Anyone bought expensive lenses from HK?

I'm increasingly wanting to get a nice prime, and I want to go for the 300mm DA*, potentially for wildlife but also for sailing/car photos.

Anyway, best price in the UK is between 800 and 850 - which stretches my student budget a fair bit

Saw this on ebay and I'm tempted by the fairly large saving...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pentax-SMC-DA-300mm-f-4-ED-IF-SDM-fr-K10D-K20D-NEW-UV_W0QQ...

They have good enough feedback, I guess it's just a case of trust? As well as hoping it doesn't get stung at customs.

I would be interested to know the answer as well as I am maybe after the Sigma 180mm macro and it seems a fair bit cheaper on Ebay (when they are available).

Apart from customs, the downside to this is if you need to return the lens. If you can send it to Pentax UK then OK. But if you need to return it to Hong Kong it is more of a pain.

I still like to buy from a traditional shop, even though invariably this means more cost. My K10 broke on me with a week left to run on the warranty. I was happy then to just return it to the shop who took care of sending it to Pentax and getting it back to me.

I echo Peter's sentiments, In Australia the warranties are not honoured and you will have to send it back to HK.

Also you will have to pay Vat to get it into the UK, not sure how much that is but i believe its substantial.

I have used these HK based stores for most of my accessories and other bits and bobs without any problems.

Oh I did buy my Tamron 18-250 from one of them but i can't remember who it was.
Do your homework before you buy is my recommendation.

Most of the lenses on these HK based companies are a lot cheaper than what i can get them for in Aust. But i found the Sigma 180mm was about the same price here as it was in HK. AU$1030
So i bought it locally.

Provided you pay all the duties/VAT due on the lens Pentax UK should honour the guarantee (provided of course you provide proof that you have paid them!) - lenses have an international guarantee normally. However if you import marked as a gift or whatever so as to avoid duties then they will not honour it and it will have to go back to HK if there is anything wrong.
You should check with HK as to the guarantee status of lenses you buy from them.

I know someone here who imports a lot of his stuff from HK and has never had a problem, also never pays import duty/VAT, but I would be a bit wary of doing it myself.

Have you looked at US sites? The savings may not be as big but the likes or B&H and Ritz are, I feel, more trustworthy. They will only send things legally - ie you must pay duty/VAT.

Have bought a 31mm Limited from Canada for £405 and paid £55 when it came into the country, think it should have been more as they misquoted the value.

Bought a 2nd hand FA 100mm Macro from Japan, one of my best experiences buying off ebay. Paid saturday morning, arrived tuesday morning through a Sunday and bank holiday Monday! Very well wrapped up, overdone even, with no duties etc!

With the 31mm Limited, I took the attitude that it was an old design, shouldn't have any problems, and with the £250 savings, even if I had to pay for any faults, I would still be quids in.

But...

Was thinking of the exact same lens, from the exact same place but I am having 2nd thoughts about it after experiencing a faulty one at SRS. As I was buying a K20, I cheekily asked to try a DA* 300mm even though Chris knew I was likely to go the import route, and the thing just did not work! Autofocus was massively out and manual focus didn't work. That's right, the MANUAL focus didn't work, nothing happened, guess work is that the clutch mechanism must be faulty!

With the import price @ £615 with postage, I think if the correct duties are applied, it would total out at about £785 with courier fee etc. Given the problems I have experienced with this lens, and the fact it uses new technology for Pentax and there has been quality issues with others in the range, £65 is a price I would pay for peace of mind (based on an SRS price of £850).

Another import experience due to arrive today, £100 accessories, £13.35 VAT applied, Parcel Force fee for collecting £13.35? £13.50. Ending up bring the UK equivalent cost to within £25.

So, yes, importing does have it's advantages, and I will do it again, but only on tried and tested products that are not likely to go wrong. Other items I will quite happliy pay for the peace of mind that comes with having a shop counter you can plonk faulty items on! (My Metz 58 went faulty with a zoom error, swapped in seconds at SRS)

You pays your money, you takes your choice!

There is also the issue of supporting your local (i.e. UK) shopkeeper, which is something that we have discussed in the past

I have enough problems understanding my local shopkeeper never mind trying to find one that will sell me a Sigma 180mm macro lens in Pentax mount.

And before anyone says anything, yes I know it is my fault and I should learn more Spanish.

My local shopkeeper laughed at me when I asked about the Ds when it came out, and continues to laugh at me whenever I am foolish enough to try to buy anything from his shop. He has lost my custom for ever now.

He's an idiot then, isn't he!

Dan

What shop was that Dan ?

Hi,

HK price: 736 EU + 40 EU (post) = 776 EU

Customs & vat, etc are very approx 22% to add to tot (inc post)..this is a rough rule of thumb. (there is NO WAY UK customs will miss an item of this value)

776 EU plus 22% = 946 EU...= approx £752. (current xchange rate)

IF they use UPS to ship it, you may get an extra steep UPS fee on top, as much as another 25 GBP.

How does this make sense, when a UK one costs about 800-850 GBP, with no shipping worries, easy return if problems etc...

Good question John....

Gwyn? which shop was it? I want to engage 'Sir Nigel Powers mode'

I had contemplated buying from HK while I was there but I never felt comfortable. I was pretty close to getting DA*300 in Japan or the US but as I have no need for that lens at the moment I will enjoy what I have....

Besides... the moral of the story here is if we can give the UK dealers more business, regardless of cost, then it might encourage some to keep more Pentax stock and Pentax UK to smile on us a little bit more....