I noticed on eBay two or three major sellers who are located in Hong Kong. They sell Hoya and other high quality filters at great prices, or do they? I'm also into high end audio, and in that industry there have been numerous documented cases of subcontractors in HK substituting counterfeit parts in the gear they make for a number of high end names. From what I read the practice of selling counterfeit gear is pretty rampant there. Does anyone know if any of these places are actually selling the real thing?

I've purchased B+W high end CirPol filters from HVSTAR etc. and they were the real deal.
Saved a ton of $$ over B&H/Adorama's full retail pop. Know what you're buying and the
savings can be had. They buy in volume and don't have the overhead/markup of the stateside
brick and mortars.

I don't think I own a filter that didn't come from HVStar. They're the real item and priced right. Go for it.

+1 for HVStar.

[echo]+1 for HVStar[/echo]

Wow. Thanks for the vote on these guys. I'll give them a try!

Hmm, I must be doing something wrong. I did a search on eBay for HVStar and it comes up empty. Is that their eBay ID or should I be searching for something else?

sorry for the size... http://cgi.ebay.com/B-W-77mm-MRC-Circular-Polarizer-Glass-Filter-NEW-F-PRO_W0QQitemZ380049270253QQihZ025QQcategoryZ15217QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

ditto hvstar :-)

I have always bought off of the site. http://hvstar.net/
Just be aware that they ship by HK Post and usually require a signature on delivery.

Awesome! Just picked up a few things. Thanks again.

What kind of shipping time should I expect to Eastern U.S.?

trenchmonkey wrote:
I've purchased B+W high end CirPol filters from HVSTAR etc. and they were the real deal.
Saved a ton of $$ over B&H/Adorama's full retail pop. Know what you're buying and the
savings can be had. They buy in volume and don't have the overhead/markup of the stateside
brick and mortars.

+1. I get even more savings being in Canada because our prices are much higher for high-end filters as compared to the USA. Last time I got something shipped to me (Toronto), it took them 3 business days. Which I thought was insane.

eos-m42guy wrote:
I don't think I own a filter that didn't come from HVStar. They're the real item and priced right. Go for it.

How can you tell they're not fakes?

I bought filters from B&H and HVStar.net. As far as i can tell there is no difference, optically or quality wise. I'm no expert but i think HVStar is genuine - although the mount is alloy (not brass), for the asian market.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.

I don't understand how a genuine Hoye, B&W or whatever filter would suddenly e much less expensive just because it comes via Hong Kong. It would still be made in the same factory, with the same cost to the manufacturer.

Economics just doesn't work that way. True grey market stuff (the stuff we KNOW is real) is only a tiny bit less expensive than USA-sold goods. Why would filters be different?

The argument that the HK sellers don't have brick & mortar overhead is also extemely weak. Companies like B&H & Adorama ship from warehouses, just like the Hong Kong guys. OK, maybe rent & labor costs are a tad lower, but not much. Hong Kong isn't exactly Thailand.

If you tell me I can get a genuine Hoya filter for, say, 60% the price of a USA one, I'm not listening. Momma didn't raise no fool. If I can save 10% - 20% and somehow be sure it's the real thing, then OK you have my attention, I concede the possibility. - but tell me again how you can be absolutely sure they are genuine.

Cableaddict wrote:
I don't understand how a genuine Hoye, B&W or whatever filter would suddenly e much less expensive just because it comes via Hong Kong. It would still be made in the same factory, with the same cost to the manufacturer.

Economics just doesn't work that way. True grey market stuff (the stuff we KNOW is real) is only a tiny bit less expensive than USA-sold goods. Why would filters be different?

The argument that the HK sellers don't have brick & mortar overhead is also extemely weak. Companies like B&H & Adorama ship from warehouses, just like the Hong Kong guys. OK, maybe rent & labor costs are a tad lower, but not much. Hong Kong isn't exactly Thailand.

If you tell me I can get a genuine Hoya filter for, say, 60% the price of a USA one, I'm not listening. Momma didn't raise no fool. If I can save 10% - 20% and somehow be sure it's the real thing, then OK you have my attention, I concede the possibility. - but tell me again how you can be absolutely sure they are genuine.

Of course you can get small items like filter and similar stuff a lot cheaper in HongKong and other places in S.E.Asia. Sometimes small stuff like that cost nearly nothing compared to the USA or Europe. Even the big expensive camera equipment can have very low price. An Canon 1Ds3 cost $ 1700-1800 less than the B&H price. And that's from real shops with the cameras on the shelf. Things like filters, hoods, bags, cleaning equipment, batteries, chargers and similar can be really really low priced (original brands)


Comments like these,
""OK, maybe rent & labor costs are a tad lower, but not much. Hong Kong isn't exactly Thailand""
just show that you have never been there and don't understand it Actually Thailand has very high rent & labour cost compared to most S.E.Asian countries & China.

trenchmonkey wrote:
I've purchased B+W high end CirPol filters from HVSTAR etc. and they were the real deal.
Saved a ton of $$ over B&H/Adorama's full retail pop. Know what you're buying and the
savings can be had. They buy in volume and don't have the overhead/markup of the stateside
brick and mortars.

I agree. I don't use much filters myself. But I know a lot of photographer's that buy from and recommend that place also

Cableaddict wrote:

If you tell me I can get a genuine Hoya filter for, say, 60% the price of a USA one, I'm not listening. Momma didn't raise no fool. If I can save 10% - 20% and somehow be sure it's the real thing, then OK you have my attention, I concede the possibility. - but tell me again how you can be absolutely sure they are genuine.

With as many people on this forum and others that buy their filters from Hvstar, I'm sure by now the news would have been plastered all over the internet if they were found to be selling counterfeit items. I buy all of my B+W's from them, and have yet to suffer any issues (just like a lot of other folks). Its your money...if you want to spend nearly double at B&H for a filter, go for it. Don't get me wrong...I buy 95% of my gear from B&H and find them to be a very trustworthy dealer, but for filters and such there are better deals to be had.

I don't understand how a genuine Hoye, B&W or whatever filter would suddenly e much less expensive just because it comes via Hong Kong. It would still be made in the same factory, with the same cost to the manufacturer.
Feel free to bury your head in the sand. There are numerous examples of deep savings via Hong Kong, dude.
Another case in point....Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 DG 1.4x teleconverters. HK $129 del. B&H $194
plus shipping! There's over $60 freakin' dollars in MY pocket. Same damn TC/warranty. The markup
on accessories is obscene...where you been

plnelson wrote:
eos-m42guy wrote:
I don't think I own a filter that didn't come from HVStar. They're the real item and priced right. Go for it.

How can you tell they're not fakes?




Personally, I doubt I could tell an original from a good fake. I based my comment on multiple threads like this where I've yet to find anyone who has not been satisfied that HVStar sells original, quality filters, not fakes. If they were selling fake filters this would have been posted all over the internet long ago.

Why not buy one and check it out yourself.

trenchmonkey wrote:
I don't understand how a genuine Hoye, B&W or whatever filter would suddenly e much less expensive just because it comes via Hong Kong. It would still be made in the same factory, with the same cost to the manufacturer.
Feel free to bury your head in the sand. There are numerous examples of deep savings via Hong Kong, dude.
Another case in point....Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 DG 1.4x teleconverters. HK $129 del. B&H $194
plus shipping! There's over $60 freakin' dollars in MY pocket. Same damn TC/warranty. The markup
on accessories is obscene...where you been


Hey Monkey,

I did buy a filter from an ebay HK seller and I was always suspicious as it didn't look the same as the "identical" ones I purchased from Adorama. I'm not saying it wasn't real, but it was different. I don't think it was the same guys you used, but I think others may be cautious too.

I'll check out your source as I lost a cp filter and need to replace it.

The price differences are retail markup ... i.e. PROFIT ... not savings from being sold in Hong Kong vs anywhere else ... You can rest assured that the Hong Kong retailers are also making profit and maximizing that by volume sales.

The high markup stateside should say something about why UV filters are pushed so hard by retailers Huge cash cow for the retailer, whereas the markup on the camera and lenses is much lower.

I've never purchased from HVStar, but you can be sure that I'll look there for any future polarizer needs.

Mike Ganz wrote:
Cableaddict wrote:

If you tell me I can get a genuine Hoya filter for, say, 60% the price of a USA one, I'm not listening. Momma didn't raise no fool. If I can save 10% - 20% and somehow be sure it's the real thing, then OK you have my attention, I concede the possibility. - but tell me again how you can be absolutely sure they are genuine.

With as many people on this forum and others that buy their filters from Hvstar, I'm sure by now the news would have been plastered all over the internet if they were found to be selling counterfeit items. I buy all of my B+W's from them, and have yet to suffer any issues (just like a lot of other folks). Its your money...if you want to spend nearly double at B&H for a filter, go for it. Don't get me wrong...I buy 95% of my gear from B&H and find them to be a very trustworthy dealer, but for filters and such there are better deals to be had.


+1

trenchmonkey wrote:
I don't understand how a genuine Hoye, B&W or whatever filter would suddenly e much less expensive just because it comes via Hong Kong. It would still be made in the same factory, with the same cost to the manufacturer.
Feel free to bury your head in the sand. There are numerous examples of deep savings via Hong Kong, dude.
Another case in point....Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 DG 1.4x teleconverters. HK $129 del. B&H $194
plus shipping! There's over $60 freakin' dollars in MY pocket. Same damn TC/warranty. The markup
on accessories is obscene...where you been


I agree with everything. Also with bury your head in the sand

dnadal wrote:
+1 for HVStar.

+2 for HVStar. They are good