Where should I buy Camera, when I am online?

[amsurfer]

I am based in central london UK. I am interested to buy a digital camera online, i am confused by some of the factors i found in online shoping, thats about the inclusion and exclusion of VAT, shipping costs factors, I found some of the Nikon brands available in www.adoroma.com, www.ebay.com lesser in price than UK, but without VAT,shipping cost,, In UK prices are good in comparison with other countries of Europe but yea www.microglobe.co.uk www.warehousexpress.com with inclusion of VAT and shipping cost for me is better then the one in Adoroma :roll: wowwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!! what to do next buddddies,,,, hey listen what the say you know, price of a camera in US online stores is good then UK for it was exclusive of VAT and lense,,, seee.....

[redace]

Don't buy online from the US if you live in the UK. It will end up costing you more by the time you have paid all the taxes, shipping etc and I am not sure that the guarantee will be valid.

Most UK online stores make it quite clear whether VAT is included in their price or not and usually shipping is free to a UK address. I live in Italy but camera gear is so expensive here so I will buy in the UK, get it delivered to friends and get them to bring it when they come for a holiday.

I think it is worth looking at some of the more well known names who also have shops in the High Street as they sometimes have deals and also you can at least get hold of someone if something goes wrong. I don't know all the shops over there but Jessops online didn't seem too bad.

Good luck
Paola

[Janika]

Paola; Do you live in north or south Italy. I know prices are somewhat lower and availability is better up north, like Milano, Padova, Torino, Bologna, etc... I lived in Italy for over 3 years.

[redace]

Hi Janika (is that your name?)

I am in the South, way too cold for me in the North!

I am currently in southern Sardegna but I travel around a lot. Where did you live when you were over here and did you like it?

I can't find any camera gear either online or in shops that is cheaper here than in the UK. I have some friends in the UK and they come over a lot to see me and to have holidays so they can bring things over so I have no postage costs. USA is obviously cheaper still but of no use to me here and I don't have any friends over there to pretend they are bringing me expensive gifts!

Ciao
Paola

[Cadwell]

OK... some basic facts then you can make up your own mind.

You will pay VAT at 17.5% on any import. There is no import duty on digital cameras but lenses attract 6% import duty. In addition the shippers will levy a small fee for collecting the duty.

Be wary of warranties. Canon UK (for example) will not honour the warranty on cameras purchased in the US but they will on lenses.

Be wary of microglobe.co.uk They sell grey import goods and you may have warranty issues should things go wrong. They are not open about the fact that there goods are "grey" but a friend of mine recently had issues with a Sigma lens purchased through them.

[Janika]

Paola; I'd do a Google search on stores in Milano and other bigger cities. I lived in and round Roma, Mostly Tivoli, Latina and a small town called Licensa, near Tivoli. My sister lives near Agrigento (Sicilia) and they have a business, like a pastry shop (Pasticeria) and they go to Milano to sell their stuff at times.
When I talk to her, she always tells me how much more of everything up there is, as availability, not just the prices. More jobs, more money. This means better economy which leads to folks spending more and where is demand, there is supply. Unfortunately my Italian is not that good any more, so you have to do the search on the Web yourself.

[Landis]

I would check out Calumet Photo. They have a UK on line store.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?ac.ui.pn=home.Home&ac.ui.sa.tr=true&ac.ui.sa.inc=cat.CountryChooser&cc=change

I have bought from them for over 16 years and never had a single problem. They are not always the cheapest, but the service is unsurpassed.

[Cadwell]

If you're buying on-line in the UK I'm quite fond of Bristol Cameras. http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/

[stewartsmith]

The UK's No.1 online store is Warehouseexpress.com.

I have used them on a couple of occasions and have had no problems with them.
They deliver quick and have won the UK press online store of the year on a regular basis.

[Cadwell]

The UK's No.1 online store is Warehouseexpress.com.

I have used them on a couple of occasions and have had no problems with them.
They deliver quick and have won the UK press online store of the year on a regular basis.

That's 'cos they send out "vote for us" cars with every purchase you make.

Personally I can't stand them nowadays, and I've used them about 30 times in the past. They will never, ever have any of my business again after trying to con me. Once bitten twice shy and all that.

[stewartsmith]

Glenn, I would be interested to know more about your altercation with them.

[Cadwell]

Sure. Before we start, let me make the point that I'd been dealing with Warehouse Express happily for about 2 years. Over that time I'd placed many orders with them and spent (conservatively) around £15,000.

In the early days, when I'd order something and the item was out of stock, they'd phone me on the same day and tell me. They'd give me an indication of when they expected the items to be in stock and when the items did come into stock they'd phone me and tell me. Excellent customer service. About a year ago this changed and I'd get an email to say "item out of stock". I'd then have to phone them up to get a likely delivery date and the item would just turn up at some point later. On my final order with them, one item was out of stock. They part shipped the order and just crossed the out of stock item out on the delivery note and wrote "out of stock" next to it. Slipping standards from a company that was once excellent to deal with.

However, this is really only a minor annoyance. The item they did slip as part of my final order was not a UK spec. item. How did I recognise this? Well the device had a quick reference instruction card on the back which happened to be in German. Unfortunately I don't speak German and have no immediate plans to learn. I contact WE and explained the problem to them. "Sorry, they said... but I've looked in another box and they're all like that". I then pointed out that the multi-lingual instruction manual which came with the unit had a rear picture of the item in it with the instructions plainly shown in English. "Could I have one of them please?". Response from WE was "I don't know what you're making all the fuss about, the main instruction booklet is in English... those are only the quick reference instructions"... another brilliant suggestion was "perhaps you could copy the page out of the manual and stick it on the back?" After battering my way through various layers of WE management, none of whom seemed in the least interested in supplying me with a replacement UK market product (which was all I wanted), I ended up having to return the item to them for a refund (at my postage cost). I cancelled all my outstanding orders with them - a total of around £1,800 and got the goods elsewhere.

Incidentally, the "out of stock" item that Warehouse Express said would take 1 month to get to me? My new supplier had one shipped to me direct from the manufacturer and it arrived next day.

[stewartsmith]

Thanks Glenn. :-)

[redace]

How are you getting on Amsurfer, found your new camera yet? See how friendly and helpful people are on here, it's a good place to be.

If you are not sure if the UK prices include VAT just add the thing you are looking at to the basket and it will say there whether VAT is added or not. Good luck, looking forward to seeing the pics with whatever you end up buying.

Janika - what a coincidence - I am going to Sicilia soon. I am not sure at the moment whether it will be the end of June or next year, just waiting to see. When I get down to the bottom I shall have to be sure to pop in and see your sister and buy some scrummy cakes (I LOVE cake)!! With a bit of luck you will be visiting her and we can go out shooting together.

Ciao
Paola

[amsurfer]

Oh buddiezzzzzzzzzzzzzz, thank u so much for your kind suggestions, yea i am grateful i finally decided to buy from uk and i ordered Nikon Coolpix L1 Digital Camera 6.2 Megapixel 5x Opticalon www.microglobe.co.uk , thanks for being so responsive and kind once again. All the best frnz

[stewartsmith]

Ooooh Amsurfer joins the DARK SIDE. :twisted:

Welcome to the Nikon owners club, a select group of individuals with taste in equipment and a liking for things dark. lol

Looking forwards to seeing some piccies from the new camera.