Bur retail or grey import (photographic )

There is always the question wether to buy a bit of photographic equipment ie camera/lens from an authorised retailer or a grey import. A grey import is not from an authorised dealer.

I have done both so hopefully can give my opinion.

From an authorised dealer you get a warranty for a length time which covers any fault that occurs, not damage done to it. The manufacture will repair it free of charge but you might have to pay for post and packaging and provide a receipt from the retailer. This is fair enough but what about out of warranty? You are in the same position as having purchased a grey import. So by buying from an authorised retailer can cost several hundred pound more for something like only a years warranty. One has to ask ones self is the extra money worth it? I am coming to the conclusion it isn't.


Grey import on the other hand can be risky without double and treble checking out the seller first. Often, as I have just done, found they don't charge VAT or postage charges or insurance on the postage. Oh on the issue of VAT they take care of all that within their pricing structure . Another point is they usually buy in bulk from the country selling at the lowest price although it is exactly the same product. This way they can keep costs to a minimum with also only strorage costs and little spent on employment.



This can lead to several hundreds of pounds cheaper. With My Nikon D810 just bought I have seen them selling for more second hand.
So apart from the checks if a camera does go faulty they often say send back at your own cost to the company you bought it from. This is one of the risks one takes but you can cover yourself via a credit card payment on the purchase.

Remember there is no difference after a warranty runs out with an official retail purchase and a grey import. Some say grey imports wont get repaired. This is rubbish put about by retailers trying to stop people buying grey imports. Any camera repairer will repair anything if repairable, it is only those approved repairers might kick up a bit of fuss.

Anyway taking out insurance will cover most things

So it is an awkward decision, do you got the official or unofficial way of buying? both legal

Do you really want to spend out a lot of cash or not? to give some idea I saved nearly £700 on my Nikon D810 against the cheapest official retailer price retailer. Even then that didn't cover the official retailer P/P no doubt to be added to their sale price

To me it is a no brainer , it is my hard earned money that is paying for it and if I can save that amount then I will every time.

Yes it is a legitimate arguement about not supporting shops etc, but in reality I don't think shops as we know them will exist as much in a few years time. All the big store now have online sales and that is the way it is going to go.

As i said at the very beginning it is my opinion but i do think there are times when retailers think we are stupid and will meet their prices.

To give some idea what official retailers are selling my camera new is ranging from £2388 to £2699.

How can they justify such a difference on the same Nikon D810? definately the most expensive is ripping off customers.

What did my grey import cost for the same camera? £1609 delivered to the door