Buying a 7D

D

Dan_The_Man

Active member
Hi there,

I am looking to buy a 7D but am slightly confused by the pricings.

I have found on a number of websites the 7D with a lens and some throw ins like a memory card etc for around £1500-£1700.

From my local camera the same kit costs £2500.

Why is it so much cheaper online and is it risky to purchase?
 
Try a reputable UK supplier Fixation, Robert White, FFordes etc, they will be reliable and maybe 50 to a hundred quid more expensive than the internet grey types

S
 
I recommend buying from the internet, preferably from Hong Kong or Taiwan via eBay. The warranty is still valid, but the camera would have to be sent back to it's home country to be serviced.

UK camera prices are at their absolute rip off premium best right now. Not enough competition between UK based retailers, a weaker currency and a ridiculous amount of EU tax causes this.
 
But is it risky to buy from Hong Kong? I have seen a 7D with basic lens for £1400! That's £700 cheaper then the UK???
 
If I was to just order off amazon.com from America to England, is this legal? Would I get taxed? There are plenty of 7Ds on Amazon USA $1900 with lens - thats only £1160! this is nearly £1000 cheaper then the UK? Can this be right? Where's the catch?
 
You'd have to pay duty on your import. You'd pay extra for shipping (I'm sure you'd want insurance...) then the nice people at customs would put VAT on your purchase (15% of whatever amount at the time - usually typical exchange rates at the time don't apply I've found.), then import/excise duty of an unknown quantity (they make this part so unbelievably complicated, I was going to attempt to give you a ballpark figure of how much this usually works out at but as you can see on the govt's site here it's not exactly the easiest thing in the world.) then they'll charge you a bit more for handling, which typically means you're paying for them to open your prized possession and put their grubby mitts all over it while they assess how much money they think they can get out of you.

I've had some particularly bad experiences with importing stuff, hell just the other month I bought some tshirts from abroad and ended up paying nearly double in tax, shipping & handling, and duty on them. If you want my advice I'd either suck it up and pay the sticker price in a legit shop (in real life land) or stick your neck out and hand over your money to some of the more shady outfitters online and hope you still have money left in your bank account at the end of the month.

http://digitalrev.com/ seem to have pretty good deals on 7Ds, I think these are the same guys you'll see on ebay who import them from Hong Kong.
 
I have a friend who is going to America this week. Would I still get taxed like that if I got him to buy me the camera and Fedex it to my house in England?

Also, does any one know if it is easy to get your hands on a PAL 7D in America?
 
He'd be better off just carrying it on the plane with him in his hand luggage or in his suit case. If he completely unwraps it and discards the packaging, customs aren't going to know he's importing it. Of course, I would never advocate such activity as that would be somewhat suspect on the legal front.
 
I don't think there is such a thing as PAL 7D as HD is neither PAL nor NTSC, it is HD. The standards are just the same here as they are in the US.
 
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