Equipment Nikon prices - UK ripoff - alternative

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share this. I was growing frustrated with Nikon's prices in UK, seeing that the price in Honk Kong or US is about 40% cheaper.

Of course I can order from the likes of Panamoz, and they seem to have a good reputation , but you need to rely on their warranty and that makes things complicated when you are trying to resell your gear.

So I have done some research and discovered that Switzerland seems to have much cheaper prices for cameras. So for example the D750 is £1800 in UK but 2099 Francs in Switzerland (about £1380). That's £420 difference! And given Switzerland is not in the EU you can reclaim the VAT at the Swiss border of 8%.

Anyway, there is a chain of shops in Switzerland called "Interdiscount". They are a chain similar to Currys/Pc World in UK. They have a shop in Geneva airport and you can call them and tell them to keep something on the side for you, or you can order online and have it delivered to their shop (can't ship outside Switzerland). They also run discounts from time to time, this Sunday it was 10% on all DSLRs.

So I ordered the D750 with the discount last Sunday, and I booked a BA return flight for Geneva this Saturday for £88. All in all over £500 saved over buying it in UK, and I get to have a proper European warranty.

Will let you know how I get on this Saturday.

 

Nice!

However - a word of warning. Be careful coming back, as you may likely get 'done' for the 20% UK VAT on the way in.

 

Good point. Just calculated it and it would mean the total cost would £1536 assuming you the the 8% VAT reimbursed by the Swiss. Still a saving but not as much.

 

If you buy stuff abroad and open it whilst away doesn't it count as "used goods" (i.e. not liable for VAT) ?

 

Loop hole of win!

remember, keep your cables and camera with you, collapse the box if possible and send it in to the UK, customs may open it but its just a box at the end of the day so they cant charge you for it.

 

Not necessarily. Travelling back from outside the EU, you are supposed to go through the red channel if you've got goods that are worth higher than the 'limit', and I think if there is a reasonable suspicion the goods are essentially 'new', you might get done. Of course, you might not. It depends on what the HMRC bods feel like on the day, as I understand it.

Source: I travel to and from Jersey a LOT.

 

I have traveled a lot and in the last two years I was back every weekend from both Germany and Switzerland. I have been searched only once about 5-6 years ago, and they seemed way more concerned about cigarettes and alcohol. So it would be very unlucky if they did, especially as I only have a hand luggage.

Collapsing and sending the post via the post sounds like a great idea. Will see if I can collapse it easily. There should be a post office at the airport.

 

You could just put the camera in a camera bag with battery inside, and remove the label from the box right?

It would only really be suspicious if you had more then 2 (if photography is not your profession)?

 

Customs do pick up empty boxes in the post and certainly in the past used to visit the addressee and interview under caution also referencing financial records. An empty box for expensive items is immediately suspicious and loads of people used to buy Rolex's in Hong Kong and post the box back ending up paying (with penalties) nearly double the UK price when caught.

 

Damn that's a pain, the cameras worth more with the box. As though it makes a massive difference .

Why is so hard for the small guys to get away with tax fraud lol.

 

Switzerland has been electronics bargain miracle land ever since the financial crisis started.

All the large electronics companies base their prices on the USD.
Before the crisis: £1 = $2 and 1 CHF = $0.8.
While now its: £1 = $1.60 and 1 CHF = $1.

Long story short, electronics in Switzerland dropped in price by 20% due to currency value changes caused by the financial crisis while in the UK they went up by 20%.

Luckily life in Switzerland is expensive as hell in regards to pretty much everything (except for electronics and petrol), so it isn't a source country for smuggling, which means Customs usually just profile you into the definitely not worth looking at group.

 

It wouldn't be "getting done". If you use the tax back option in Switzerland (Tax free for Tourists) you're SUPPOSED to pay the tax on entering the EU.

Not that I would if I could though.

 

What also puzzles me is how can the likes of Nikon impose minimum retail prices. I thought this was illegal in UK and in the EU.
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/Nikon/Nikon-Digital-SLRs/Nikon-D750-Camera-Body

If it didn't prices would just fluctuate alongside the currencies and should be roughly the same within neighbouring countries.

 

Haha it was a turn of phrase...

 

It is illegal.

However there is no law forcing Nikon (or any other company) to supply their products to any specific shop, which is how manufacturers get away with telling shops what to do.

 

If it is illegal, then using any pressure or coercion to do so must also be illegal. Didn't go into details but in the link below they mention "Refusal to supply" as a potential offence.
https://www.gov.uk/competition-law-unfair-pricing-agreements

And it's not restricted to Cameras. Watches, car parts, etc. Lots of stuff have what looks like a minimum pricing in UK.

I am wondering if this is a genuine loophole, or if it's just shockingly unenforced. Or perhaps, the retailers themselves are happy to play ball, or else they would have reported it already (so that would be collusion, and I am pretty sure that is illegal).

I am tempted to fill the form on the CMA and see what happens

 

So does this mean that retailers holding old stock still have to sell at the manufacturers prices?

 

I suspect it is the second option.

 

Be sure to mind the warranty as well. Nikon UK will not honour warranties on grey imports. You have to be able to prove you purchased it while living abroad and brought it back. IIRC, vacations don't count, but it often times depends on who you talk to at the repair location. My experience is that lenses and bodies they won't touch. It was my main drive to join NPS, to get global support.

 

Yes Nikon, won’t honour warranties on grey market items, which is their way to enforce higher prices in regions that are deemed more “fleeceable”.

I emailed Nikon Switzerland a few months ago to ask about the warranty coverage. They confirmed that the whole of Europe (including Switzerland) is considered the same zone, and you get one year warranty, and this will be honoured anywhere in the zone (Europe).

However in each country there are promotions for extra warranty beyond the one year, and these are indeed country-specific. In UK, for example, Nikon offers a second-year warranty if you register with them, but require that you have bought the camera from a UK outlet. In Switzerland you get an extra 2 years, but you need to send the camera there if there is a defect.

All in all, I am trading the second year of UK coverage, with and extra 2 years with a send-back-to-Switzerland coverage (which IMO can’t be much worse than packaging it and sending it in UK).