Has anyone bought directly from Japan

G

GHenson

Member
I found, what appears to be, a reputable dealer in Japan selling the Panasonic 14-45mm lens. Has anyone bought directly from Japan? Are there import duties? I really like to have this lens for my GH1 and I don’t want to wait on the US market. However, I don’t want to buy oversees if this is really a bad idea. Any experience by anyone buying a lens directly from Japan?
 
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Isn't the 14-45mm the G1 kit lens. Why not just buy a G1 in the US and sell the body?

As for buying from Japan. It is a good place to buy. All the major camera and electronics manufacturers are based there, the prices and exchange rate is very competitive, their sales tax is low and shipping is cheap and fast these days. It is sometimes best however to buy from a private seller, i.e. on eBay - one who doesn't run a company and can afford to 'cheat' with customs & imports by packaging the item as a gift and marking it as having a low value on the customs declaration form.
 
Or, purchase through friends there. I bought my GH1 this way and expressed to me as a gift.

The lens should be fine. However, if buying a camera, the menu system will be in Japanese and the warranty is only good there.
 
Thank you for the feedback. I think I will buy the 14-45mm lens from a retail store in Japan (via eBay). Does anyone know the US import duties for a lens?
 
Just a follow-up for anyone interested.

I bought the Panasonic 14-45mm lens from a reputable ebay store in Japan on 9/24/2009 and got it on 9/28/2009! It took only 4 days to get this lens. The lens has all english markings. Also, no import duty tax for USA. This was easy and I paid about the same as the $350 list price. I now can cancel my Pre-Order with J&R.
 
Actually, I'm seriously thinking about starting a service for this very thing. I live in Japan (have now for near on 10 years) and have access to cheap lenses. When I am convinced that is something I might do, I will post again with more details and a call for information on what the people here are interested in getting their hands on. Glad you got the lens you were after by the way.
Cheers,
Sam.
 
commanderspike said:
to 'cheat' with customs & imports by packaging the item as a gift and marking it as having a low value on the customs declaration form.
Click to expand...


Doesn't this mean that if your package is lost, you lose everything? I'd only do this if it wasn't a package shipped from overseas.
 
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