Buying 70-200 VR from Europe?

Since the euro is very strong at this moment I'm considering buying this lens from the US.

The lens costs $1599 (or even cheaper) and there is a $150 rebate.

Converted to euro this gives: 1106 euro. The lens costs 1595 in Europe so that's a big difference. However I read the rebate conditions and you need to live in the US to be eligable. Anyone know another way?

Hi!

Don't forget shipment and import duties/taxes (VAT...). This alone can slap up to another 30% on top of all those shiny US prices (depending on where you live, and if there are valid agreements between your country and the US to reduce some of these taxes).

Together with shipment charges you can add 400 € to what you'd have to pay with the current rabate, making such a deal less appealing.

Another thing is costly return shipments, if you should decide not to keep your lens, and I am unsure if Nikon does actually accept US warranties for european customers as well.

I was tempted to buy in the US a lot of times, but settled for the cheapest EU offers instead, since it all amounts to about the same price in the end.

Regards
Alex

Stijn Verrept said:

Since the euro is very strong at this moment I'm considering buying
this lens from the US.

The lens costs $1599 (or even cheaper) and there is a $150 rebate.

Converted to euro this gives: 1106 euro. The lens costs 1595 in
Europe so that's a big difference. However I read the rebate
conditions and you need to live in the US to be eligable. Anyone
know another way?

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Hi,

I bought it there (in Netherlands) at 1602 euros including delivery one month ago, they are very serious shop, in France it's 2300...

Ther you pay in euros and tax inclusives

http://www.foto-konijnenberg.nl/
Nikkor AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200/2.8 G IF-ED 12 1649.00
Nikkor AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200/2.8 G IF-ED import 12 1550.00
Nikkor AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200/2.8 G IF-ED, wit 12 1575.00

SiFu said:

Don't forget shipment and import duties/taxes (VAT...). This alone
can slap up to another 30% on top of all those shiny US prices
(depending on where you live, and if there are valid agreements
between your country and the US to reduce some of these taxes).
Together with shipment charges you can add 400 € to what you'd
have to pay with the current rabate, making such a deal less
appealing.

Another thing is costly return shipments, if you should decide not
to keep your lens, and I am unsure if Nikon does actually accept US
warranties for european customers as well.

I was tempted to buy in the US a lot of times, but settled for the
cheapest EU offers instead, since it all amounts to about the same
price in the end.

Regards
Alex

Stijn Verrept said:

Since the euro is very strong at this moment I'm considering buying
this lens from the US.

The lens costs $1599 (or even cheaper) and there is a $150 rebate.

Converted to euro this gives: 1106 euro. The lens costs 1595 in
Europe so that's a big difference. However I read the rebate
conditions and you need to live in the US to be eligable. Anyone
know another way?

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

the best price for the 70-200 VR currently here in Germany is 1520€.
( I even saw it going for 1411€ new from dealer two days ago)

Taking the 1600 $ +50 $ shipment (at least) = 1650 $.

thats 1270€, add about 6,7% duane and 16% tax = 1560
(calculating 1€ = 1,30$, it's climbing currently to 1,32 it seems)

I won't call that a bargain

If you don't have an US citizien buying the lens for you, you won't get the rebate. But even with rebate the difference is still small. And if you've an US citizien buying it for you, he might need to pay the local tax and his name will be on the bill as well so warranty might get complicated.

Add another fee for international credit card use... and all together not worth the hazzle imho. Unfortunatley.

But there're some forecasts that the € is very strong and getting stronger and the US $ is still overrated, so 1€ might go up 2$ within 12 months.

Regards, Chris

Stijn Verrept said:

Since the euro is very strong at this moment I'm considering buying
this lens from the US.

The lens costs $1599 (or even cheaper) and there is a $150 rebate.

Converted to euro this gives: 1106 euro. The lens costs 1595 in
Europe so that's a big difference. However I read the rebate
conditions and you need to live in the US to be eligable. Anyone
know another way?

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/velvetnight

McConnor said:

And if you've an US citizien buying it for you, he might
need to pay the local tax

Click to expand...

Actually that's only if the US citizen is stupid enough to
buy the lens from a business in his/her own state.
But of course when you buy from out of state, you will
have to pay for shipping. Still much better than paying
taxes on an item costing over a grand (here in CA it
would be about $80, you can have a lens shipped UPS
ground for as little as $10.)

McConnor said:

Add another fee for international credit card use...

Click to expand...

I know many people who buy from overseas, never
heard of that. Either they take international CC's or
they don't, no additional charge.

McConnor said:

But there're some forecasts that the € is very strong and getting
stronger and the US $ is still overrated, so 1€ might go up 2$
within 12 months.

Click to expand...

That would be a disaster for both the US and Europe.
With a dollar that weak, European businesses couldn't
be competitive anywhere in the world. That's why Europe
and Japan are buying lots of $$$ to keep the US currency
afloat. I seriously doubt the dollar will go any lower, but
then again I seriously doubted an idiot and a screwup like
Dubya could be re-elected... :-(

--
'There is nothing worse than a sharp
picture of a fuzzy idea.' (Ansel Adams)

• Equipment list in profile.

Paolo Pizzi said:

McConnor wrote:

Click to expand...

...

Paolo Pizzi said:

Paolo Pizzi said:

But there're some forecasts that the € is very strong and getting
stronger and the US $ is still overrated, so 1€ might go up 2$
within 12 months.

Click to expand...

That would be a disaster for both the US and Europe.
With a dollar that weak, European businesses couldn't
be competitive anywhere in the world. That's why Europe
and Japan are buying lots of $$$ to keep the US currency
afloat. I seriously doubt the dollar will go any lower, but
then again I seriously doubted an idiot and a screwup like
Dubya could be re-elected... :-(

Click to expand...

good point and well known as good as well.

My opinion is a little different. A strong € can buy cheap resources like oil, steel, wood, gold...and it can buy cheap ships to transport goods so HighTech goods can be achieved cheaper and so for sold cheaper... and maybe it could even buy strong Incorporateds like MS or GM ;-)

Regards, Chris

(maybe I should improve my english before thinking about international trades, lol)

--
http://www.pbase.com/velvetnight

Stijn Verrept said:

Since the euro is very strong at this moment I'm considering buying
this lens from the US.

The lens costs $1599 (or even cheaper) and there is a $150 rebate.

Converted to euro this gives: 1106 euro. The lens costs 1595 in
Europe so that's a big difference. However I read the rebate
conditions and you need to live in the US to be eligable. Anyone
know another way?

Click to expand...

£969UK

WWW.AJPURDY.CO.UK
--
KB

I believe they only ship within the UK.
Is this true?

kbrembo said:

£969UK

WWW.AJPURDY.CO.UK
--
KB

Click to expand...

Do what I do all the time. Tell the English/European retailers to take a runnung jump and buy from the Hong Kong suppliers on ebay. Fatjump-HKSupplies-UR Galaxcy. Used them all. Fabulous service, ludicrious prices, very little import cost due to the way the items are descriped for customs etc.etc.

So far this year I have bought 5 lenses and saved over £1200. ie 1750 euros.

BW. Bob F. England.

Hi!

Well, if tax fraud works for you, Hong Kong might well be your way to get cheap stuff.

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

Do what I do all the time. Tell the English/European retailers to
take a runnung jump and buy from the Hong Kong suppliers on ebay.
Fatjump-HKSupplies-UR Galaxcy. Used them all. Fabulous service,
ludicrious prices, very little import cost due to the way the items
are descriped for customs etc.etc.

So far this year I have bought 5 lenses and saved over £1200. ie
1750 euros.

BW. Bob F. England.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Stijn Verrept said:

Since the euro is very strong at this moment I'm considering buying
this lens from the US.

The lens costs $1599 (or even cheaper) and there is a $150 rebate.

Converted to euro this gives: 1106 euro. The lens costs 1595 in
Europe so that's a big difference. However I read the rebate
conditions and you need to live in the US to be eligable. Anyone
know another way?

Click to expand...

Hi Stijn

Just move to Kuwait there is only 5% import and then there is shipping on top of that.

Then you can talk about saving...

Lens: $1599
Shipping: $71
Tax: $79.95
Total $1749.95

In EURO 1336.84

SiFu said:

Well, if tax fraud works for you, Hong Kong might well be your way
to get cheap stuff.

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

Do what I do all the time. Tell the English/European retailers to
take a runnung jump and buy from the Hong Kong suppliers on ebay.
Fatjump-HKSupplies-UR Galaxcy. Used them all. Fabulous service,
ludicrious prices, very little import cost due to the way the items
are descriped for customs etc.etc.

So far this year I have bought 5 lenses and saved over £1200. ie
1750 euros.

BW. Bob F. England.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

What was the point of that remark?

The question of the duty and its payment is firmly on the buyer. Therefore if the buyer has to pay duty by customs then it is down to them to do so, unless they want to forgo the item which nobody in their right mind would do.

So why the holier than though attitude. Nobody said anything about defrauding the taxman, but if they don't ask me to pay it I am sure as hell I not going to volunteer to pay it.

So please take a deep breath before you make that type of post again.

ira furor brevis est.
Bob F.

Hi Bob!

Declarations as gifts/items of lower value by some seller (may it be in accordance with the buyer or not) outside the EU are, at least here in Austria, violating current tax laws - the technical term simply happens to be "tax fraud".

I can't tell, If common law has a different attitude. It is considered against the law where I live, and that was the point I was trying to make.

That was pretty much all I tried to say; there was actually no anger of any kind in my mind when writing this post, as I do not feel any need to tell people what to do (as I have done this professionally for a long time).

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

SiFu said:

Well, if tax fraud works for you, Hong Kong might well be your way
to get cheap stuff.

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

Do what I do all the time. Tell the English/European retailers to
take a runnung jump and buy from the Hong Kong suppliers on ebay.
Fatjump-HKSupplies-UR Galaxcy. Used them all. Fabulous service,
ludicrious prices, very little import cost due to the way the items
are descriped for customs etc.etc.

So far this year I have bought 5 lenses and saved over £1200. ie
1750 euros.

BW. Bob F. England.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

What was the point of that remark?
The question of the duty and its payment is firmly on the buyer.
Therefore if the buyer has to pay duty by customs then it is down
to them to do so, unless they want to forgo the item which nobody
in their right mind would do.
So why the holier than though attitude. Nobody said anything about
defrauding the taxman, but if they don't ask me to pay it I am sure
as hell I not going to volunteer to pay it.

So please take a deep breath before you make that type of post again.

ira furor brevis est.
Bob F.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

SiFu said:

Declarations as gifts/items of lower value by some seller (may it
be in accordance with the buyer or not) outside the EU are, at
least here in Austria, violating current tax laws - the technical
term simply happens to be "tax fraud".

I can't tell, If common law has a different attitude. It is
considered against the law where I live, and that was the point I
was trying to make.

That was pretty much all I tried to say; there was actually no
anger of any kind in my mind when writing this post, as I do not
feel any need to tell people what to do (as I have done this
professionally for a long time).

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

SiFu said:

Well, if tax fraud works for you, Hong Kong might well be your way
to get cheap stuff.

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

Do what I do all the time. Tell the English/European retailers to
take a runnung jump and buy from the Hong Kong suppliers on ebay.
Fatjump-HKSupplies-UR Galaxcy. Used them all. Fabulous service,
ludicrious prices, very little import cost due to the way the items
are descriped for customs etc.etc.

So far this year I have bought 5 lenses and saved over £1200. ie
1750 euros.

BW. Bob F. England.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

What was the point of that remark?
The question of the duty and its payment is firmly on the buyer.
Therefore if the buyer has to pay duty by customs then it is down
to them to do so, unless they want to forgo the item which nobody
in their right mind would do.
So why the holier than though attitude. Nobody said anything about
defrauding the taxman, but if they don't ask me to pay it I am sure
as hell I not going to volunteer to pay it.

So please take a deep breath before you make that type of post again.

ira furor brevis est.
Bob F.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

Ok. Point taken.

It is down to each individual to buy in any way they think fit. The Hong Kong Suppliers do these declareations as a matter of course, and not as a matter of instruction; although one supplier does do it on instruction.

I will not use him, as I would not ask for a false declaration to be made on my behalf. Too damn dangerous. However I will accept items sent by sellers under their own declaration and pay or not pay any fees requested.

How is you beautiful country at this time of year? Been a number of times and find the scenery etc. truely magnificent.

Best wishes.

Bob F. in DULL English weather.

Hi Bob!

I totally agree with you on that; everyone has to find ways in life that he feels comfortable with.

We have seen quite some amounts of snow over the last couple of days; today the sun has come out again, making it very enjoyable around here atm. I'm pretty glad though, that the "dullness-factor" is hardly ever matching british standards.

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

SiFu said:

Declarations as gifts/items of lower value by some seller (may it
be in accordance with the buyer or not) outside the EU are, at
least here in Austria, violating current tax laws - the technical
term simply happens to be "tax fraud".

I can't tell, If common law has a different attitude. It is
considered against the law where I live, and that was the point I
was trying to make.

That was pretty much all I tried to say; there was actually no
anger of any kind in my mind when writing this post, as I do not
feel any need to tell people what to do (as I have done this
professionally for a long time).

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

SiFu said:

Well, if tax fraud works for you, Hong Kong might well be your way
to get cheap stuff.

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

Do what I do all the time. Tell the English/European retailers to
take a runnung jump and buy from the Hong Kong suppliers on ebay.
Fatjump-HKSupplies-UR Galaxcy. Used them all. Fabulous service,
ludicrious prices, very little import cost due to the way the items
are descriped for customs etc.etc.

So far this year I have bought 5 lenses and saved over £1200. ie
1750 euros.

BW. Bob F. England.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

What was the point of that remark?
The question of the duty and its payment is firmly on the buyer.
Therefore if the buyer has to pay duty by customs then it is down
to them to do so, unless they want to forgo the item which nobody
in their right mind would do.
So why the holier than though attitude. Nobody said anything about
defrauding the taxman, but if they don't ask me to pay it I am sure
as hell I not going to volunteer to pay it.

So please take a deep breath before you make that type of post again.

ira furor brevis est.
Bob F.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

Ok. Point taken.

It is down to each individual to buy in any way they think fit. The
Hong Kong Suppliers do these declareations as a matter of course,
and not as a matter of instruction; although one supplier does do
it on instruction.

I will not use him, as I would not ask for a false declaration to
be made on my behalf. Too damn dangerous. However I will accept
items sent by sellers under their own declaration and pay or not
pay any fees requested.

How is you beautiful country at this time of year? Been a number of
times and find the scenery etc. truely magnificent.

Best wishes.

Bob F. in DULL English weather.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Stijn,

If you know somebody doing a business trip in HK, you can buy it there.

Right now 1 Euro = 10.21 HKD today.

So 70-200 VR = 11600 HKD = 1136 Euros.

Cheers,

Regis

- - - - - - - - -

A favorite selection of pictures shot in Southeast and East Asia

http://www.thaiworldview.com/photo/index.htm

FYI: you can try to avoid some of these taxes in certain ways. Not guaranteeing it works all the time, but so far for me it has and I've ordered dozens of times on big ticket items. I already pay 30+% of my salary in taxes so you better believe I will find ways to get out of the loophole if possible.

I normally would contact the store directly via phone, usually from a store in the States since I'm in Swizerland and ask them if they would purposefully mark the package as a gift and not label their company logo. It's a gift from me to myself. Then just have them send the box, declare its true content. So far I have not been made to pay taxes on anything. I've ordered by D70, SB800, few lenses, and laptops that way and haven't gotten taxed. If they make me I will, else I wont. I tested on other packages marked as merchandise and those gets taxed right away. So far its working. I'm not going to volunteer my money away if I can help it.

But the other readers are right about ease of exchange policies if you buy it at your local store. Ups and downs....

Bob F. said:

SiFu said:

Declarations as gifts/items of lower value by some seller (may it
be in accordance with the buyer or not) outside the EU are, at
least here in Austria, violating current tax laws - the technical
term simply happens to be "tax fraud".

I can't tell, If common law has a different attitude. It is
considered against the law where I live, and that was the point I
was trying to make.

That was pretty much all I tried to say; there was actually no
anger of any kind in my mind when writing this post, as I do not
feel any need to tell people what to do (as I have done this
professionally for a long time).

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

SiFu said:

Well, if tax fraud works for you, Hong Kong might well be your way
to get cheap stuff.

Regards
Alex

Bob F. said:

Do what I do all the time. Tell the English/European retailers to
take a runnung jump and buy from the Hong Kong suppliers on ebay.
Fatjump-HKSupplies-UR Galaxcy. Used them all. Fabulous service,
ludicrious prices, very little import cost due to the way the items
are descriped for customs etc.etc.

So far this year I have bought 5 lenses and saved over £1200. ie
1750 euros.

BW. Bob F. England.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

What was the point of that remark?
The question of the duty and its payment is firmly on the buyer.
Therefore if the buyer has to pay duty by customs then it is down
to them to do so, unless they want to forgo the item which nobody
in their right mind would do.
So why the holier than though attitude. Nobody said anything about
defrauding the taxman, but if they don't ask me to pay it I am sure
as hell I not going to volunteer to pay it.

So please take a deep breath before you make that type of post again.

ira furor brevis est.
Bob F.

Click to expand...

--
carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

Click to expand...

Ok. Point taken.

It is down to each individual to buy in any way they think fit. The
Hong Kong Suppliers do these declareations as a matter of course,
and not as a matter of instruction; although one supplier does do
it on instruction.

I will not use him, as I would not ask for a false declaration to
be made on my behalf. Too damn dangerous. However I will accept
items sent by sellers under their own declaration and pay or not
pay any fees requested.

How is you beautiful country at this time of year? Been a number of
times and find the scenery etc. truely magnificent.

Best wishes.

Bob F. in DULL English weather.

Click to expand...