[pop4]

Seeing as there seem to be more and more Australian members here on this forum, I thought I'd start a thread to discuss two issues that will be relevant to the Aussies here: buying camera gear from overseas (Parallel and Grey Imports) and Customs issues (GST/tax/duty). And with the strength of the $AUD and the savings that could come about from buying overseas,, I think these issues may come up may come up more and more. For those not in Australia, it could be an interesting read and a comparison to how things are done where you are e.g. I think some of the European countries are worse off than us in terms of taxes and charges.


The sole authorised distributor for Pentax products in Australia are C.R.Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd, with head offices in Melbourne, and their policy with regards on parallel and grey imports, summarised from their website is that:

C.R.Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd are the sole authorised Australian distributors for Pentax, Sigma, Hasselblad and iriver.

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.

Please Note
1) CR Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd does not provide any warranty or guarantee for parallel /grey imports. We will not honour any warranty or guarantee supplied by parallel importers such as www.camerasdirect.com.au, www.d-d.photographics.com.au, www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au, www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au and www.globalmediapro.com.

The source of this is from the C.R. Kennedy webpage, which can be accessed here. So while the savings from buying overseas can be considerable, if you are living in Australia and are buying from overseas, you will need to check carefully to ensure that you are able to get some sort of warranty cover for your equipment, e.g. a MACK warranty, or the retailer has some sort of relevant policy, e.g. you have to send the product to their Australian agent to take care of things.


So warranty repairs aren't an issue for you, and/or the savings are just so substantial that you're going to order from overseas anyway. The next thing to be aware of is that Customs may decided to apply duty, taxes, GST and other applicable taxes and charges on your purchased. The good news is, photographic equipment does not attract any duty. The next piece of good news is that if your purchase is less than $1000, your purchases will also not attract GST (if you've been reading the news lately though, you'll probably be aware that this value of $1000 might change, if Gerry Harvey has his way). If your purchase is over $1000, then you may have to pay the 10% GST plus other charges. I say you "may" because I think there is a little bit of leeway and discretion applied by Customs, e.g. you may get away with something that's $1050, and also, some overseas retailers do offer to underdeclare the value of your goods to <$1000 to try to avoid the GST. A Hong Kong based store has been known to do that, but I am aware that earlier this year, Customs held a crackdown on the practice, so your mileage may vary.

Importing goods by international mail
If goods are received from overseas as mail articles (parcels) — carried by Australia Post and addressed to you — you are the importer of those parcels. All imported goods including mail articles are assessed for community protection risks, permit and approval requirements. All goods imported into Australia are also subject to assessment for duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other taxes and charges that may be applicable. As the importer (owner), you are liable for any duty, taxes and charges unless there is an exemption or concession that applies. All personal and commercial importations are subject to assessment.

Goods with a declared or assessed value not exceeding A$1,000
If your goods arrive in Australia by mail and have a declared or assessed value of A$1,000 or less, the goods may be imported free of duty, taxes and Customs and Border Protection charges, unless they are alcohol products or tobacco products. Apart from alcohol and tobacco products those goods will be cleared by Customs and Border Protection and delivered by Australia Post without you doing anything.

Goods with a declared or assessed value over A$1,000
You will be sent a First Notice by Australia Post if you have imported goods with a declared or assessed value of more than A$1,000.

In this case, you need to lodge an import declaration to Customs and Border Protection for the goods. The declaration will be assessed for duty, GST and Wine Equalisation Tax (if applicable). An import processing charge will also apply. Customs and Border Protection will advise you of the amount you need to pay before your parcel will be delivered to you.

Customs and Border Protection cannot allow goods with a value over A$1,000 to be delivered by Australia Post until an import declaration is made and any liability for duty, taxes and charges is paid in full.

Further details are available on the Australian Customs website here.

So you buy a $1300 K-5 from overseas, and when that Customs letter arrives re. the GST, you grudgingly pay the $130 that the retailer didn't tell you about. And then the K-5 develops the sensor stain, and the retailer tells you that have to pay the cost of returning the K-5 overseas; they'll cover the cost of the postage of the new one though, aren't they nice. Suddenly, the $1500 local cost doesn't seem to be that much more expensive (note that the situation is made up and the figures are approximate).


As an aside, if you go to the C.R. Kennedy website listed above, you will also notice that they are also the Sigma distributor here in Australia, and have a policy regarding trying to price match grey importers. I've bought two Sigma lenses this way, and while they couldn't exactly match the online prices I gave them, I still saved money compared to buying locally, plus, I also got the 2-year local warranty that comes with local lenses. It's something to keep in mind if you're on the lookout for some Sigma glass.

[hcc]

Pop4,
I think that you summarised nicely the situation in Australia. Well done.

I can add that CR Kennedy is trying its best to satisfy Pentax/Sigma customers and they have been very helpful to me.

I may simply add a personal experience. Over the last 6 months, I purchased some lenses from overseas, typically from B&H, Adorama and Keh. I use solely reputed stores, or the PF marketplace. My decision to buy overseas was simply financial. Even with shipping costs, the lenses were 40 to 60% cheaper than the on-line price at DCW in Australia.

It would be interesting to hear from others Aussies...

[wjt]

If I was able to buy a lens for a reasonable mark up I would support local business. I do not mind paying a premium on things, but I expect either a superior product or great service. In this case the product is the same, that leaves service. I have yet to find a camera store in my area that cares if I walk in the door. That is the sole reason I buy my items online, I can buy it from the comfort of my couch, have it delivered to my door and save a ton of money. The only gamble in my mind is SDM lenses and camera bodies, my k7 came from CR Kennedy but my K5 was a grey import for $300 cheaper than anyone in Australia. Same goes with my DA*50-135, got that from BH, I think from memory I saved a few hundred there too. I think what I have saved across all my purchases would well and truly pay for a replacement/repair anything now. Screwdrive lenses have very minute risk in my mind.
Just need to keep the purchases under 1000.

[Ash]

Good service is one thing, but ripping Aussies off for little reason other that they can (since they hold the monopoly of Pentax sales domestically) is unscrupulous IMO (sorry CRK). On-demand bargaining/price-matching doesn't do much to appease my feeling about it. Give us a good retail price from the onset and you *will* get much better patronage.

As mentioned above, I also suggest all sub-$1,000 purchases are best done through international means, such as through this forum's marketplace and reputable vendors (B&H, Adorama, KEH), who each deliver purchases faster than locally posted items! That's a no-brainer for me. The issue is indeed in the super-$1,000 purchases that attract extra fees. In most cases, they are still more economical bought from overseas than locally (!) but warranty for big ticket items shouldn't be taken lightly.

I had to return 3 lenses back to B&H for faults, and the time delay and inconvenience has to be borne. Pros and cons exist for each method. Extended warranty with any SDM purchase is *highly* advisable.

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Last edited by Ash; 06-02-2011 at 06:45 PM.

[Wombat]

Why do I always wind up next in the queue behind you, Ash? I'm really not tailing you!

Has anyone noticed that camera shops are even hiking up the price of 2nd hand gear? I've seen some outrageous prices on Pentax film cameras and old lenses at some of the camera shops in Adelaide. I've taken to trawling Cash Converters out of desperation. Like wjt I like to support local business where possible but as with CDs I'm not prepared to have my wallet mercilessly plundered by greedy merchants.

[wjt]

I totally agree with everything you said ash. I Can see how they would have to sell stock set to the price they bought it at, but the Aussie dollar has been strong for a long time now. I do also think that the Pentax warranty should be unconditional to country, from date of purchase, fixed in any country, that would make the Aussie importers become more competitive.

[Bill_R]

CR Kennedy were, apparently, matching the price of some Grey imports but have stopped it (sourced from a thread in Whirlpool forums and not from my experience).
One issue that has arisen is the International Warranty offered by Pentax Imaging (US) for products bought from the US Digital Cameras and Accessories - Official PENTAX Imaging Web Site
it states:
" If you bought your PENTAX product in the United States and are traveling to a foreign country for an extended period of time, we can send you an International Warranty Card to cover your product while you are abroad. We will also send you a list of authorized service centers around the world."
While you might be able to obtain this warranty card after purchasing from a US supplier it clearly states "traveling to a foreign country" and "while you are abroad". I think you'd be hard done by if you had such a card and CR Kennedy refused Warranty service but, my understanding is, it is their decision as to whether they accept it or not. The same would apply to any International Warranty Card obtained through any distributor in the country of POS. Of course, the International Warranty Card should be accepted when traveling outside of Australia.
I've made a few purchases through DWI and am happy so far. I haven't needed to make a warranty claim but am happy they have a system in place where you can return items to a local agent. It may take longer if the item needs to be shipped OS but at least they should do the dealing and shipping. The test will be in the experience but I hope I don't need to test it. I reckon if you had any issue with DWI a gripe on their Facebook page would soon sort it out. They seem open enough to address enquiries quickly there.

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Last edited by Bill_R; 06-04-2011 at 05:19 AM.

[pop4]

CR Kennedy were, apparently, matching the price of some Grey imports but have stopped it (sourced from a thread in Whirlpool forums and not from my experience).

I got pricematched as recently as the end of April and didn't haven any issues, although it looks like the people on Whirlpool have had some issues since the start of May.

[Ash]

Price matching is an unfair practice for a distributor/regional company representative. Should be done at a retail level, and thereby supporting local businesses. It disadvantages the less discerning userbase who have little choice in shopping around for relatively rare photographic equipment.

[Wombat]

Anyone know whether Nikon, Canon, Sony etc. have the same approach as CRK, especially with regard to warranties? If they're different, would it be useful for applying pressure to Kennedy?

[Bill_R]

Anyone know whether Nikon, Canon, Sony etc. have the same approach as CRK, especially with regard to warranties? If they're different, would it be useful for applying pressure to Kennedy?

Same (actually worse) situation with Canon Canon - Warranty Terms & Conditions Canon don't even seem to have an international warranty for DSLR's.
Nikon - similar Nikon Australia
There is no incentive for CRK to change. They, naturally, want products to be purchased through themselves or their authorised dealers to protect their market.

[Vylen]

Bumping this thread up since it's got good discussion to it.

I managed to get a price match on a Sigma lens today through CR Kennedy. They matched the price with postage attached. And, the guy said it should arrive at my place on Monday (annoyingly, I'll be away from home next week thanks to work!). So things seem to have changed. He also did say I could pick up the lens directly from them at Mascot but circumstances prevented me from doing so.

I asked him that the CR Kennedy website implied that they could get me the lens through a store instead, but he said the price would then have to be recalculated for the stores commission fee which would've made it something like $100 dearer. So I dont mind the long wait before I get my hands on it, heh. (That $100 "saved" ended up going into a Manfrotto 680B, hah).

Hopefully this will entice people to look around and get some good deals on Sigma lenses. Doing it this way gives you a 2 year local warranty - can't go wrong with that!

[Bruce]

And, since the changes to Pentax pricing, everyone enjoys the same premium Pentax prices we have had to endure in Australia. It now costs less to buy most Pentax gear here in Aus especially when you take the postage into account.

[Vylen]

Yea, it's pretty weird seeing a few Pentax lenses being cheaper here than in America... no ordinary lenses either - I've spotted some DA*'s from local sellers (local stock) being cheaper.

Oh, and forgot to mention... the Sigma I got was also cheaper than getting from America... not even considering postage.

[Vylen]

Update.... got it today

I would've gotten it yesterday but no one was home to accept delivery... not as fast as the Monday the guy said I would get it but that was an unrealistic estimate in the first place ;P