Lens prices US vs Japan

I bought mine last year...same price with 5 years warranty from KeaPhoto...

But re the strong euro - Zeiss planar T* 50mm mint, in box ... E95

Its all about taxes and cost of doing business.

Why do you think gas costs more in California than it does in South Dakota?

Manufacturing costs are just a small part of the equation.

All of the major camera stores have loyalty programs, usually with a 10% kickback on a later purchase. Take 10% off any prices you see. It's still pretty expensive in Japan. The 24-70 is Y196,360 now at Yodobashi and US$1039 at BH. The principal reason that it's more expensive in Japan is because Japan relies on an export economy. The domestic market doesn't matter. Major Japanese companies in the consumer space survive via exports which are subsidized by the domestic market. In the extreme, it can be characterized as dumping (not in this case) to drive the competition out of business and drive up the market share. They did it with TVs and cars but there hasn't been much foreign competition in the photography space so it's just plain competition amongst the major Japanese companies.

Livinthalife wrote in post #6930655
Well I was looking at the 24-70 2.8 (BRICK) on B&H and it's $949. I checked kakaku.com (Reasonable Japanese site) and its 150,800Y. I'm just estimating, but that is near $2000 USD! Why would a Japanese product be that much more expensive in Japan? Even when the exchange rate was better, it was still more expensive . Any particular reason? What are your thoughts?

I'm guessing because photography maybe more popular here vs America? I don't know...Thoughts?

Actually dumping is applied to when they are trying to drive foreign competition out of business, such as with cars. There is no US competition manufacturer of lenses so it's not really dumping.

Player9 wrote in post #6938092
It's called dumping.

Hi,

I am living in Japan and I consider to buy lens from USA but I do not know the custom duties. Could anyone know about this? Thank you very much.

THREAD FROM LE MORT!

One from le mort, but I think an interesting topic.

One thing to realize is that Canon USA, Canon Marketing Japan, and Canon Inc. are all different companies. Canon Inc. solely does R&D and production. They then sell the products to their distributors, who are Canon USA, CMJ, Canon Europe, etc. Their distributors then set prices and do marketing in their respective zones of business. Because of this, comparing prices for Canon gear in different countries is hard because each distributor is pricing what they feel is acceptable in their own market.

Yes, it's a zombie thread, but check out

Section XVIII (18) Chapter 90 9002.11

http://www.customs.go.​jp …h/tariff/2012_4​/index.htm

hoanganhng86 wrote in post #15076935
Hi,

I am living in Japan and I consider to buy lens from USA but I do not know the custom duties. Could anyone know about this? Thank you very much.

It's not too bad. I ordered a 5d2 from B&H. It had a $1999 USD invoice on it, and the duty was only 6000 yen.

I would not consider buying from the US if you are in Japan as the prices are generaly lower or similar here. Of course you can find exeptions but I doubt you will savings are minimal and you might have trouble with the warranty.

Earwax69 wrote in post #15081772
I would not consider buying from the US if you are in Japan as the prices are generaly lower or similar here. Of course you can find exeptions but I doubt you will savings are minimal and you might have trouble with the warranty.

For Canon products B&H is almost always lower, and the savings is far from minimal.

EF 35 F1.4L USM at kakaku.com

Same thing at B&H for a lot less

Assuming you've got shipping and duties at about $100, it's still more than 20% off if you take the B&H route. Lenses have world wide warranty. (Bodies don't). I'm afraid the only exceptions are when the prices are the same in Japan as the US, and extremely rare where the Japanese price is cheaper.

weedwhackers wrote in post #6931178
That is normal... just like items in china are more expensive then here even though they are made there.

Its due to the country giving tax rebates to the manufacturer so if you do keep the product in the same country and there is a huge price hike.

I have a factory in China and i delat with the same thing when i tried to sell my products locally.

I hope this clears things up a little.

In Japan that is not the only reason. Japan still has a pretty antiquated distribution system for many products. In some cases there might be as many as 5 intermediate distributors between Canon and the final reseller, and each one takes the markup.

Japanese has very inefficient distribution system, mainly to protect jobs, so I think it's one reason prices are higher there. I travel to Japan several tines a year and went to the famous Tokyo electronics district thinking I could find a bargain. Sorry, no bargain to be had anywhere! My Chinese colleagues whenever they visit US, one of the must-stop designation is Cosco where they snapped up iPhone and other items. As you may already know, the iPhone is being manufactured in China. They all say Americans are lucky.

I'll not count the change rate because for me 100yen = 1$. It's the way it is here.

Tamron 17-50 f2.8
US: 499$
Jp: 257$

Sigma 30mm f1.4
US: 489$
Jp: 331$

Tamron 28-75 f2.8
US: 499$
Jp: 279$

Sigma 50mm f1.4
US:499$
JP:398$

Sigma 85mm f1.4
US:969$
JP:697$

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 OS HSM
US: 1399$
JP: 958$

Sigma 8-16mm
US: 699$
JP 551$

Canon 7D body only
US: 1357$
JP: 904$

I admit, Canon lenses are kinda same price or a bit more expensive here. But Sigma and Tamron older lenses are really cheaper.

The 5D mark ii was 1300$ 2 weeks ago but sadly rised to over 1600$ this week, no idea why.

New Zealand is HORRIBLE for lens prices. Over twice what they charge in the US, even after the exchange rate. And nowhere in the US will ship here either.