Aussies who buy in the US ?

Hi all,
been very busy of late and have been missing the forums. Hoping I'll be back ontop of things and spending more time soon. My question is how many of you Aussies buy lenses from the US ? How many problems do you have with customs and GST and so forth.

The lenses I'm after seems no-one locally has stock and seems they are having problems getting stock of it from Canon. I notice B&H has the lenses I'm after listed as "in stock" but I wonder if it will end up costing more than buying locally once customs/GST come into it.

All the things I have bough overseas so far have never attracted customs or GST but they were much smaller prices involved. So I'm wondering how it's worked out for others so far.

I'm quite lucky as most the time I buy local and get a extremly good deal but I'm frustrated when theres just no stock about.

I bought my 70-200 F/4L from B&H in the US for $870 shipped, and it was here 5 days later. No problems at all, and since it was under $1000 there was no tax or anything associated with it.

The cheapest I could find it locally was around $1150.

I'm looking at trading it in and paying the difference for a 2.8 now though, so heres hoping I get a decent deal locally.

I have bought from B and H several times. Never had a problem. I keep total (shipping included) below $1000 AUS and I have never had to pay any extra fees. I heard that over $1000 you may get hit with extra charges. May cause some delay too.
Most expensive order I have made was 200 2.8 , $986 with filter and shipping. At the time it was $1177 at quality cameras , $1150 at D-D , so not a huge saving. I often order Monday night , receive Thursday or Friday!

Really worth checking Aus prices , 430EX would have cost $445 thru B&H , I called digital city and got one for $435.

i placed my 6th order with B&H yesterday, have 4 lenses from them and everything else (tripods, flash (ordered yesterday) misc items) never had issues, only pay tax when its due ie over the 1k theshold and never had issues with UPS always speedy service, i mean i placed the order yesterday and it will be here in syd on friday

here is a break down of goods over 1k shipped with UPS

+ 10% on the total invoice amount of the goods + shipping costs,
+ $5 UPS paperwork fee for clearing customs
+ $65 customs clearance fee

also something else to consider with B&H and large orders over $1500 USD they only accept diners club or amex CCs OR Direct Deposit, problem with DD is we pay a DD charge at the bank locally and then again to B&H bank and if you transfer the funds from your CC to make the DD you get hit with a cash advance charge, all that adds up and if the difference between buying locally and through B&H isnt much you would end up paying more in the end, i have found 99% of lenses under 1k through B&H saves you from a local purchase, some over dont some do.

i've ordered my 24-70 and 70-200 from Adorama, bhphoto would have had my money, but they don't do credit card transactions over 1500 USD.

Each time, its been the same, i order, within 3 days its here, UPS rings me, i have to buy the GST, customs fee and paperwork fees and its delievered to my door the following day.

Never had any drama's whats so ever, even after the GST and fees, it still ends up being cheaper then any AUS shops. Sure its only a little cheaper from D-D, but i would rather have a US lens then a grey market lens, so i know Canon Australia will honour my warranty. ANother thing i've noticied is that by purchasing form either bh and adorama, you're more likely to have a "very new" lens then any shop in australia as the turn around for the big shops are just so quick.

I ordered my 24-70 in may, and i got an april 2006 lens, my 70-200 is i think a december 05, so both lenses are relatively new with the 24-70 being really really really new

If you're buying smaller things, like flash and stuff like that, its pretty easy to stay under 1k, which means you don't get any gst and customs fees.

A friend recetnly purchased the 17-40 and his grand total was $950, took 3 days to get here from BHPhoto and UPS didn't charge him anything cos it was under 1k

HOpe that helps.

Hmmm. IMHO...

New body?
I brought locally. A new 30D at Teds with local ext warranty. If something goes bad (ie just one spot of solder on one PCB in the camera) I am covered.
I dealt in PCB repairs a fair while and solder faults generally showed up during the 15 to 30 mth timespan. Seen it many times. "Too hard to trace the dry join, quote a for new board." The percentile for perfect robotic solder joins on the mini pcbs etc is very high but that only means the statistical risk of you buying the dud (and claiming warranty) is acceptable to the company; and the non-perfect unit looks exactly like all its perfect brothers at the shop, but one day... Canon bodies don't carry a warranty internationally AFAIK. A US retailed body carries a Canon USA warranty. Canon Au will reject cover.

Used body?
If its a model with a good rep. If known bugs are sorted. If there's plenty of online accumulated wisdom about the model. If there's money back and the seller has a good rep. Delete all the above if the price is so low it screams "fire sale". Watch out for refurbed bodies, ie body was exchanged under warranty. You see them on feebay etc. Can be cheap and be a good deal but be cautious.

New glass?
By contrast (pun), AFAIK, new Canon glass, no matter where its retailed, carries international warranty coverage. All good...but new glass can be a hassle -it can be soft and need calibration or whatever. To avoid a "hassle" you can't beat being in the shop and testing a handful of units. Thats an ideal you miss out on in smallshops and all online stores; ie mailorder.

Used glass?
Used glass is usually out of warranty of course. Nuff said. Assuming the unit is not stolen, and looking at the pessimistic POV, the feebay seller could be holding back the whole truth; the lens may have been over wet, over hot, shocked-banged - you have to have your eyes open. Its best if the seller offers money back options and a phone number. Looking at the optimistic POV, the seller may have stated that he tried several lenses and this one was the sharpest and best he's ever seen and he's really gonna regret selling it... etc. I recently went with this scenario when I got my 35L and it was a great buy -its pre-tested, pre-selected. Better than buying new online.
http://cgi.ebay.com …=106845&item=30​0019757574

Import experiences.
Most items over AU$1000 will be taxed. Don't worry 'bout it. The word was "most". I have had used AU1200 bodies make it to my door untaxed. Others taxed. And lenses sre the same. The 135L cost less to buy than the 35L but it was taxed. So its a lottery, and if you look at the averages...

And insure the parcel everytime. May take a year for a clerk to finalise the claim but at least it is coverage that beats the alternative.

EDIT

...and this thread is gonna be bookmarked in the Aussie Club Shopping Links

Im getting a 580EX and a bunch of other little things (LS2, stofen, etc) from BH and i save so much more money getting it from there where as if i went down to harvey norman i would be charged some stupid amount like $750?! Waiting 5 days ro so is worth the $250 in my books

Carzee wrote in post #2074946
Used glass is usually out of warranty of course. Nuff said. Assuming the unit is not stolen, and looking at the pessimistic POV, the feebay seller could be holding back the whole truth; the lens may have been over wet, over hot, shocked-banged - you have to have your eyes open. Its best if the seller offers money back options and a phone number. Looking at the optimistic POV, the seller may have stated that he tried several lenses and this one was the sharpest and best he's ever seen and he's really gonna regret selling it... etc. I recently went with this scenario when I got my 35L and it was a great buy -its pre-tested, pre-selected. Better than buying new online.
http://cgi.ebay.com …=106845&item=30​0019757574

you know, its odd that the seller would say he got it schillers. yet, the photo shows a b&h receipt.

A01 wrote in post #2074962
Im getting a 580EX and a bunch of other little things...

Small stuff is a no-brainer as you found out.
A lot of gear is no longer carried in the local camera shop, they will order it up for you... and it'll take just as long as the item coming in Air Mail from the US or Germany. (I have purchased bargains on ebay germany occassionally. Its interesting to see the rarer items -the norm there). UK is too pricey. Hong Kong is good for small stuff too.

re the shillers thing, he said the B&H unit was returned. When he was in the "Brown was here and look at my new gear" mode, he took the pic.

A01 wrote in post #2074962
Im getting a 580EX and a bunch of other little things (LS2, stofen, etc) from BH and i save so much more money getting it from there where as if i went down to harvey norman i would be charged some stupid amount like $750?! Waiting 5 days ro so is worth the $250 in my books

exactly what i just ordered

Sto-fen Omni-Bounce
AA NiMH 2700 mah Rechargeable Battery - 4 Pack x 2
Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord
Canon 580EX Speedlite
Canon Compact Battery Pack CP-E3
Blue Crane Digital DVD: Understanding the Canon Speedlite 580EX/430EX

plus from Quality Camera Sales Australia for Gary Fongs lightsphere and cloud dome lid

all up $995 AUD delivered

if i ordered everything from aus it comes to about $1100 even $100 saving is $100 over my last 6 purchases i have saved close to $1000 buying through B&H so in theory i got my 17-40 for free

Mr Ceaser brings up a great point about the manufactured month of the lens, places like DDP buy in bulk and stock up every few months so by the time he gets to his bottom stack you have a 2-3 month old lens, i know it doesnt mean much but still

mR_CaESaR wrote in post #2074855
Sure its only a little cheaper from D-D, but i would rather have a US lens then a grey market lens, so i know Canon Australia will honour my warranty.

That is a myth.

I friend in Sydney purchased a lens from D-D nearly a year ago. Canon Australia repaired it (very quickly) under warranty just recently. Part of the repair was a complete replacement of the IS components - an expensive warranty repair - all it cost my friend was a bit of time to get the lens to them and pick it up again.

As I said, grey or whatever, lenses are warrantied.

Digging out archives here, a good thread from 2005 on DPR forum:
"Clearing imported camera goods into Australia"

http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1019&messag​e=12831593

kiwibloke wrote in post #2075415
That is a myth.

I friend in Sydney purchased a lens from D-D nearly a year ago. Canon Australia repaired it (very quickly) under warranty just recently. Part of the repair was a complete replacement of the IS components - an expensive warranty repair - all it cost my friend was a bit of time to get the lens to them and pick it up again.

Must have been his lucky day. I on the other hand have heard otherwise regarding grey market lenses.

But what I want to know is what type of warranty card does the "grey market" lens have and what type the "US/International Warranty" lenses have.

Surely they have the same "international warranty". Either way, I still would rather purchase from Adorama just for the "newer" lens factor and its from a massive camera retailer.

I am tempted to buy the 85mm f1.8 from DD photographics though

with DDP he will usually replace the lens for you and deal with the warranty.

as for the 85 1.8 great lens but B&H cheaper :P you get the lens + hood cheaper than through DDP