Are UK camera prices a rip off?

[Jonath]

In the market for some new kit....

Am I alone in thinking that UK camera prices are a total rip off? It's almost impossible to consider buying here and not be tempted by grey market when the price difference is so huge. I get the whole 'it's because of BREXIT' thing, but this is way more than allowing for currency fluctuations... See here... (I've used today's best UK prices and best 'reputable' grey price).

Sony A9 - Best UK price £4299 - Best Grey Market £2909

That's a saving of almost £1400 - or 33%!

Canon 5D mk IV - Best UK price £3128 - Best Grey Market £1884

That's a saving of £1244 or 40%!!!

Nikon D850 - Best UK price £3495 - Best Grey Market £2499

That's a saving of £996 of 29%!

Fuji XT-2 - Best UK price £1429 - Best Grey Market £919

That's a saving of £510 or 36%

Lenses are just as bad... Canon 24-70L II is 38% cheaper, Tamron 24-70 G2 is 40% cheaper, Sony 16-35GM is 30% cheaper, Nikon 14-24 f2.8G ED £540 or 34% cheaper.

 

[Mackiesback]

In the market for some new kit....

Am I alone in thinking that UK camera prices are a total rip off? It's almost impossible to consider buying here and not be tempted by grey market when the price difference is so huge. I get the whole 'it's because of BREXIT' thing, but this is way more than allowing for currency fluctuations... See here... (I've used today's best UK prices and best 'reputable' grey price).

Sony A9 - Best UK price £4299 - Best Grey Market £2909

That's a saving of almost £1400 - or 33%!

Canon 5D mk IV - Best UK price £3128 - Best Grey Market £1884

That's a saving of £1244 or 40%!!!

Nikon D850 - Best UK price £3495 - Best Grey Market £2499

That's a saving of £996 of 29%!

Fuji XT-2 - Best UK price £1429 - Best Grey Market £919

That's a saving of £510 or 36%

Lenses are just as bad... Canon 24-70L II is 38% cheaper, Tamron 24-70 G2 is 40% cheaper, Sony 16-35GM is 30% cheaper, Nikon 14-24 f2.8G ED £540 or 34% cheaper.

Do you know if your government is perhaps heavily taxing these goods rather than it just being about the exchange rate?

 

[bmoag]

The VAT is the real killer.

Consider a discount flight across the pond . . .

 

[Jonath]

The VAT is the real killer.

Consider a discount flight across the pond . . .

The Grey Market prices include import tax, which is charged at the same rate as VAT.

 

[Doug J]

The VAT is the real killer.

Consider a discount flight across the pond . . .

The Grey Market prices include import tax, which is charged at the same rate as VAT.

Isn't VAT in addition to import tax? Otherwise, could companies that import goods from overseas, and pay import tax/duty could sell the goods at retail VAT exempt?


Cheers,
Doug

 

[tinternaut]

It doesn’t just affect cameras. It is generally quite a pricey place to live.

--
Regards
J
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jasonhindleuk
Blog: http://jasonhindle.wordpress.com
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2264/2257681353_3e9d9ca12c.jpg
Photos: http://500px.com/JasonHindle
Gear in profile. Oh, and caveat moron.

 

[Sonyshine]

I have bought a lot of electronic gear, including cameras from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea over the years.

Providing you are clear the shipping and import taxes are covered there are some good deals to be had.

You need to make sure the cameras are UK spec if that matters to you and find out what the warranty set up is.

Otherwise get on with it.

 

[Jonath]

The VAT is the real killer.

Consider a discount flight across the pond . . .

The Grey Market prices include import tax, which is charged at the same rate as VAT.

Isn't VAT in addition to import tax? Otherwise, could companies that import goods from overseas, and pay import tax/duty could sell the goods at retail VAT exempt?

Cheers,
Doug

--
Bird galleries on PBase
Birds of Florida on PBase
General photography galleries on PBase

VAT and Import tax is a complicated area!

Probably easier to say that the prices I quoted for 'grey market' are from suppliers where there is no more to pay. That is the total cost including all taxes.

 

[Bobthearch]

Jonath wrote

I picked one camera from your list to check prices.

Nikon D850 - Best UK price £3495 - Best Grey Market £2499

The D850 is in short supply right now so all of the US dealers are listing it at the full msrp of $3300 USD. That's the total price, Free shipping, no sales tax. That converts to £2386, which is less than even your grey market price.

So to answer your question, yes, you are getting boned.

 

[FrancoD]

Jonath wrote

I picked one camera from your list to check prices.

Nikon D850 - Best UK price £3495 - Best Grey Market £2499

The D850 is in short supply right now so all of the US dealers are listing it at the full msrp of $3300 USD. That's the total price, Free shipping, no sales tax. That converts to £2386, which is less than even your grey market price.

So to answer your question, yes, you are getting boned.

 

[Corkcampbell]

[No message]

 

[Bobthearch]

Jonath wrote

I picked one camera from your list to check prices.

Nikon D850 - Best UK price £3495 - Best Grey Market £2499

The D850 is in short supply right now so all of the US dealers are listing it at the full msrp of $3300 USD. That's the total price, Free shipping, no sales tax. That converts to £2386, which is less than even your grey market price.

So to answer your question, yes, you are getting boned.

Two possible reasons :

1) all the camera retailers in the UK work together to rip the customer off

2) cost of doing business is higher in the UK

Mt suggestion would be to start a business selling cameras there and see what happens.

My statement was based on actual numbers and facts, which I included. I was not making a judgement about the UK or Brits in general. The reason why UK shoppers are getting boned is outside the scope of the original question, and really far outside my areas of knowledge and interest.

Surprisingly, while in Australia recently I compared a few camera prices. Normally things in Australia are much higher, and that's been especially true of cameras when I've previously checked. But with the currency exchange rates and some attractive rebates, cameras are/were less expensive in Australia than in the US.

 

[FrancoD]

My comment had to do with the use of the term of rip off :

a fraud or swindle, especially something that is grossly overpriced.*

Do you think that the definition does apply in this case ?

Note that "grossly overpriced" is meant to be understood in comparison to other sellers not when all are charging similar prices.

You can't buy cheap lettuce in Anchorage not because the shops there rip you off but because it cost a lot of money to get lettuce to those shops.

Australia has a 10% sales tax , no import duty on cameras.

Still some Australian retailers buy some lines from B&H....

For years I had seen similar comments about Aussie retailers , trouble was that I worked in retail so I had a bit better idea than some about what was going on.

When I pointed out that for a start turnover was lower but wages/rents/utility costs/taxes and wholesale costs were all higher than in the US the typical response was : it must be the wholesalers then.

The problem with that is that of course wholesalers were competing against each other...

Anyway, I never had any "rip off " comment from someone that actually had their own retail shop and I mean the people that paid the bills .

 

[Jonath]

Just to clarify.

All the costs I provided include all relevant taxes, VAT, Import tax, etc. etc. they are Apples = Apples.

So why is it (much, much) cheaper for me to ship one unit from the other side of the world, than it is for someone to ship bulk to the UK and sell me one?

My assumption is shipping costs would be much higher on a like-for-like basis, shipping one as opposed to shipping 1,000's and dividing the cost of shipping across the bulk.

I'm assuming both entities (UK store, HK store) run shop, distribution etc. and their overheads are absorbed into the price of the goods.

It just doesn't add up.

As for Brexit, I'm not aware the currency as fluctuated by over 30% - £ to $ has varied by 10% over the last 12 months which is when most of the products I listed were released.

So where is the extra cost coming from?

 

[Bobthearch]

I never used the phrase "Ripped Off." I said, "Boned."

Just to be clear.

But yeah, a thousand dollars (pounds) extra for a mass-produced Asian-made consumer product? Regardless of who's doing the ripping, that's a lot of money disappearing from the buyers' pockets for no obvious reason.

B&H and Adorama are both in downtown New York City, which is not exactly famous for cheap labor or inexpensive retail real estate. Nor do I buy the argument that shipping to the UK costs more than shipping to the US, as in your Anchorage lettuce example. Nor is it a case of disproportionate buying power as Americans earn more than Brits on average.

 

[FrancoD]

Well I don't know but the average wage in HK is just over $2000 USD, how does that compare with the UK ?

Mind you the minimum wage is under $5 per hour, again how does it compare ?

 

[FrancoD]

I never used the phrase "Ripped Off." I said, "Boned."

J

Read the thread title...

Not that boned is any better. Just a rude way of saying the same thing....

 

[Jonath]

According to Google, average HK wage is equivalent to $47600 US

Also according to Google average UK wage is equivalent to $32500 US

mmmm

 

[FrancoD]

According to Google, average HK wage is equivalent to $47600 US

Also according to Google average UK wage is equivalent to $32500 US

mmmm

I was looking at these figures : https://tradingeconomics.com/hong-kong/wages

it would be interesting to know the actual industry wages rather than averages.

For example the one of the guy that sends you the parcel from London compared to the one in Hong Kong.

Not of course that wages are the only criteria.

When in Australia I compared our wages (photo retail) with the US wages (about 10 years ago ) , the Australian sales person could purchase the same camera for slightly fewer hours than the US counterpart.

However I, as a camera buyer, could buy the same camera for less retail from the US than wholesale in Australia.

 

[Jonath]

I guess if the average wage is lower that would account for some of the slightly lower overheads

I'd love to see profit by country for each manufacturer. That's assuming it was a true picture of how much they make in each location.