Buying From B&H Photo

[cascade]

My partner sold her camera today and she wants a Canon SX20is, I can get it from B&H for $443au posted which beats it by nearly $70-$80 locally.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on buying from overseas in particular B&H, I've heard that they are a good store but was wondering about warranty etc.

[ricktas]

I moved your thread, cause B&H are Ausphotography site advertisers.

[TimCz]

Ive bought lots from there... no troubles ever. Shipping can be a bit pricey however so often pays to grab a few things at once.

[Kym]

B&H are good.

Factor US$ conversion (credit cards slug a small %), shipping, and GST if over $1000.
If it's only <5% or 10% different buy local.

[Wayne]

Agree with Kym.

Unless it has a warranty valid in Australia, I would steer clear of importing something with a saving as small as that. If the warranty is only valid in the USA and a repair is required you will have to bear the cost of shipping two ways, which would certainly eat the potential saving in this case.

B&H as a trader is as safe as houses if you decide to purchase anything from them in future.

[oldfart]

I've bought from B&H a few times now, Delivery is amazingly quick considering the distance.

I can not recommend highly enough.

[StanW]

They're an excellent firm to deal with, but postage etc is getting to be a killer.

[kwokask]

I use them all the time when AUD is good. Particular for Canon lens as they have international warranty - unfortunately this does not apply to Canon bodies.

[SirNobicus]

I've bout a few things from them, postage is a little hefty for single items. Really quick delivery, and no problems.

[AmyK]

Bought a 60mm from them last night. Local camera shop has them for $729. Bought from B&H for $537 AUD [$485 USD] including the $63 [USD] postage to get it here is 3-5 business days.

Should be here either tomorrow or Thursday judging by the tracking.

[Watchamacallit]

Looking for some clarification as I'm thinking of purchasing a lens from B&H (good aussie dollar atm) - and whethere they ship with the warranty cards included, since they are the official distribution channel in the USA? Was fine with the cheapies from grey importers not having them, but looking for some added peace of mind (and wallet) if I'll be able to take the lens direct to the Nikon repair centre here rather than shipping it back overseas.

Anyone with first hand experience?

[campo]

they're good but the postage is a killer for small items...a few of the other big american shops also suffer the same problem...

when i wanted a $15USD cable for my memory kick device (that you can only get in the US), i managed to find someone who was doing a big order and we split postage.

$60US is way too expensive for shipping on $10 items...it's a shame these big companies can't offer cheaper postage for low value items...

[flashpixx]

Can confirm all my experiences have been 100% positive. Have purchased a number of items that retail in Aus in the $300 - $500 range. In all cases I saved 20% after postage. Can recommend their used section too. Ratings are accurate and gear has been as described or better. Highly recommended as an alternative to buying in Oz if you are prepared not to have warranty available a phone call away.

[AmyK]

Bought a 60mm from them last night. Local camera shop has them for $729. Bought from B&H for $537 AUD [$485 USD] including the $63 [USD] postage to get it here is 3-5 business days.

Should be here either tomorrow or Thursday judging by the tracking.

Well now it's going to be next Wednesday.

Australia post/courier/whatever the hell the UPS use in Australia is hopeless. Lens arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday. Since then, it's been through customs in Melbourne, been flown to Sydney, been flown back to Melbourne, sat around in Melbourne for nearly 24 hours and now it reckons it's 'in transit' to Hobart...with an estimated deliver date of Wednesday the 4th of August. Bugger the 3-5 days that I paid for!! Yet it took just over 24 hours to go through two cities in New York state, Louisville Kentucky and Honolulu Hawaii. Go figure.


Anyhow, this is not a rant about the service of B&H. They were excellent and had it shipped off very promptly! It's just now that it's arrived in Australia it's been stuffed around considerably.

[bigbikes]

I am also thinking about buying a Canon 24-70L from B&H within the next week or so, but can someone tell me, do I also have to pay an import tax on this as well? I was told that if its worth over a thousand $ I have to pay extra. Is this true? :Doh:
Thanks in advance

[JzB]

I am also thinking about buying a Canon 24-70L from B&H within the next week or so, but can someone tell me, do I also have to pay an import tax on this as well? I was told that if its worth over a thousand $ I have to pay extra. Is this true? :Doh:
Thanks in advance


Yes. Import Duty + GST.

[joele]

@ BigBikes

If it is over $1000 you have a very good chance (or is that bad?) of it getting picked up by customs. Best to assume it will get picked up..

[Dave67]

Best thing is just to ring customs & ask them what fees are due on an item worth $X.XXs . I’ve done it before, as I recall it’s only GST applicable on items over $1000. Then work out if it’s still a worthwhile saving.

That being said one friend of mine has never been picked up for duty on several orders he’s placed. Yet another has been slugged 2 times out of 3…
Looks like it’s a bit of a lucky dip:D

[bigbikes]

Then in that case its not worth buying from overseas. I mean its going to cost me $1495 for the lens and another $69 shipping. Total $1563............ then they slug me with importing taxes and gst.
I mean I can buy the lens in Oz for just over $1600........
I think I will buy it from here.

[David Woods]

there is also Badger photographics, they are sometimes cheaper than B&H, I have never had an issue with either.

[ashey]

I have bought a couple of items from them and the service is outstanding, only have trouble when items arrive in OZ. There are no import duties to pay as we have a trade agreement with the U.S. but you will be liable for GST over $1000 if it gets checked.

[Patagonia]

Have had only good experiences with them (though only US shipping) and have been in the NY store a couple of times, its amazing and with an old feeling as its attended only by very conservative jews with long beards and dressed with their tipical style.

Regarding warranty check well what you are buying as they usually have for each product a "US" version and a cheaper "Grey or Import" versión which I suppose they import directly.

regards

[Ross the fiddler]

B&H are very good to deal with but because it is a credit card transaction, there is about a 3% currency exchange rate fee (at least with mine it is) that should be added into the cost too. I bought an Olympus HLD-4 battery grip from them for $223 aprox with all costs included when the RRP here is $349 & the other cheap alternative was DWI at $212 + $20 (normally $30) from Hong Kong.

[Wayne]

Some sellers (not sure about B&H) will take Paypal. How is that better than your own bank processing the charge to the credit card?

Paypal is almost always better on the FX rate, but not by much, however the 2.9%(prob much lower negotiated fee for huge sellers like B&H) fee for payment processing is borne by the merchant, much the same way they wear the banks merchant acquirer fee, so to them it is really the same, but you don't pay the bank an FX exch fee on top of the FX rate.

I use a service from Macquarie Bank to send amounts >$2K around the world, they have the best FX rates going anywhere. The rates are always 1-2%+ better than the banks and Paypal, and not far from the interbank rate. They charge an AU$15 fee for the transaction and they wire the $ from their account in the local currency to the merchant. It saves you some $$ when you send $3K+ overseas, and many merchants who won't take an Aussie credit card will gladly give you their local bank acc details so you can still buy your goodies from them.

[TOM]

i love B&H...just bought a camera from there last week and saved nearly $1000 off local price. I prefer to buy as much as I can locally, but I can't ignore the price difference on a lot of products.

BTW, B&H will not accept Paypal from Australia....only the parts of America, and the UK.

[GoldZilla]

I also love B&H, I've ordered a fair bit of stuff from them, and the only time something got held up was when I had to pay the import duty for a lens and filters. I'm guessing that if I'd done it as separate orders (lens only, then gotten my filters later and/or bought them here instead), then I might have gotten away with not having to pay the duty, as the lens was US$1,040.00 when our dollar was buying something like 98c

My last order was placed late at night on Thursday just past (local Sydney time), and it arrived Monday, so their speed of service is outstanding!

[wideangle]

I also love B&H, I've ordered a fair bit of stuff from them, and the only time something got held up was when I had to pay the import duty for a lens and filters. I'm guessing that if I'd done it as separate orders (lens only, then gotten my filters later and/or bought them here instead), then I might have gotten away with not having to pay the duty, as the lens was US$1,040.00 when our dollar was buying something like 98c

My last order was placed late at night on Thursday just past (local Sydney time), and it arrived Monday, so their speed of service is outstanding!

How much did you have to pay in total for all customs and GST costs?