Overpricing in UK - Are Canon ripping us off?

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Kelter said:

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

--
Kelter

Click to expand...

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Kelter said:

In the UK there is a lot of stealth taxes, because people can't be
arsed to complain about it and go in the street like our french
friend do. We keep moaning about the french always on strike, but
at least they get what they want and at a better price.

Kelter said:

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

--
Kelter

Click to expand...

--
Kelter

Click to expand...

fireshipjohn said:

Are you considering VAT ?

832+ 17.5% = 977

Which I admit is not the same as 1059, but it is closer.

John

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

fireshipjohn said:

Are you considering VAT ?

832+ 17.5% = 977

Which I admit is not the same as 1059, but it is closer.

John

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Tim Siddons said:

The B&H price includes US tax, so the difference will not be a big
as 17.5%. I think US tax is around 15% so the difference will only
be 2.5% or £20 taking the total to £852.

Tim

fireshipjohn said:

Are you considering VAT ?

832+ 17.5% = 977

Which I admit is not the same as 1059, but it is closer.

John

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Tim

Click to expand...

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

fireshipjohn said:

Are you considering VAT ?

832+ 17.5% = 977

Which I admit is not the same as 1059, but it is closer.

John

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Chester Cox said:

Tim Siddons said:

The B&H price includes US tax, so the difference will not be a big
as 17.5%. I think US tax is around 15% so the difference will only
be 2.5% or £20 taking the total to £852.

Tim

fireshipjohn said:

Are you considering VAT ?

832+ 17.5% = 977

Which I admit is not the same as 1059, but it is closer.

John

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Tim

Click to expand...

--
Chet

Click to expand...

Tim Siddons said:

Hi all,

Are there any UK photographers like me who are becoming
increasingly frustrated by the difference in cost between the US
and UK?

Today the exhange rate stands at about £1 - $1.8, and has done for
the past few months.

For a 20D camera body from B&H the US pays $1499 which equates to
£832, yet I cant find a UK sourced body for less than £1059.

To give another example, a 100mm Canon Macro from B&H costs $469
which equates to £260, yet in the UK we pay £399. That is a
difference of £140 ($252 or half the US cost!).

The same goes for Sigma and Tamron, but not quite as bad.

These prices are more than a joke - they are a disgrace. We are
being ripped off while Canon UK cream the profits of the exchange
rate.
I understand that they cant change prices every day, but the rate
has been between 1.7-1.8:1 for the bast part of a year.

Basically, many people that would be purchasing Canon lenses are
not, because the prices are artifically high here in Europe. Our
counterparts in the US dont have these issues - yet all the lenses
all come from the Far-East.

I would seriously consider importing my own lenses, but considering
the issues people have seen with having slightly mis-aligned lenses
I would rather buy from a local supplier, but these kinds of
inflated prices are a real rip-off.

Does anybody feel the same way as me?

Canon - I hope you are reading this.
--
Tim

Click to expand...

Ajibee said:

Yes, in the main, we are being ripped off - ripped off with high
taxes, high costs, high margins and a complacent Canon UK.

The cheapest I found though is not so much more than the US price:

EOS 20D with 18-55 lens kit is £899 + VAT from ebuyer.com - which
gives a total price of about £1060 inc. VAT and delivery - which I
reckon is about a fiull £100 cheaper than the next best UK price.
Body only is £829+VAT, IIRC.

A word about ebuyer though - they are extremely efficient
box-shifters - consistently lowest prices across the stuff they
sell - but it's web based only - no phone lines - and returns have
to be handled through their web system - so it might take a few
days to get and RMA, a few days to ship back, a few days for them
to process the return etc.

But, if you know what you want and you want it for as low as can be
had in the UK, delivered when they say it will be, they can't be
beaten.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=77735

Hope this helps,

Andrew.

Click to expand...

Steve Balcombe said:

7dayshop price is £999, which brings it even closer.

Click to expand...

fireshipjohn said:

I think, as has been discussed here previously, that the cameras
from ebuyer and 7dayshop are grey imports, no problem if you know
that, but if your talking UK sourced camera's I think the price of
1049 is about right.

John

Ajibee said:

Yes, in the main, we are being ripped off - ripped off with high
taxes, high costs, high margins and a complacent Canon UK.

The cheapest I found though is not so much more than the US price:

EOS 20D with 18-55 lens kit is £899 + VAT from ebuyer.com - which
gives a total price of about £1060 inc. VAT and delivery - which I
reckon is about a fiull £100 cheaper than the next best UK price.
Body only is £829+VAT, IIRC.

A word about ebuyer though - they are extremely efficient
box-shifters - consistently lowest prices across the stuff they
sell - but it's web based only - no phone lines - and returns have
to be handled through their web system - so it might take a few
days to get and RMA, a few days to ship back, a few days for them
to process the return etc.

But, if you know what you want and you want it for as low as can be
had in the UK, delivered when they say it will be, they can't be
beaten.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=77735

Hope this helps,

Andrew.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

denisp said:

its even worse for pro lighting equipement ...

it is not fair at all, and frankly i dont know what the hell is it
due to ?????

Canon UK, we need explanation. thanks.

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