Price of lenses - USA Vs Australia

I'm currently considering getting a longer lens for my 10D and have been getting comparisons in quality & price etc.

Looking at the example of a Sigma 100-300 f4 and a 1.4X APO it is more than twice as expensive to purchase at home!

Total price in US (from pickacamera.com) is $US824 which equates to $AUD1211 at an exchange rate of .68

Price in Australia (Dirt Cheap Cameras) is $2505!

Is such a discrepancy going to continue considering the change in value of both currencies?

Makes me consider a business trip to the US!

Anyone have any experience with online purchases from the US? A major worry for me would be warranty issues if the lens turned out to be a fizzer!

--
From beautiful Tasmania
http://www.pbase.com/tasmart

I agree.
We pay too much for certain gear including lenses and the EOS 300D.

It is not so much to do with economies of scale for selling as what the Australian market will bear.

Some Australian items have become more competitively priced when there is enough competition in the market place, as is the case with computer parts and all that gear imported from China. Like how cheap can a Chinese electric drill or a fold up camping chair get before it is not viable for these Chinese firms to dump in our market.

More Australians need to buy from overseas even though the customs charges do not encourage it.

I have sometimes struck problems importing. Many US firms don't want to know you or make little effort to forward items in a cost effective manner. I waited 3 mths once to receive a laptop that I thought went missing when the retailer had actually sent it by surface mail. I have had gear go missing in the post with USPS refusing to refund the postage charges on insured mail.

For warranty work you will need to return the goods to the source or pay for repairs locally.

I see firms like DeltaInternational, B&H and Adorama are being mentioned favourably by individuals and http://www,resller.com . PriceJapan is very reliable in Japan, but is a buyer rather than a retailer with a minimum commision of Y4000 (5%) so is worthwhile for expensive cameras and data projectors

If you pick the retailer and a descent delivery method you can save anxieties and money as well as send a message to Australian distributors that Australians are not all in a captive marketplace.

tasmart said:

Total price in US (from pickacamera.com) is $US824 which equates to
$AUD1211 at an exchange rate of .68

Price in Australia (Dirt Cheap Cameras) is $2505!

Is such a discrepancy going to continue considering the change in
value of both currencies?

Click to expand...

Probably

tasmart said:

Makes me consider a business trip to the US!

Click to expand...

Hey, if you can you may as well..

tasmart said:

Anyone have any experience with online purchases from the US?

Click to expand...

I've bought from B&H before. They've been pretty good.

Don't forget to budget for an extra 10% for GST when it reaches you. IF you get it shipped UPS I think they'll clear it for you. IF you get it shipped Airmail, you get a letter from Customs and you have to go and pay and pick up the item from the Customs office yourself. (At least, that's what they used to do.. it's been a while..)

tasmart said:

A major worry for me would be warranty issues if the lens turned out
to be a fizzer!

Click to expand...

Last time I bought a Sigma lens it had an international warranty card from Sigma, Tokyo. On the back was a list of all the service centres around the world.. So you should be alright..

Shawn

tasmart said:

Looking at the example of a Sigma 100-300 f4 and a 1.4X APO it is
more than twice as expensive to purchase at home!

Total price in US (from pickacamera.com) is $US824 which equates to
$AUD1211 at an exchange rate of .68

Price in Australia (Dirt Cheap Cameras) is $2505!

Click to expand...

Don't forget to add freight, which depending on the company and the weight of the lens, can be something like US$60 or $80 and then add GST on the price and freight total. So your total would be more like 824 + 60 = US$884 = AUS$1300 + GST $130 = AUS$1430. Still a lot cheaper, but as I understand it no warranty. I think this is to protect Canons profits in Australia.

I have just bought a canon 50mm F1.8 from Australia for $155. I could have got it in for about $140 from the US but without a warranty, but the diference is so small I went for the Aust option.

However, I the future I will buy another good lense and flash. If I get the lens from the US it will cost me about A$1200 and from Dirtcheapcameras it is A$1800. Just cannot afford that much so will take a chance on the import.

I have imported in the past, and one camera had a hot pixel on the CCD, but it was so easy to fix in photoshop I didn't think the expense of sending it back was worth it. So you can get a dud. You have to make up your own mind.

peter

tasmart,

I just got a 24-70L delivered from B&H today. It ended up about $400 cheaper than Dirt Cheap Camera who have the best price I've seen. So a not inconsiderable saving.

Its a beautiful item, too, by the way. Everything about it says "professional".

My advice is to deal with reputable stores in the US only. Check http://www.resellerratings.com thoroughly for any news about what the store is like to deal with- and, BELIEVE what you read there.

I would always recommend using a store that sends things by express courier, like FedEx or UPS. They do all the Customs side of things and then call you asking for the GST and 50 odd bucks for a brokerage fee. A Customs agent can get it out if you sent it by USPS or whatever but they will charge you $95. I'd imagine there would be a delay involved there too.

I've done this a few times for about $6K worth of gear and frankly I haven't had an issue. The warrantee issue has bever been a problem for me as I only buy the higher end gear which is always fit for use regardless of what the testberbators say I should be scared about LOL!

So if you want a lens and its heaps cheaper online in the US, I'd say BUY IT!
--
Cheers

Andrew McGregor

AMac said:

tasmart,
I just got a 24-70L delivered from B&H today. It ended up about
$400 cheaper than Dirt Cheap Camera who have the best price I've
seen. So a not inconsiderable saving.

Click to expand...

So.. for clarification:

What's it say on the warranty card? Is there an international warranty?

Shawn

Shawn Foo said:

AMac said:

tasmart,
I just got a 24-70L delivered from B&H today. It ended up about
$400 cheaper than Dirt Cheap Camera who have the best price I've
seen. So a not inconsiderable saving.

Click to expand...

So.. for clarification:

What's it say on the warranty card? Is there an international
warranty?

Click to expand...

Hi

looks like a store warrantee. Can't see a card. Its a grey lens. I'm not worried though, despite stories about this lens, I've only ever had positive experiences with Canon QC. This is clearly a very well made item.

--
Cheers

Andrew McGregor

I think I probably will try it from B&H once I actually decide which lens to get as the price difference is just too great.

It is interesting the variation between products - for example I purchased the 17-40L locally in June and the difference was not great - $AUD1410 whilst B&H price was $US799 (about $AUD1200).

Thanks for the comments.

--
From beautiful Tasmania
http://www.pbase.com/tasmart

--
From beautiful Tasmania
http://www.pbase.com/tasmart

I'm just echoing what everyone else here has already said.....do it if you want to save the money but don't do it if you're panicky about the warranty hassle.

I've bought over 10K worth of gear in the last 2 years from B&H, Adorama and some eBay dealers and have only had one minor problem with a 100mm f2 lens. There was a slight bubble produced near the edge of the front element where some glue was obviously used to attach it internally. I've never seen any effects of this on my pics so it's never been an issue. The cost of freight to the USA and back to Oz just wasn't worth fixing a cosmetic imperfection.

Good luck. Once you do it the first time you develop a real taste for importing your own gear

P.S B&H seem to have a non-profit policy towards freight costs whereas I've found Adorama and others markup the freight.

Cheers,
Michael

tasmart said:

I'm currently considering getting a longer lens for my 10D and have
been getting comparisons in quality & price etc.

Looking at the example of a Sigma 100-300 f4 and a 1.4X APO it is
more than twice as expensive to purchase at home!

Total price in US (from pickacamera.com) is $US824 which equates to
$AUD1211 at an exchange rate of .68

Price in Australia (Dirt Cheap Cameras) is $2505!

Is such a discrepancy going to continue considering the change in
value of both currencies?

Makes me consider a business trip to the US!

Anyone have any experience with online purchases from the US? A
major worry for me would be warranty issues if the lens turned out
to be a fizzer!

--
From beautiful Tasmania
http://www.pbase.com/tasmart

Click to expand...

--
PC writes:

Just kidding... but for some reasons, US prices on electronic equipments are much lower than most countries... including Japan itself! Several years ago when I went to Hong Kong and stopped in Japan I thought to myself "Well, I am going to get me a cheap camera here!" - Wrong. The price of the Canon camera in Japan is about 1 and 1/2 time higher than what I can get in the US. Weird but true.

Why? Don't know. But since I live here in the US....home sweet home .

tasmart said:

I'm currently considering getting a longer lens for my 10D and have
been getting comparisons in quality & price etc.

Looking at the example of a Sigma 100-300 f4 and a 1.4X APO it is
more than twice as expensive to purchase at home!

Total price in US (from pickacamera.com) is $US824 which equates to
$AUD1211 at an exchange rate of .68

Price in Australia (Dirt Cheap Cameras) is $2505!

Is such a discrepancy going to continue considering the change in
value of both currencies?

Makes me consider a business trip to the US!

Anyone have any experience with online purchases from the US? A
major worry for me would be warranty issues if the lens turned out
to be a fizzer!

Click to expand...

Tasmart, I have never bought camera equipment in Australia, it's a sad joke the prices here. It has improved a little in the last few months, but I always get my stuff from the USA. Even importing it and paying for delivery and GST you usually end at least 30% under the Australian price.

It may interest some people to know as much for a Canon G5 as the US guys pay for a 10D.

tasmart said:

--
From beautiful Tasmania
http://www.pbase.com/tasmart

Click to expand...

Just from my experience with B&H, they are usually very quick(within a week if in stock). Your first purchase will probably be the most hassle because they need you to send photocopies of your CC. I just purchased the TC80N3 last friday and it got here on the following tuesday, this didn't need to go thru customs though because it was under $300.

As with warranty, I know if you purchase the canons with USA warranty, then it'll be honored internationally.