importing from Japan

probably been asked before i have done a search but cant find it, I was looking on e bay at lenses and they seem to be a lot cheaper in Japan, are these prices too good to be true or are they a bargain, has anyone bought a lens or accessory from Japan lately and is it straight forward.

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Nobody is perfect, but being Scottish is a start

I've purchased from Japan fairly recently, although the item was under £50 GBP, you will need to add on VAT and a customs charge / admin charge of approx. 25% - 28% of the value of the goods.

I have purchased lenses a few years ago, prior to Brexit and they represented very good value even with the customs charges etc, also the Japanese sellers are very keen to please, service has been excellent and the goods I've purchased have been slightly understated, i.e for excellent read mint !!

I have however only purchased boxed lenses and have always looked at the feedback etc.

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Chris

www.chrismillsphotography.co.uk

" A Hangover is something that occupies the Head you neglected to use the night before".

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K1 - Sigma 85mm F1.4, Pentax DFA 150 -450 F4.5 / 5.6, Pentax DFA* 24 - 70 F2.8

Samyang 14mm F2.8, Pentax DFA* 70-200 F2.8

K3iii + K3ii + K5iis converted to IR, Sigma 17 - 70 F2.8, Pentax 55 - 300 F4.5 / F5.6 PLM

I bought a new (but discontinued) lens from Japan in October. VAT was included in the quoted and invoiced price and collected by eBay. There was no additional customs/admin charge. And the postal service managed to deliver it about a week earlier than estimated.

Steve

Good point Steve, my latest purchase had the VAT collected by Fleebay and no additional admin charges etc, my purchases prior to Brexit had Vat collected on import by the UK carrier ( RM in this case ) I had to pay the VAT on the goods then an admin fee and then VAT on the admin fee as well, before they would deliver the goods.

As mentioned in my earlier post, the lenses still represented good value at about 2/3rds of the UK mainland price

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Chris

www.chrismillsphotography.co.uk

" A Hangover is something that occupies the Head you neglected to use the night before".

-------------------------------------------------------------
K1 - Sigma 85mm F1.4, Pentax DFA 150 -450 F4.5 / 5.6, Pentax DFA* 24 - 70 F2.8

Samyang 14mm F2.8, Pentax DFA* 70-200 F2.8

K3iii + K3ii + K5iis converted to IR, Sigma 17 - 70 F2.8, Pentax 55 - 300 F4.5 / F5.6 PLM

Thanks for the replies, I will need to do some more homework on this but there is some conflicting information on the internet depending where you look.

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Nobody is perfect, but being Scottish is a start

That applies to everything on the internet...

Steve

I was looking - (note 'looking' ) - at 200mm Pentax macro lenses on Ebay. It was very clear that the various sellers were using one set of photos for items they were claiming to be the ones in the pictures. Quite different sellers from different towns and asking different prices. So do compare their photos and make sure they are genuine because you might NOT get the one in the photo.

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Both the *istDS and the K5 are incurably addicted to old glass

My page on Photocrowd - link

I was thinking that myself, I was also looking at a lens from America on e bay but the " import duty will be calculated at checkout " so you don't know the final amount until you have committed to buy, I contacted the seller but he said they use global shipping program and no way for him to know the cost, e bay calculate it automatically.

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Nobody is perfect, but being Scottish is a start