Buying from the US?

[joshwa]

I know this has probably been asked before, but how much would customs charges be for this:

Olympus E-P1 (with lens) £486 GBP ($799) from B&H USA
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=REG&A=details

Or Olympus E-P1 (with lens) £699 from Amazon UK

I could save over £200 from buying from the US (- customs charges, - any fees by my credit card company etc which is 2.99%)

Would the item be insured? Pesumably if it didn't arrive I'd be covered by credit card protection?

Thanks

Josh

[JPreston]

Isn't it just 15% VAT and courier handling fee (£20 - £30 or whatever)?

There's no reason why it shouldn't insured in transit as plenty of sellers offer that, but if you go grey market isn't it generally cheaper to buy from the Far East anyway (where sellers tend to be happy to illegally misdeclare value on the customs ticket by calling it a sample, if that's your thing).

[kalniel]

You have to pay protectionist tax duty on certain items, as well as VAT. I suspect cameras would be on the list of thing you have to pay for.

edit - it is: 4.9%.

So cost to you is 486*1.049*1.15*1.0299 = £603.82 not including any extra courier fees for customs.

That's assuming they get away with the lens being part of the camera. If not it separately attracts a higher 6.7% duty.

[joshwa]

So I'd probably save about £100 (excluding shipping). Shipping is $59 US for 3 - 5 day shipping with UPS.

I don't think it's worth the additional wait. I can order from Jessops and it would be here on Friday. (In stock tomorrow, with next day delivery). Plus I have a 5% off credit card. Jessops voucher codes don't seem to work, as they don't include SLRs (although strictly speaking this isn't an SLR camera! lol)

[kalniel]

Yup I'd go with Jessops. It's only the silver body with black 14-42 lens that they are getting early (really quite early - going to be close to a world exclusive). You could probably buy two and sell the spare for a profit before worldwide release.

[Flibb]

Also worth checking what guarantee you get if you import, you can often extend beyong 2 years with a bit of leg work if shopping in the Eu / UK.

[beanbandit]

So cost to you is 486*1.049*1.15*1.0299 = £603.82 not including any extra courier fees for customs.

Not too sure what the 1.0299 is for? What you also need to take into account is the shipping costs. They need to be added to the original dollar cost then convert to pounds.

[kalniel]

Not too sure what the 1.0299 is for?

His 2.99% credit card fee for currency. Okay that should be separate as won't be tax/duty liable.

[beanbandit]

His 2.99% credit card fee for currency. Okay that should be separate as won't be tax/duty liable.

Ah ok Never had a card where i paid those fees, was always robbed with the exchange rate.