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I can sympathize because I feel your pain. In South Africa the situation is worse. Pentax dealers are few and far in between. They carry little or no stock and everything is special order. The HQ of the distributor (who also handles Fujifilm as far as I can tell) is housed in a non-descript brick building in a light industrial area. I checked the address out on Google Maps. Prices are
double way more than what you would pay if you do a personal import, even with shipping costs. Whether they will even work on such an import if it breaks, I do not know.
By contrast, Canon and Nikon have plenty of dealers. The entry level crop frame DSLR and mirrorless models are even stocked by department stores. Their HQ buildings are modern glass and chrome. I drive past both of them occasionally. Their prices are fairly closely matched to overseas ones, so a personal import is not worth it.
By way of example, a K1 II currently works out about USD2900 at a shop in Johannesburg. B&H lists it for USD1800. The markup is about 60%. For a Canon EOS RP, it is USD1280 versus USD1000 (about 30%). Do keep in mind that VAT is 15% needs to be worked out of the numbers but I am too
lazy busy to do it right now. The Canon is in stock. As for the Pentax I have no idea how long it will take This situation means that Pentax sales are low, so there is no used market in Pentax bodies.
Being a Pentaxian in South Africa is not easy.
Last edited by Wasp; 02-25-2021 at 11:11 AM.