POLL: Would you buy a grey market body ??

**bigdazzler** · 14-09-2009, 7:29pm

wonder if i should wait six months and buy it in Bangkok in Feb ?? mmmm .....

**I @ M** · 14-09-2009, 7:35pm

Originally Posted by bigdazzler

wonder if i should wait six months and buy it in Bangkok in Feb ?? mmmm .....

Errr, think customs, GST, fees and possible fines.

**davesmith** · 14-09-2009, 7:37pm

I got my a700 grey back when the $ was almost 1:1. Mind you, I felt a lot more comfortable about the deal being able to walk into to the shop (DDP) to collect it together with their support, rather than waiting for it to ship from overseas.

The $ is starting to look good again and if I were ready for another body now I'd take advantage of it again.

**mbong** · 14-09-2009, 8:03pm

I bought my body D300 from grey market, I would not hesitate to do it again as long as its from reputable shop like D-D-Photographics and of course if price difference is huge (i.e more than $300).

**Redgum** · 14-09-2009, 8:30pm

A point of caution though. Remember anything over $A1000 you will have to pay the equivalent of GST of 10% and you can't get around this because everything goes through customs. Two, it is possible for other import charges to be applied above and beyond the 10% and you won't know until it arrives. If the overseas merchant doesn't/won't provide the proper documentation the cost could be prohibitive, so high in fact it could be cheaper to leave the goods with customs. Finally, make sure you get the right documentation with the goods or the police could call to repossess.
Why I'm emphasising good documentation is that if the camera needs to go back overseas for any reason proof of ownership is the only way to get it back in the country without paying again.

**bigdazzler** · 14-09-2009, 8:42pm

nah i think ill go with the importer here .. just got a quote for $2500 delivered ..

**etherial** · 14-09-2009, 10:04pm

Originally Posted by bigdazzler

nah i think ill go with the importer here .. just got a quote for $2500 delivered ..

Gee your backing up quickly after the CS4 splurge, hope you've got something lined up for Bella!

**bigdazzler** · 14-09-2009, 10:16pm

Originally Posted by etherial

Gee your backing up quickly after the CS4 splurge, hope you've got something lined up for Bella!

might need an engagement ring to get outta this one ....

**seastorm** · 15-09-2009, 12:00am

I voted Yes, as most of you already pointed out, after 1 year the Aust. warranty will be void anyway. With most electronics, if it doesn't stuff up within 1 month of use, it'll be fine.....

**landteacher** · 15-09-2009, 12:37am

Yes for me. D200-local dealer, 2wks out of warranty flash card went $350.00 + $40.00 post, grey market (HK) D60, D90 and various lenses, no hassles & no problems yet. Luck of the draw i guess. PS. One week delivery (100klm) Aus post, 3 days from HK.

EVERYTHING NIKON. SECOND PLACE IS FIRST LOSER.

**landteacher** · 15-09-2009, 12:51am

Originally Posted by bigdazzler

might need an engagement ring to get outta this one ....

You young blokes have no logic! You think that will get you out of it, it's just the start of all your trouble

.

Mick.G.

**arthurking83** · 15-09-2009, 1:05am

Originally Posted by landteacher

You young blokes have no logic! You think that will get you out of it, it's just the start of all your trouble

.

Mick.G.

it's not really the start of your trouble(that started way earlier when he got into photography.. whilst in a relationship with a non photography girl

), although I can fully understand that parallel too, but I see more like:

...... 'the start of the end'!!

I voted yes too. for the right price difference(as per Darrens' quoted prices) it'd have to be a resounding yes too!

I remember Fabian quoted a great price on the D700.. @ only a couple of hundred more than a Grey Market item.
I don't use any % rule, as such... more like a set price difference rule. A $200 saving may not be worth the hassle, but a $500 saving may certainly be!.. somewhere in between is a grey zone.. anything over $500 saving is a dead certainty(for the Grey market item).

make hay while the sun is shining.. and when you present the ring to Bella, make sure you spend up big on all those absolutely necessary wedding items

After all, what significance would your wedding have without a CZ 135/1.8 on a FF body Darren?
(I'm perfectly open to any offers to come to Sydney for the purpose of helping your newly acquired camera gear take photos of your wedding Daz!)

**ricktas** · 15-09-2009, 7:17am

Originally Posted by bigdazzler

might need an engagement ring to get outta this one ....

lets have a poll on this one!

**kiwi** · 15-09-2009, 12:34pm

I'll do the wedding, charge $500 for a shoot and burn, do the whole thing on one camera, one battery, one 4gb memory card, use a stofen diffuser, edit the photos using Picassa (mainly auto levels), on my uncalibrated monitor

Fantastic !!!

Oh hang on, I don't "do" weddings, dang

**NGP** · 15-09-2009, 4:37pm

well depends if it is going to be cheaper or not.. after the change of the AU$ mid last year, bodies and some lenses were cheaper bought local then imported... in that case buying import doesn't make any sense.. but if you do get it quite a bit cheaper it is worth buying import (taken in consideration of added GST, custom fees and possible credit card currency conversion surcharges) when ordered from overseas.. but if something goes wrong you might have to send it overseas to get it repaired unless you want to pay for it yourself to get it done locally.

we still supply extended international warranties with our imported cameras and lenses we occasionally have on special, so the benefit can be greater then some local stock.

**ving** · 15-09-2009, 5:45pm

gravy please...

**mikew09** · 15-09-2009, 9:38pm

Hi Darren,
I had a very similar post a little while ago and gave this a lot of thought. I would be prepared to risk up 1500 on a lens from a reputable dealer after comments from member that have used them. I don't have much cash to through around on my hobby so do a lot of deliberation over a purchase. I am a marked man in the city camera shots as I get very #### in bartering and I have actually seen a shop assistant avoid me :-). Purchased a Canon 430 EX II Speedlight on Monday and bargained them down to $380 and through in a set of energisers to boot. Still not a gray dealer price but considering the margin was happy with the purchase. To the point, I find if you are prepared to push the local dealers really hard it is surprising how much money can be saved.

**DAdeGroot** · 16-09-2009, 8:00pm

I have not read the whole thread, but I voted No. Why ? Because eventually I'll take out CPS (Canon Professional Services) and thus need to buy my bodies from a registered Canon dealer to be eligible. Also at the time, I got my 5DII for a better price for local Aus. stock than grey market, which helped somewhat.

**gw.toad** · 19-09-2009, 10:29pm

I've bought 3 grey cams arrrrr...First from ebay [didgital rev] Fuji s5000 [no probs] second from ebay [forget the dealer] was a Nikon d50 [no probs] and my third was a d300 from[ http://www.d-d-photographics.com.au/index.htm ] {no probs] arrrr....

Yes I would buy grey again arrrrr....

GW.Toad

**ajmcphie** · 19-09-2009, 10:36pm

I recently bought my first camera from one of these sites and ended up saving $300 or more on the RRP... And it was all 100% legit, also it only took a week to arrive from Hong Kong..so I was pretty chuffed ..

though the total price of purchase was $410, so it is slightly different to spending a few grand, though after making this cheaper purchase I now know that I would confidently buy something considerably dearer from this site (Digital World International - btw )

Hope this helps!

EDIT: Also Full Warrenty came with purchase and I dont have to send my camera overseas if it needs fixing, just to mainland Australia!

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