Would you buy a camera from Japan?

[ColColt]

C'mon everybody knows that foreigners aren't to be trusted especially Japanese ones, the camera will probably turn out to be a fake

Uh, oh...time to check out all those Nikons produced since 1959 and may as well look over my Marantz ad Pioneer receiver, Nakamichi tape deck, Teac reel to reel, etc.

 

[benjiboy]

Uh, oh...time to check out all those Nikons produced since 1959 and may as well look over my Marantz ad Pioneer receiver, Nakamichi tape deck, Teac reel to reel, etc.

Everyone knows that every 7th of December all the Mitsubishi cars gang up and attack Pearl Harbour

 

[BrianShaw]

What happened?

This should be an interesting story!

 

[michr]

I wouldn't buy anything from a foreigner, everyone knows they are all crooks especially the Asiatics they are the worst, but the Europeans are also all dishonest and out to con honest folks like us.

It's pretty obvious that ordering an expensive camera or lens from a seller from halfway around the world might carry enhanced risk to the buyer. If nothing else, the seller is out of reach of the laws of the buyer's country, leaving the buyer less recourse in the case of fraud. Returns are more complicated. Packages aren't as trackable. Importing goods such as cameras could carry customs fees or could be seized (for whatever reason) leaving the country. And so forth.

Personally, I found some of the comments on this thread informative. I feel a lot more comfortable sending my money to strangers on another continent simply because people here have had a lot of great experiences buying from this group of sellers. When I've looked at the cameras for sale from Japan on eBay, the prices always seem too good to be true, so it's nice to know they are not.

 

[ColColt]

You have buyers protection from ebay if a deal goes amuck. I wish I had gone ahead and gotten that super nice, near new 67II I started to from Japan. As I stated earlier, that won't happen again.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Personally, I found some of the comments on this thread informative. I feel a lot more comfortable sending my money to strangers on another continent simply because people here have had a lot of great experiences buying from this group of sellers. When I've looked at the cameras for sale from Japan on eBay, the prices always seem too good to be true, so it's nice to know they are not.

Me too.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

As it turns out, I found a local guy whom I will trade gear with. My Bronica kit for his F5 and 50mm.

BUT, I will be considering Japanese sellers in the future due to this thread.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I can't even finish reading the replies.

If this thread were a train, the cars would be everywhere but the rails.

I didn't mean to start an argument, I simply intended to get information on buying abroad since I have never done so.

Y'all need to go photograph something.

 

[Ian Grant]

I can't even finish reading the replies.

If this thread were a train, the cars would be everywhere but the rails.

I didn't mean to start an argument, I simply intended to get information on buying abroad since I have never done so.

Y'all need to go photograph something.

Personally I feel it's wise to be cautious who you're buying from and you have to way up whether to buy from abroad and the possible consequences.nn. There are countries I'd be careful buying from unless the seller had a particularly good reputation and the value wasn't particularly high.

For those of us in Europe we have to take into account the possible addition of Import duty, then VAT for purchases outside the EU which is based on the item value AND the postage/shipping and then a charge by the local Post Office or carrier (USPS, DHL etc) that can add 30-33%. Not all smaller parcels get stopped but it's rather hit & miss. Even so the savings buying from the US and even more so Japan are still considerable compared to EU prices for the same items.

Ian

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Why not?

+1

 

[ivanlow]

I bought a Nikon flash from Japan and its a deal for more than what I paid. Look almost as new. Go for it. Japan!

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

The offending post drew the thread off track, and the responses quoted or referenced the offending post, further drawing the thread off topic. The CONUS shipping issue is a real one worth discussing, but it has nothing to do with the original topic of the thread.

It is very time consuming to edit each post in a thread like this so that the worthwhile content may be saved while the offending content is removed. Better to delete all posts with off-topic content.

If you object to off-topic content, please report the off-topic post rather than replying to it in the thread.


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[ChristopherCoy]

The offending post drew the thread off track, and the responses quoted or referenced the offending post, further drawing the thread off topic. The CONUS shipping issue is a real one worth discussing, but it has nothing to do with the original topic of the thread.

It is very time consuming to edit each post in a thread like this so that the worthwhile content may be saved while the offending content is removed. Better to delete all posts with off-topic content.

If you object to off-topic content, please report the off-topic post rather than replying to it in the thread.


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I was just disappointed that it went way left, away from my intended question.

 

[cliveh]

No.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I was just disappointed that it went way left, away from my intended question.

My point as well. I was responding more to the objections to the moderation in the thread.


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[DREW WILEY]

There are a few countries where scam postings frequently originate, including expensive camera gear. Japan isn't one of them. Scam websites exist right around here too, in the SF Bay Area. There are crooks everywhere. Legit dealers work very hard to protect their reputations. EBay has a list of common sense guidelines for spotting and reporting suspicious listings. Retail dealers, unless relatively new, have a track record
of repeat customers. But beware of on-line "ratings" or rating services, which can actually be purchased or edited for a fee, or skewed the other way by the occasional crank complaint. These forums tend to be a pretty good avenue for asking around.

 

[MattKing]

I was just disappointed that it went way left, away from my intended question.

Christopher:

This is a bit picky, but I think that the uproar that occurred in this thread arose partly from the way you asked your question.

Your question, as asked, could be interpreted as asking what people's attitudes were to Japan and dealing with sellers there.

Whereas I think you were actually saying that you had never made a purchase from a seller in Japan, and wanted to know what people's experiences were with purchases from Japan, and whether there was anything special you needed to be aware of before doing so.

The difference is subtle, but I think important.

 

[frank]

Christopher:

This is a bit picky, but I think that the uproar that occurred in this thread arose partly from the way you asked your question.

Your question, as asked, could be interpreted as asking what people's attitudes were to Japan and dealing with sellers there.

Whereas I think you were actually saying that you had never made a purchase from a seller in Japan, and wanted to know what people's experiences were with purchases from Japan, and whether there was anything special you needed to be aware of before doing so.

The difference is subtle, but I think important.

Agree. It was almost a troll. (I'm not saying it was intentional.) The direction the thread went did not surprise me a bit.

 

[TomNY]

Overall I have been very lucky on ebay, I do look at the feedback closely. The first time I ordered from Japan the camera arrived damaged (probably in shipping) and the seller bent over backwards and could not have been more cooperative and I've had no problems since and the merchandise has always been accurately described or better.

 

[Sewin]

The only reason I wouldn't buy from Japan is the reason as given previously for those of us in the UK. We have to allow for approx 35% on the price to cover the shipping, VAT, duties and other charges.

 

[250swb]

The only reason I wouldn't buy from Japan is the reason as given previously for those of us in the UK. We have to allow for approx 35% on the price to cover the shipping, VAT, duties and other charges.

Yes but the camera's tend to be much cheaper to start with. Buy when the exchange rate is favourable, which it is most of the time.

I've bought quite a few things from various Japanese sellers on Ebay over the years and have never had a problem. The descriptions tend to be more accurate than from any other area, and the communication and fast postage second to none.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The only reason I wouldn't buy from Japan is the reason as given previously for those of us in the UK. We have to allow for approx 35% on the price to cover the shipping, VAT, duties and other charges.

Wales is very beautiful. Conwy, ...

Have your purchases shipped to the US. Fly over without camera equipment. Pick up your shipments, take photographs, have a good time, drink cold beer and then fly home with the goodies. One or to big purchases and the 35% excess charge will pay for the round trip flight.

 

[Sewin]

Wales is very beautiful. Conwy, ...

Have your purchases shipped to the US. Fly over without camera equipment. Pick up your shipments, take photographs, have a good time, drink cold beer and then fly home with the goodies. One or to big purchases and the 35% excess charge will pay for the round trip flight.

Nice comments......Now that sounds very tempting I'm down in west Wales, Conwy is in the north.

We could certainly do with some Californian weather over here at the moment with the widespread floods.

Although you seem to be having some very bad weather yourselves.

 

[mweintraub]

Because the one from Japan is the only one available...sometimes. Also, it's much cheaper than a local one... sometimes.

 

[Sirius Glass]

What most English speaking people do not realize is that Conwy is pronounced con-ou-ee where the 'w' takes on the job as a vowel. In English the vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y and w. Examples of 'w' used as a vowel:

cow
now
how
yellow [w is silent and the o is long]
Llewellyn
Gwendlyn
​

I especially enjoyed the chain bridges and slighted castles in Wales.