Here are some of the things I am aware of based on my experience with a company which has over 150 countries coverage.
1st, the products were distributed based on local laws just like what you have in the states that has different requirements for different states. Some states allow exclusion while others does not which will affect the final servicing and support cost. These costs will be reflected on the sales prices of the products.
2nd, the distribution of the products can be handled by a subsidiary of the original manufacturer or it could be handled by a franchise ran by an independent business. The supporting cost has to be acredited to the rightful owner. If there is no agreement before hand than it is not as easy as said, especially across borders involving taxation. Who would bare this extra burden?
3rdly, for different countries the warranty period will be different, most with 1 year, while others have 3, and some even with a lifetime warranty just like some Leica products, so depending on what the local distributors sees fit, they will set the sales price accordingly to cater for the additional cost. Again this is related to the allocation of the proper costing.
Finally, there is this special service for certain customers or groups based on the company's setup, just like Canon and Nikon that has special privileges for CPS and NPS members. Some of these membership requires certain basic requirements or even membership fees.
So, you see it is not as easy as you think it is. I would also like to buy something from anywhere and have it service under warranty anywhere around the world, but it is not going to work out based on what I had stated above. 😶
I was in Japan 3 months ago. The price for tourists was $3100 but the D850 was out stock. Df was also ways cheaper than here in the US. Free tax and extra %5 off paying with visa card.
Just to update for the firmware change from the English and Japanese version to the International version with multiple languages.
Yes, it can be changed by Nikon for a small fees of about half to an hour labor cost with local tax.
Hope this will help those who would like to have languages other than English and Japanese, like Arabic, Chinese, Francais und Deutsche...
I think Nikon USA will honor warranties as long as the camera was purchased from an authorized Nikon dealer overseas. Grey market items only pertain to items purchased from a source not authorized by Nikon. Though I'm wondering how B&H and Adorama retain their authorized dealer status despite selling imported Nikon lenses?
Jonathan F wrote:
I think Nikon USA will honor warranties as long as the camera was purchased from an authorized Nikon dealer overseas. Grey market items only pertain to items purchased from a source not authorized by Nikon. Though I'm wondering how B&H and Adorama retain their authorized dealer status despite selling imported Nikon lenses?
At B&H, with only a few exceptions, they only sell the imported lenses when the U.S. warranty lenses are not available because Nikon is backordered. That wasn't always the case, but Nikon must have gotten after them several years ago. The only exceptions are a few of the D lenses and the old manual AI-S lenses. As of a day or two ago, the only lenses that are available in both the imported and U.S. editions were the 16 Fisheye, the 300 f4 D (which is a 17 year-old lens), the 16-85DX and three of the AI-S lenses. I don't track Adorama, but I suspect it's the same.
I have wanted to buy stuff from Map Camera for twenty years. Back then, it was Contax film gear and they had an awesome array including items that never appeared on US shores. Blue RX, anyone? Very recently, they are listing on eBay and are part of a wave of Japanese sellers that greatly enlarge the selection of quality Nikon gear, including some real rarities. Pricing is very competitive given the strong dollar. Anyway, my first Map Camera purchase that arrived hours ago:
Manual is Japanese but I simply downloaded the English PDF, battery is new, and firmware is latest. I won't get service from Nikon "Impact Damage" USA but I can always return this D4 to Japan, or use my local resource APS in Morton Grove. Happy camper here.
