual or not. Half of the words are still english or translated too stupid to make any sense anyway.