I have a friend who lives in UK and we are chatting about the price of a camera. Over time he has told me of the vast difference in prices of lenses and cameras there as opposed to here and I wonder if anyone has found a way to get an item at USA price without having to pay a huge shipping charge plus the 17% VAT.

Yep, I buy from a number of HK based companies who sort out import costs and shave a lot of the price. I've just bought a 50D and it cost me close to £400 quid less than if I'd bought it in the UK.

I don't know what HK means.

Hong Kong. I buy from an ebay seller who imports from the states, the savings arent always huge but its enough.

(Tony, you have PM)

Russell Smith wrote:
I have a friend who lives in UK and we are chatting about the price of a camera. Over time he has told me of the vast difference in prices of lenses and cameras there as opposed to here and I wonder if anyone has found a way to get an item at USA price without having to pay a huge shipping charge plus the 17% VAT.


Well, importing a camera or lens in to the UK without *someone* paying the sales tax (VAT/17.5%) is ILLEGAL. Doing it without paying a shipping charge means bringing it in as a carry on or checked luggage, or on a cruise ship for personal import. Even then, you are supposed to declare it at customs, and if it's above your personal allowance, then you need to pay the sale tax. It's as simple as that.

Anything else is ILLEGAL, and you risk heavy fines or even imprisonment.

However, if the end user is registered for VAT (as a business) then they will pay the VAT on import and then reclaim the VAT on their next VAT return - so the net result is no VAT paid.

There may be duty (between 6% and 14%) on certain items, and this contributes to the higher retail costs of items in the UK (and other european countries). Companies like Canon have to pay that when 'they' import the goods, and of course they mark it up just like any other cost, and then the retailer marks it up again to get their % on the goods.

Many people blame companies (e.g. Canon) for the higher prices, and while some of this is indeed down to Canon, a lot of the price difference is down to the transport costs, import duty, cost of doing business in a country (e.g. labor laws) etc etc, and not raw profiteering as many people think.

There are quite a few scams going on - often called missing trader - where some one sets up a company, registers for VAT, imports goods, pays the VAT on import, claims the VAT back, the sells the goods on with VAT, and does not pay the VAT to the government - and instead close down the company and disappear (keeping the 17.5% for themselves). Another variation is where they import the goods, pay the VAT, claim the VAT back (so they are even) and then close the company down or just plain go missing in action. This is how some foreign companies get goods in to the UK without charging their customers VAT, and so defraud the government. What a lot of people don't realise is that it is the end user who is technically liable at the end of the day, because they are receiving goods on which VAT has not been paid, and Revenue and Customs could in theory prosecute them.... !!

Sometimes it's better to just pay the tax, bitch and moan about it, and then get on with life. If we didn't have VAT, there would be higher income tax or some other way of getting it from you.

Thank you. I am sure my friend knows all this and is not going to do anything illegal. I was just curious, actually.

DaveEP wrote:
Russell Smith wrote:
I have a friend who lives in UK and we are chatting about the price of a camera. Over time he has told me of the vast difference in prices of lenses and cameras there as opposed to here and I wonder if anyone has found a way to get an item at USA price without having to pay a huge shipping charge plus the 17% VAT.


Well, importing a camera or lens in to the UK without *someone* paying the sales tax (VAT/17.5%) is ILLEGAL. Doing it without paying a shipping charge means bringing it in as a carry on or checked luggage, or on a cruise ship for personal import. Even then, you are supposed to declare it at customs, and if it's above your personal allowance, then you need to pay the sale tax. It's as simple as that.

Anything else is ILLEGAL, and you risk heavy fines or even imprisonment.

However, if the end user is registered for VAT (as a business) then they will pay the VAT on import and then reclaim the VAT on their next VAT return - so the net result is no VAT paid.

There may be duty (between 6% and 14%) on certain items, and this contributes to the higher retail costs of items in the UK (and other european countries). Companies like Canon have to pay that when 'they' import the goods, and of course they mark it up just like any other cost, and then the retailer marks it up again to get their % on the goods.

Many people blame companies (e.g. Canon) for the higher prices, and while some of this is indeed down to Canon, a lot of the price difference is down to the transport costs, import duty, cost of doing business in a country (e.g. labor laws) etc etc, and not raw profiteering as many people think.

There are quite a few scams going on - often called missing trader - where some one sets up a company, registers for VAT, imports goods, pays the VAT on import, claims the VAT back, the sells the goods on with VAT, and does not pay the VAT to the government - and instead close down the company and disappear (keeping the 17.5% for themselves). Another variation is where they import the goods, pay the VAT, claim the VAT back (so they are even) and then close the company down or just plain go missing in action. This is how some foreign companies get goods in to the UK without charging their customers VAT, and so defraud the government. What a lot of people don't realise is that it is the end user who is technically liable at the end of the day, because they are receiving goods on which VAT has not been paid, and Revenue and Customs could in theory prosecute them.... !!

Sometimes it's better to just pay the tax, bitch and moan about it, and then get on with life. If we didn't have VAT, there would be higher income tax or some other way of getting it from you.


Sounds like you work for the government! What I don't get is how the shipping costs and tax effect Nikon less than Canon. In the US 5DII is cheaper than D700, and the UK vice versa. You'd have to be on drugs to buy a 5D II in UK.

tonyhart wrote:
Yep, I buy from a number of HK based companies who sort out import costs and shave a lot of the price. I've just bought a 50D and it cost me close to £400 quid less than if I'd bought it in the UK.


A way, way off topic question from a dumb American. What is the different between quid and pound?

I think it is the same as buck and dollar

jerrykur wrote:
tonyhart wrote:
Yep, I buy from a number of HK based companies who sort out import costs and shave a lot of the price. I've just bought a 50D and it cost me close to £400 quid less than if I'd bought it in the UK.


A way, way off topic question from a dumb American. What is the different between quid and pound?



yes - it is a slang term for the pound . Very old and of obscure origin but thought to derive from either from the Latin "quid pro quo " or from the fact the paper for banknotes came from a place called Quidhampton.

andrewd01 wrote:
Sounds like you work for the government!

No, I don't work for the government, and like every one else, I am looking for ways to reduce my taxes legally. I won't do it illegally. It's not worth going to jail over.

Time was (up until a couple of years ago) it was unlikely you would get stopped bringing gear in from the US or via a HK seller, but things have changed DRAMATICALLY now.

The customs aren't stupid and thousands of brown boxes marked 'Gift of no value' or 'Sample' or something else has meant they now take this a LOT more seriously.

You will also very likely run into trouble trying to get a Canon body repaired if you only have an ebay or paypal receipt. Lenses will probably be ok as the warranty there is generally worldwide, but bodies are different. As we all know dslrs go wrong, sometimes frequently and you could end up with a lemon

Honestly, it's not worth it and as Dave said it's ILLEGAL

David

DaveEP wrote:
andrewd01 wrote:
Sounds like you work for the government!

No, I don't work for the government.



Oh yes you do - for most of the year

paulhodson wrote:
DaveEP wrote:
andrewd01 wrote:
Sounds like you work for the government!

No, I don't work for the government.



Oh yes you do - for most of the year

Ain't that the sad truth .... Taxes never seem to come down nowadays do they ?