Does anyone here buy outside the UK or Ireland and make savings?

I suppose with the dollar so low its time to make use of it. I see some others seem to be making savings.

Where do people order off, I'm thinking BHphoto but any other recommendations?

B

I have bought outside of Ireland and will continue to do so in the future, from places such as BHPhotovideo,  URGalaxy and ACFoto. Even when you take into account shipping charges along with Duty and VAT it still works out cheaper than buying here. But bear in mind that our VAT rate is 21% instead of your 17.5%. But even if you're VAT registered and don't have to pay the VAT, price differences between the UK (Northern Ireland) and Ireland can be quite significant, so it may not make as much sense for you to buy from abroad as it does for me.

- Thorsten. 

Most of the time you'll want the goods shipped by UPS or FedEx if it's of any kind of value. Unfortunately that means you'll get hit for VAT and possibly duty depending on the item and where it's coming from. UPS/FedEx will also charge you about a tenner for collecting the tax. All in you can still make a saving, but not always as good as you'd think. Bear in mind VAT is charged on the price inclusive of duty and shipping. So a $1k lens, with $50 shipping will cost you $1,347  i.e. $1050 * 1.06 *1.21 (at RoI rates), plus a tenner to the shipping company.

I've shopped with B&H online and found them to be excellent. Ordered a lens on a Monday afternoon and had it in my grubby little paws first thing Thursday morning. Adorama has an excellent reputation also but I haven't ordered from them online. Both are in NYC.

7DayShop is worth checking out. Being in Jersey or Guernsey (I forget which) they're outside the EU and offer good prices. Very reliable too.

Paul 

Most of the stuff I order comes from HK (Kea-photo on ebay).  Just ordered a 300mm f/2.8 IS L.  Price (inc shipping) from there is €3,400.  To buy it in a shop in Dublin - €5,600.

 So far this year - 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L, 24-105mm f/4 IS L, EF-S 10-22mm, 40D ... and more.  So yeah, I spend quite a bit in HK.  I wouldn't buy from Ireland/UK because the prices are just crazy.

Many people I know have bought from Kea-Photo, URGalaxy etc from ebay and everything arrived perfectly. 

Thanks guys.

I have contact in America who is back and forth quite a bit and said they would buy stuff out there for me. Thankfully its nothing big in size.

B

I am the same as PaulWa and buy everything from Kea in HK as the savings are just not worth the hassle (cost and aggro to buy in Ireland) and I get an international extnded warranty too.

When I was in the UK, I used to get majority of my stuff from Digital-Rev as they used to reimburse the VAT if I had to pay any on the shipment. They were very good and it was usually done within 3 days of the funds request. Dont know if they will do it for N.I. ir its the mainland only.

I bought some stuff from B&H a while back and made some savings bot nowhere as much as from HK.

If you're planning to bring camera gear back from America, after a holiday or whatever, it might be sensible to unwrap it and bin the boxes etc before catching the flight back. You could still be charged duty at the airport if the items are obviously new (ie, not something you took with you on the way out).

I'd probably buy from a HK shop if there was a significant price difference, but wouldn't mind paying a reasonable premium to buy locally. It's good to be able to return the item to the shop in the event of a problem and save the hassle of trying to sort it out with someone on the other side of the world.

Until recently, when I got a new camera, I hadn't really bought any new  equipment for about two years. Guess what, I got the best deal around right here in Belfast - even better than I'd have got from Hong Kong! Cheers Jim!


 

Defo pricing in (Southern) Ireland is a joke.  Meetings with the Sales Director of Canon Ireland has not helped in the past either to highlight this fact.

I will echo what many have said about prices in Ireland being very expensive!

I have never bought anything in the US due to warranty issues.

I have bought some stuff in Spain (and I pointed a friend-of-a-friend in this direction and he has spent a small fortune on gear there). The advantages for me are that they use the same currency as us, the warranty covers all of the EU, they are much cheaper than Ireland, and they are willing to negotiate to get business

M.