buying on ebay question

<p>hi, of the hundreds of listings on ebay for purchase of new or <br>

other... nikon cameras... i noticed that some listings read..USA version, import, hong kong, etc<br>

i realize most all brands of DLRS's are imported from china , japan, etc .... could anyone explain<br>

why these different notations "seem"to be important ...... <br>

thanks so much </p>

<p>Warranty. If you bought a Hong Kong version, you'd have to send it to fix it in HK, if something's wrong.</p>

<p>It is important because Nikon USA will only service USA versions even though the product is typically identical to the imported versions.</p>

<p>Even if Nikon USA could possibly fix only USA version, the licence/warranty is not transferable.</p>

 

<p>Frank, good point, but they will at least service the item (if bought used). And if the item is new and sold from an authorized dealer, it will have warranty IF it is a Nikon USA product. </p>

<p>Buying a Grey Import <em><strong>can</strong></em> save enough £££ to make it worthwhile but only if the seller/company provides a reliable warranty. Google the company etc to find if they are a bunch of rogues.</p>

<p>One of the aspects that tends to be 'ignored' is that the Nikon warranty is only for manufacturing defects etc. If you bash it, you pay to have it fixed....fair enough. If Nikon <em><strong>says</strong></em> you bashed it and you didn't, you still pay to have it fixed. There are a number of accounts of 'Shock Damage' reports by Nikon when the owner denies this vehemently.</p>

<p>There is no easy way to check these statements, but there is a view that <strong><em>occasionally</em></strong> Nikon do try to avoid their responsibilities. I should emphasize that the internet will exaggerate these 'effects' but be aware.</p>

<p>Insuring your kit is like insuring your car. You don't want to have to use it, but you'd be daft not to have it....and probably breaking the law, for the car that is...:-)</p>

<p>However soothing the "coverage" of the 3rd party warranty offered by a gray market vendor, fact remains that Nikon is choking off parts/resources to independent repair facilities.</p>

<p>Let me get this clear. Is it the case that Nikon USA won't even fix a non-USA imported camera or lens for ready money?</p>

<p>Where does that leave an innocent tourist whose camera/lens has gone wrong while visiting the US? Do they have to wait until they get back home to get their gear fixed? If so, that's a ridiculous business model and to the best of my knowledge, Nikon service centres in other countries have no such policy.</p>

<p>Joe--<br>

Nikon USA does indeed seem to be becoming more and more ridiculous. From what I understand, they won't fix gray products even for cash. (I could be wrong.) If you bought the thing overseas and have a receipt showing that, or if you are a tourist here with a foreign bought camera, they will fix that. I'm getting so fed up with Nikon USA that if/when something Nikon of mine breaks I'll try to send it to Canada. I might even drive up to Winnipeg to buy anything new, just so I can totally avoid Nikon USA.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>Kent: You are not wrong ... they will not fix it ... even for cash. Had a friend that went thru it ... standing AT THE FACILITY, with cash (not a check or credit card) ... they wouldn't LOOK at it.</p>

<p>Nikon is likely protecting their dealer network. I am not saying I agree with this policy but it is what it is...</p>

<p>I don't blame Nikon USA one bit for their repair policy.</p>

<p>Blame the retailers.</p>

<p>Richard: Assuming you are in USA, you would, obviously, be well-served to buy a USA version. Especially avoid Hong Kong, as there are reports surfacing of D600 examples with serial numbers written in what appears to be pencil, and they rub off with wery little effort. Difficult to decern what THAT may be about. Go with what you know ... and with where you are.</p>

<p>This topic has been discussed and explained many times. By definition, gray-market Nikon products are those that are imported into a particular country via alternative importers instead of the official one, but they have to be sold in that country. For example, for the United States, Nikon USA is the official importer. When Adorama, B&H, etc. find a cheaper source and import those Nikon products into the US themselves and then sell them in the US, those are gray-market products. The same applies to Canada where Nikon Canada is the official importer.</p>

<p>If you buy a Nikon camera in, for example, Japan and bring it back to the US (or Canada), it is not gray maket. Nikon USA would fix it for a fee as long as you can produce your receipt from that Japanese store to prove that you bought it yourself in Japan.</p>

<p>Gray-market imports via Adorama, B&H, etc. are competition for Nikon USA as they deny all of Nikon USA's profits, but they still benefit from Nikon's USA commercials, info on their web site, etc. etc. It should surprise no one that Nikon USA is very hostile to those gary-market stuffs.</p>

<p>I can just see me driving up to the Ferrari dealership in Milan on my tour of Europe and them refusing to look at it just 'cos I bought it in the London dealership. I'd have to drive it back to London to get it sorted. Ha Ha.....:-(</p>

<p>They made it, they can fix it.</p>

<p>Protecting <em><strong>whose</strong></em> dealer network? Nikon USA, I guess. If you go to a Nikon website there's such a thing as Nikon Global....can I have a warranty with them please? It's where you end up if you type www.nikon.com they call it 'Nikon Home'.<br /> <br /> As far as I can see, it prevents them taking <strong>cash</strong> from people.... some Business Model.... :-) It's not as if people are asking them to fix Nikon knock-offs is it?? They're all made on the same conveyor belt in the same factory by the same people. Ridiculous attitude.</p>

<p>EDIT. Shun, does this 'carrying around' of original purchase receipts when on holiday seem a 'sensible' plan? If it's registered in my name with NIKON and I can prove who I am, (passport maybe) they'll fix it right....with NO receipt?</p>

<p>Yes. discussed a lot. Here's more. My local Nikon dealer, and Canon, and Pentax, and Hasse, routinely has in excess of $200,000 + in stock of JUST Nikon...if you don't have it, you sure as hell can't sell it. Add to that, those than come in to 'look and try', then go to the net to buy. The 'look and try' stuff to some is 'shop worn'. To those that DO BUY IN THE STORE, they(the store) are most effective when the sales staff say to the customer ...'let me go in the back and get you one in an unopened box'. The customer is quite pleased, the store is successful (celebrating 100yrs next year). The 'shop worn' stuff? They are an honest house ... it eventually gets sold as 'used' (at a loss), they survive in a rough trade, but, like my doctor, are there when ya need 'em! :-)</p>

<p>From the NikonUSA website....</p>

<blockquote>

<p>We require a photocopy of your proof of purchase for service. Please include a photocopy of the receipt even if the problem is not a warranty issue or the product is beyond the warranty period.<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Does this mean unless you're the <em><strong>original</strong></em> purchaser, they won't fix it? Irrespective of the 'country of origin' or method of import......and they won't sell spares to independent repair shops....Nice!<br>

<br>

<strong><em>Hypothetically</em></strong>, if my Nikon 200mm f2 AF-S is stolen and the evil bastard files the serial number off in an attempt to foil the police but is caught red handed, that poor lens is now irreparable as I cannot <em><strong>prove</strong></em> it's number matches my receipt. I guess it's not their job to prove it isn't!</p>

<p>for goodness sakes read Shun's post. Nikon USA will not service items purchased in the USA from an unauthorized importer. Nikon USA cannot refuse to service items legally purchased from an authorized retailer, wherever in the world that is. For example, a Hong Kong store can be an authorized retailer in Hong Kong, without being authorized to import into the USA.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Does this mean unless you're the <em><strong>original</strong></em> purchaser, they won't fix it? Irrespective of the 'country of origin' or method of import......and they won't sell spares to independent repair shops....Nice!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Sorry Mike, you are not new to this forum, are you? I would appreciate that you don't further confuse the issue.</p>

<p>We have discussed many times that Nikon USA's warranty only applies to the original owner. Once the item changes hands, even after just one day of ownership, there is no more warranty from Nikon USA, but they would fix it for a fee.</p>

<P>

Also, Nikon USA sells a lot of parts to large, independent repair shops, but you have to be pretty large to quality for Nikon's requirements. The small, 2, 3 people or some with even 10 people or so are out of luck.

</P>

<blockquote>

<p><br /> <br /> <strong><em>Hypothetically</em></strong>, if my Nikon 200mm f2 AF-S is stolen and the evil bastard files the serial number off in an attempt to foil the police but is caught red handed, that poor lens is now irreparable as I cannot <em><strong>prove</strong></em> it's number matches my receipt. I guess it's not their job to prove it isn't!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I wouldn't buy an item with the serial number intentionally filed off. That is a clear indication that something is very wrong.</p>

<p>Mike: "<strong>We require a photocopy of your proof of purchase for service</strong>. Please include a photocopy of the receipt even if the problem is not a warranty issue or the product is beyond the warranty period."<br>

What this says, effectively, without PAPER, if you are here, there, or anywhere, ... without paper, you are outa luck. With the cut-off of repair parts to indies, you are really outta luck.<br>

Without paper, you are outta luck ... they got that from the IRS, you know. <br>

In your hypothetical of the stolen lens, you file a police report with the serial number of the item, it's recovered, sans serial number, but needs service. You approach em with your police report, your damaged, and un-serialed lens, and poof ! ... done deal. Lots of difficulty understanding Japanese to English, and vice-versa. Any lawyer will help you on this one, cheaply, making THEM understand YOU! :-)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Nick, this would appear to go against what you said...</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Kent: You are not wrong ... they will not fix it ... even for cash. Had a friend that went thru it ... standing AT THE FACILITY, with cash (not a check or credit card) ... they wouldn't LOOK at it.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Sounds like a refusal to me. I assume all items must be legitimate <em><strong>somewhere,</strong></em> even if they've been imported wrongly?</p>

<p>Hissy fits aside, Mike, it's all explained in the not-so-fine print in the warranty materials Nikon assumes you can read. Their obligations re: the specifics of warranty coverage and repair end there.</p>

<p>I've heard countless splenetic rants at the Nikon.ca service counter from hapless gray market gear customers who trot out your "They made it, they can fix it" malarkey to no avail. I bought gray Nikon gear from outside Canada back when there was a large price spread between US pricing and ours. But Nikon.ca wised-up in recent years, dropped prices and cut dealers some slack for discounts, so much so that prices on the D7000 body here last Xmas were well below major US dealers.</p>

<p>Register it where you buy it from an authorized dealer, keep your receipts. Foaming at the mouth when you don't isn't a plan when you need service.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>C.Watson...He He!....:-)</p>

<p>Do Nikon USA fix second hand gear, say that 600mm AF-S you've always wanted and found, <em><strong>finally</strong></em>, at a 2nd hand price you can afford. After a while the AF-S motor needs changing....can you get it repaired?</p>

<p>NB> Secondhand = No Warranty. I understand this!</p>

<p>Nikon will fix 2nd hand gear as long as it is not gray market.</p>

<p>Mike: My friend at the counter had no paperwork at all, but did volunteer it was grey market ... they'd have known anyway...I recall a recent Q here(think it got rightfully removed) of someone saying he had bought his 7000 from a 'friend-for-cash' ... the camera was lost by the airline and the airline would not reimburse w/o a receipt. He was looking for someone to 'sell' him one, so he could collect (poor fellow?). WHERE ARE YOUR PAPERS ... SIR?</p>