Local vs Grey Market

[bricat]

I have dealt with a grey importer for my 7d. Landed I think was $1900 after duties etc. Best price I got here was 2200. Oh the import came with 2 kit lenses and the price here was body only. And he is now a site sponsor(digital review). Of course I get warranty and I might have to wait a little longer for repairs if required(touch wood). It's not as if I am losing an arm or something. And yes I was a little worried sending the money overseas without seeing the goods but I could not be happier. I would still be trying to save money for my purchase if not for grey imports . cheers Brian

[davomate]

I recently paid under $1500 for my 7D body from DigitalRev.com. Only annoyances are a photocopied manual and a battery charger with a travel adapter. If it has to go back for warranty I have my 450D to fall back on. I have also imported a 70-200 f4 for a similar price earlier this year, and in neither case was I charged GST or duty. I have saved well over $1000 on these and the 15-85 I imported last year. Enough money for another lens...

[Flash Hit]

My 20c worth, I purchased the 7D with all the trimmings from DWI and the price advertised (over $3000) was the price I paid and not a penny (sorry CENT) more. Their repairs and warranty work are carried out in Sydney. I had one small problem with DWI and they were on it (and fixed it) like a seagull onto a sick prawn.
All said - it's a personal choice and this is good for my typing practice!

[davomate]

If it has to go back for warranty I have my 450D to fall back on...

Guess what, it did. My 7D developed a sensor fault (vertical lines on all the images). DigitalRev offered a local repair if the quote was reasonable. But this took 2 weeks and was in excess of the purchase cost. DigitalRev took another week to agree that I should return it to Hong Kong. Then the Christmas and New Year period at Canon HK. Then held up an extra week in Australian Customs on the way back because they are cracking down on under valued imports. In all I was without my camera for over 2 1/2 months. Made me very glad I had not sold my 450D. Now learning to use my 7D again, because I only had it for 3 weeks before it developed the fault.

[macrocephalic]

Some of the grey importers offer insurance extra, I'm not sure of the cost, but if grey+insurance is the same price as local+local warranty then I'd take the grey as insurance covers accidental damage etc.

[Camerashy]

I agree with Bercy, the best deals are not grey or non-grey, they are in person. Humans are much keener to do deals than websites, they can lose their jobs if they don't sell things. You will be surprised how low they go.

[8perpetual]

Sometimes its a matter of luck. I got a grey set 85L which was dead sharp. No regrets. Saved me $400. If you have the chance to test the copies before hand, that will be great.

[Bennymiata]

I don't mind paying a little more to buy locally rather than from overseas, but it depends on what you're buying, and how much you can save.
I recently bought a new 60D, and an L lens, along with a 580EX II flash, and saved myself around $1,000 by buying grey imorts.
Evne though they were all sent together, I paid no duty or taxes and I received the one parcel in about 4 days.
All the equipment works flawlessly, so I'm happy.
I have bought a couple of other lenses locaaly however, as their price was so close to the imports, that I preffered to pay more.

I think the deal is that if you can save significant money, it's worth the risk, but if the difference in price is small, say around 10-15%, then i'll buy locally.