Buying from B&H in Europe
Henrik Elowsson
Does anybody have any experience buying from B&H (or any other US.
camera retailer) from the EC? I live in Sweden and the prices here are
really akward.
My questions are:
1. How much is the toll (import taxes)
2. Warranties?
3. Delivery times
4. How much is the shipping
5. Any bad experiences? Lost goods e.g.
Please e-mail me
Henrik
Jan-jaap Aue
Henrik Elowsson <henrik....@mbox304.swipnet.se> wrote:
>My questions are:
I live in The Netherlands and as far as I know you have to pay around
22.5% taxes (also on the shipping costs) This is 17.5 % VAT and 5 %
import taxes (the lats percentage might be slightly off) Most things
do have a world wide guarantee, but don't expect much help form you
Swedish distributor, you might have to send defective stuff to
eitherJapan or B&H
Delivery times depend on how you ship it, but could be VERY fast (say
within a week) The shipping cost are minimal something like $50, but
look it up in B&H's Popular Photography advertisement or ask Henry
Posner from B&H (look up their WWW site on my WWW page, stores on the
net links)
My idea is that you'r better of buying from one of the German mail
order companies (buy a German magazine, their addresses are in there
!)
have fun
/* I speak for myself, not for my employer*/
Jan-jaap Aue
A...@phys.rug.nl
Marcus Hanke
In article <325353...@mbox304.swipnet.se> Henrik Elowsson <henrik....@mbox304.swipnet.se> writes:
>From: Henrik Elowsson <henrik....@mbox304.swipnet.se>
>Subject: Buying from B&H in Europe
>Date: Wed, 02 Oct 1996 22:49:35 -0700
>Does anybody have any experience buying from B&H (or any other US.
>camera retailer) from the EC? I live in Sweden and the prices here are
>really akward.
>My questions are:
>1. How much is the toll (import taxes)
>2. Warranties?
>3. Delivery times
>4. How much is the shipping
>5. Any bad experiences? Lost goods e.g.
>Please e-mail me
>Henrik
Please post your answer on the board, too. I think there are more people
interested in it.
Marcus
Michel Schinz
Henrik Elowsson <henrik....@mbox304.swipnet.se> writes:
> Does anybody have any experience buying from B&H (or any other US.
> camera retailer) from the EC? I live in Sweden and the prices here are
> really akward.
I did, twice, and I always got what I wanted, in three days! B&H is
*much* cheaper than my local retailer, faster (!) and more
knowledgable.
> My questions are:
>
> 1. How much is the toll (import taxes)
I pay two kind of taxes:
- shipping (usually $100)
- VAT, which in Switzerland is around 10% (don't remember exactly).
Considering the high price of shipping, you should buy expensive
stuff...
> 2. Warranties?
I have always had international warranties, but this may depend on the
product.
> 3. Delivery times
*Very* fast if they have your item in stock: 3 days for me.
> 4. How much is the shipping
$100 approx.
> 5. Any bad experiences? Lost goods e.g.
Not for me.
BTW, B&H has a FAQ that answers much of your questions. It is at:
http://village.ios.com/~bhphoto/faq.html
Michel.
Rui Pedro Mendes Salgueiro
Henrik Elowsson (henrik....@mbox304.swipnet.se) wrote:
> Does anybody have any experience buying from B&H (or any other US.
I have.
> camera retailer) from the EC? I live in Sweden and the prices here are
> really akward.
> My questions are:
> 1. How much is the toll (import taxes)
You will pay (using expressmail):
(B&H price + $50 (shipping)) * 1.065 (import tax) * 1.17 (TVA)
plus some (really) minor expenses. Using airmail will save you some $5
but takes more time. For cheap things it is not worth it. For instance
a 50/1.8 at $80 would get to you at ($80 + $30) * 1.065 * 1.17 = $162,
which is probably the European price.
If the original price is more than $500 you will have to use UPS and
then costs go up a lot:
1 - shipping is $100 minimum, plus $12 for each additional lb (453 grams),
plus $.40 for each $100 in insurance.
2 - at least in Portugal if it comes by mail, the post office handle
taxes with minimum expenses. But if it comes by UPS I believe you
have to deal with the customs, which means paying a lot to a
customs clearing-agent.
> 2. Warranties?
Depends on brand. You should inspect the products as soon as they arrive
(don't write on the warranty cars) and immediately return any problematic
product (you have 14 days to do so). Of course if you need to do this
you will spent any savings in shipping expenses back to B&H and hassle
with customs (they don't like packages with "value: $0" on them, so you
might have trouble getting a replacement without paying taxes again).
So you should buy only products with a reasonable quality control.
> 3. Delivery times
Don't remember.
> 4. How much is the shipping
See above.
> 5. Any bad experiences? Lost goods e.g.
I bought a flash which was suppoosed to be compatible with my camera,
but it was not. If you are thinking of buying third-party products ask
here first if someone has experience with them. The guys at B&H probably
only look at a catalogue and don't really test each piece they sell
(flash, lens) with the cameras.
There are alternatives in Europe. Unfortunately there is not a
mail-order survey on them (anyone wants to mail me feedback ?
Use the mail-order survey format). One is:
Audiophil Foto Versand
52062 Aachen
Annuniatenbach 30
tel: 0241 300 07
fax: 0241 246 08
Note: I don't have experience with them.
> Please e-mail me
I would IF you have offered to post a summary. Followups trimmed.
--
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/photos/mail-order/ <- includes a link to
the mail-order survey
.pt is Portugal| `Whom the gods love die young'-Menander (342-292 BC)
Europe | Villeneuve 50-82, Toivonen 56-86, Senna 60-94
Maurizio Frizziero
I bought a Snappy (it is a video screen freezer. It doesn't function
with PAL. I wrote. They told me to send the Snappy back to have the
credit. I decided not to send the Snappy, but it was my decision.
Do not use Federal Express (more than $100). You can use US airmail ($25
for a camera) or surface mail (less).
Maurizio Frizziero
Dear Friend, another free service for Exakta collectors at the URL:
http://www.leaderrealestate.com/exakta/christie.html
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1244/christie.html
Comment on this service welcome!
Fabian Stoffers
Henrik Elowsson wrote:
> Does anybody have any experience buying from B&H (or any other US.
> camera retailer) from the EC? I live in Sweden and the prices here are
> really akward.
> 1. How much is the toll (import taxes)
In Germany you have to pay from 6,9% (cameras) to 9,3% (lenses) to the customs, which
should be the same in the rest of the EC. However, every country usually adds its sales
tax.
> 2. Warranties?
*Ask* for an international warranty. Otherwise the camera manufacturers in Europe might
refuse to repair your equipment.
> 3. Delivery times
> 4. How much is the shipping
Send an email to B&H at 70550...@compuserve.com to find out!
> 5. Any bad experiences? Lost goods e.g.
I have got no experience myself. But be aware of the fact that in the U.S. consumers are
not by far as well protected by the law as they are in Europe. B&H, however is said to
be reliable.
Regards, Fabian.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fabian Stoffers phone/fax: +49 6131/22 43 85
Grosse Langgasse 6 e-mail: stof...@goofy.zdv.uni-mainz.de
55116 Mainz
Homepage: http://www.uni-mainz.de/~stoff000/homepage.htm
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