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02-24-2021, 02:17 PM - 1 Like   #1
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Buying from US and shipping to Australia

I bought a lot of Pentax gear from the US, mostly B&H, over the years, but it hasn't made sense to do so recently due to the low Aus$ and the introduction of import duties. Buying direct from the Australian Pentax web store, especially during their regular 15% sales, was by far the better option.

However, with the rise in the Aus$ to around 80c now, the B&H option is looking viable again, or at least worth taking a look at. For example, the K1 ii is currently listed at $3254 in Aus, but can be had from B&H for Aus$2637 including shipping and duties.

There are dangers though. Are warranties honoured? Would an item have to be returned to the US for warranty repair? How fast and reliable is international shipping in the COVID age?

So, are any Australians buying from the US these days? Have you had any difficulties, especially with warranty? Are the savings worth the extra concerns?


Last edited by Paul the Sunman; 02-24-2021 at 02:35 PM.
02-24-2021, 02:24 PM - 1 Like   #2
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Hi Paul. I have been stung a couple of times with warranty issues from US purchases. I now prefer to buy new lenses and cameras from Pentax Australia, waiting for an attractive deal to come up.

I use B&H for things that are hard to source locally - they really do have an impressive inventory of more exotic nicknacks.
02-24-2021, 03:29 PM   #3
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I ended up buying my K-3ii from the US as the price advertised here was just soooooooooo much more than the US. I ended up getting it for $920aud, Touch wood, It's going fine.

Otherwisemost of my purchases have been here in Australia, yes, because I wanted full cover, which was good in the case of my K-1, which was ordered pre-release and suffered the "mode dial" failure. I have bought a number of lenses I just couldn't get from OS, I got my Sigma 300/2.8 out of Germany for $2100, when it was advertised here at $4300, but no supply....Other lenses from Japan, no issues.
I too wait for the sales at Pentax store, and when the 20% off on ebay was a full 20% off ( not capped at $300.00 bucks as it is now) , but really, the prices there are way too high at the moment, far above this time last year, and our dollar has been better for the last 6months. As we saw recently one of our members here was going to buy his 150-450 from the US as even with shipping and import duty it was cheaper, when he was looking to buy it was listed at $3670 I think, on contacting them, they reduced the price for him to $3100, really good of them to do so, I also noticed that the actual price on the Pentax store changed, to $3100 as it is now. But, the other lenses are still really high, example DFA 85/1.4 first listed at $2640 , in pre-release, when dollar was really really low, dollar was doing better when next shipment arrived but price increased to $2850, and now again with the next shipment and dollar higher again, price is a whopping $3044, which is now only $56 cheaper than the 150-450??????? I was actually going to look at a few items price here and importing from the US and comparing the pricing.

Last edited by cmohr; 02-24-2021 at 04:29 PM.
02-24-2021, 03:51 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by Paul the Sunman Quote
Have you had any difficulties, especially with warranty?
I recall the question about warranty support in Oz for overseas purchases has come up before but for the life of me I can't recall the details.

But ta for posting these questions as it reminded me that with the bounce of the Dingo against the US$ it's time I visited Joe Rocket and ordered a jacket.

Tas

02-24-2021, 04:31 PM   #5
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I have 3 Pentax dSLR (K-7, K-01, K-3), all bought in Australia because I value highly the local warranty.. For lenses, I have a different opinion. I bought a lot lenses 2nd hand, from KEH, Adorama, B&H, and here in the PF marketplace.

I would have a different take. If you want buy a brand new Pentax dSLR, contact the Australian distributor (CR Kennedy). They tend to be helpful and they definitely want to help. They have a ebay store dcxpert, worth to check for specials. In addition, they may assist to guide you to a retailer with more competitive price.

The Aussie dollar is going back up against the US Dollar, and I hope that we will see the local prices going down


I hope that the advice may help.
02-24-2021, 05:18 PM - 1 Like   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Tas Quote
I recall the question about warranty support in Oz for overseas purchases has come up before but for the life of me I can't recall the details.

But ta for posting these questions as it reminded me that with the bounce of the Dingo against the US$ it's time I visited Joe Rocket and ordered a jacket.

Tas

I remember at one time CRK site had a banner on their front page about grey imports, now it is in their Warranty Info page

About Us | C.R. Kennedy

From the page ...


C.R.Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd are the sole authorised Australian distributors for Pentax. Parallel and Grey Imports are described as product imported directly into a country by a company or persons other than the manufacturer's authorised distributor in that country.
For an example of the risks associated with Parallel or Grey Imported products please see the following article - Hundreds out of pocket as eBay trader goes bust Please Note
1) CR Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd does not provide any warranty or guarantee for parallel /grey imports. They will not honour any warranty /guarantee supplied by DealsDirect.com.au and globalmediapro.com.
2) Please note products sourced from America and Japan requiring battery chargers etc will not meet Australian electrical standards. Plugs will require an adaptor. Adaptors supplied by parallel /grey importers are often not electrically approved.
3) In many instances products supplied for Australia have special modifications for the Australian market. Manuals, firmware and drivers often differ from country to country.
4) We have had a recent case where product supplied by an e-bay vendor was found to be stolen goods. This instance is now a police matter.
5) CR Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd. operate in a global market place. The lines we represent in Australia are globally competitive in price. The savings by purchasing from parallel/grey importers are small. The risks are great.




The only thing I can't agree on at the moment is Globally competitive pricing
02-24-2021, 05:51 PM   #7
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As I recall one Australian member said they purchased a used Pentax K-50 from KEH which turned out to have the aperture control failure. Rather the go through the expense and trouble of shipping it back to the US KEH simply refunded the money. Member contacted CR Kennedy who told the member this was a known issue with the camera and since it was purchased from an Authorized Pentax/Ricoh reseller would repair the camera for free under warranty. Which they did.

02-24-2021, 05:54 PM - 1 Like   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by cmohr Quote
.
............
As we saw recently one of our members here was going to buy his 150-450 from the US as even with shipping and import duty it was cheaper, when he was looking to buy it was listed at $3670 I think, on contacting them, they reduced the price for him to $3100, really good of them to do so, I also noticed that the actual price on the Pentax store changed, to $3100 as it is now........
That was me, and the thread was here: Huge rise in official pentax prices in australia - Page 5 - PentaxForums.com

Yeh, the staffer who handled my call and gave me the nice discount down to $3100.00 said he had to actually change the price on the website before I could put the order in. I remember checking the site frequently until I finally saw the price change and put in the order. The staffer told me he would put the price on the website back to the original $3600.00+ after he saw my order go through, but, as you have noticed, the price is still showing $3100.00. Maybe he got distracted and forgot to put the price back up?

I have been conscience-torn about whether to draw this to his attention in case it backfires on him (which would mean doing a disservice to my fellow Australian PF members) or leave it go. As you can see, I have let it go, but still feel a little guilty to the guy who gave me the big discount!!!!!

In case anyone is wondering, my order status still says "Backorder" so the longed-for 150-450mm still hasn't arrived in the country!! No doubt I would have it now if I had ordered from B & H, but then I wouldn't have the security of an
Australian warranty. So I wait patiently - I was warned that there would be a wait of at least 4 weeks, and it is only 3 1/2 weeks so far.

The joys of living in a low-population market!!!!
02-24-2021, 06:07 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by Paul the Sunman Quote
There are dangers though. Are warranties honoured? Would an item have to be returned to the US for warranty repair? How fast and reliable is international shipping in the COVID age?

So, are any Australians buying from the US these days? Have you had any difficulties, especially with warranty? Are the savings worth the extra concerns?
No chance that CRK will provide warranty on a US purchase I think. Yes, I expect you'd have to send it to the US.

I buy plenty of items from oseas...most often US, China, and UK. The shipping varies dramatically, but mostly it seems to be a couple of weeks. Can sometimes be less than a week, sometimes a month. For example, I ordered a levelling bowl adaptor from Amazon UK on the 19th, and it arrived today only six days later.

I ordered a 75mm bowl from Digidirect at the same time, and they take several days to even figure out that they don't have it in stock.

Last Pentax item I ordered from Oseas was a grip for my K-1 from B&H. From memory it arrived in good time. They had it in stock, and had a much better price at the time than anywhere else. I don't expect warranty service on it of course. My K-1 on the other hand was direct from CRK, as were my latest lens purchases. Had the prices been significantly cheaper oseas (well about 10% I think) then I might have chosen to import, but CRK had the best prices around at the time.

I have gas for the 70-200 star lens and also the 85 1.4, but I think I'll be waiting for either lower new prices, or good used examples.
02-24-2021, 06:08 PM - 2 Likes   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by K2 to K50 Quote
That was me, and the thread was here: Huge rise in official pentax prices in australia - Page 5 - PentaxForums.com

Yeh, the staffer who handled my call and gave me the nice discount down to $3100.00 said he had to actually change the price on the website before I could put the order in. I remember checking the site frequently until I finally saw the price change and put in the order. The staffer told me he would put the price on the website back to the original $3600.00+ after he saw my order go through, but, as you have noticed, the price is still showing $3100.00. Maybe he got distracted and forgot to put the price back up?
Just quietly, the DFA 150-450 is worth just about any price they put on it ... though of course cheaper is better.
02-24-2021, 06:30 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by K2 to K50 Quote
That was me, and the thread was here: Huge rise in official pentax prices in australia - Page 5 - PentaxForums.com

Yeh, the staffer who handled my call and gave me the nice discount down to $3100.00 said he had to actually change the price on the website before I could put the order in. I remember checking the site frequently until I finally saw the price change and put in the order. The staffer told me he would put the price on the website back to the original $3600.00+ after he saw my order go through, but, as you have noticed, the price is still showing $3100.00. Maybe he got distracted and forgot to put the price back up?

I have been conscience-torn about whether to draw this to his attention in case it backfires on him (which would mean doing a disservice to my fellow Australian PF members) or leave it go. As you can see, I have let it go, but still feel a little guilty to the guy who gave me the big discount!!!!!

In case anyone is wondering, my order status still says "Backorder" so the longed-for 150-450mm still hasn't arrived in the country!! No doubt I would have it now if I had ordered from B & H, but then I wouldn't have the security of an
Australian warranty. So I wait patiently - I was warned that there would be a wait of at least 4 weeks, and it is only 3 1/2 weeks so far.

The joys of living in a low-population market!!!!

OOOOOOOwww. That's a tuff one isn't it, I mean, they did do the right thing and give you a great price, strange, they couldn't just give you a discount code for the purchase. While the price is great for those getting it, I personally would feel a bit awkward about possibly somebody getting a kick in the bum after they had done the right thing by me. But completely agree it's good if another member grabbed one. I wonder if they would have to back out of the deal for others who might order???

Everything these days is coming slow boat, I've been waiting for parts for the Digital Printing Press since last year, it's still coming, and Paper in Australia is also getting to be a problem, waiting on some paper stocks we ran out of in December, told yesterday won't arrive until end of May...
02-24-2021, 09:47 PM   #12
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What about buying a third party warranty?
02-25-2021, 01:42 AM - 1 Like   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by UncleVanya Quote
What about buying a third party warranty?
But who would do the work? In Australia I wouldn't trust anyone except CRK to have the expertise and access to parts, and they're not willing to honour any such 3rd party policy.
02-25-2021, 02:29 AM - 1 Like   #14
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Above and beyond any warranty offered by a local distributor Australia also has comprehensive consumer protection laws.
Consumer guarantees | ACCC
These won't apply to overseas transactions. While the obligation to honour these statutory guarantees may impose a cost burden on local distributors I'm happy to pay extra to have the benefits of them.
02-25-2021, 02:57 AM   #15
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As a person that bought car tyres back in the heady days of almost $1 4 $1 from the US.... I haven't bought any Pentax gear from there for a while until a few months ago.... $210 for a KP battery grip was too hard to resist.
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