RZ II prices in Hong Kong

[douglas_st.denny1]

<b>From previous post:</b>

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<i>

Just for fun, here are the current prices for a few NON grey market Mamiya RZ II pieces here in Hong Kong...(first price is HK$ in ( ) is US$

price figured at 1US$=7.8HK$)

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SV package (90mm lens, body, wl finder 120 back) HK$13450 (US$1725) 180 WL lens HK$4940 (US$633) AE Prism II HK$4180 (US$536) 120

6x7 back HK$1900 (US$243) Polaroid back HK$1600 (US$205)

</i>

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In response to emailed requests for information, Here is where I got

the prices, and from whom I am buying my new RZ II. (I have no

icommercial interest in this shop, I'm just a customer and reccommend

them as such)

 

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The shop is "Kwong Tai" at 30A Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong

 

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telephone (852) 2522 8648

fax (852) 2810 6283

 

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NO email address

 

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Eric Mo is the man to speak with. Please tell him that Douglas sent

you, maybe he'll give me some free film...:-)

 

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Seriously, I have bought lots of stuff from him in the past three

years. Including Elinchrome studio lighting and Contax G2 outfit (90,

35, 28, and 21mm lenses) He has always been the best for price in my

experience. Eric is the best English speaker in the shop. The other

guys do much better in Cantonese.

 

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I have always bought "cash" price, and those are the prices I posted

earlier. For credit card orders I would not be surprised if he added

3% or so. It seems to be the norm here when making credit card

purchases.

 

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FYI, grey market Mamiya was available, but would have only saved me

about US$50 (total) on the whole deal, so I chose to buy "clean" from

the authtorized distributer.

 

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regards from sunny but polluted Hong Kong

 

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Douglas

[dave_kemp]

Americans thinking of purchasing Mamiya product in Hong Kong should be aware that Mamiya America is one of those companies that does all in its power to squelch grey market activity and to make life difficult fo rAmericans who buy their products overseas. Hence your Hong-Kong-purchased Mamiya gear may have troubles legally entering the country, and you may have troubles if you ever need repairs or parts from Mamiya America.

[douglas_st.denny1]

In response to Dave's post I sent him the following. I copy it here

for your comment. I'd like to know if anyone has really had the

customs give them a hard time bringing in Mamiya equipment, other than

asking them to pay duty. I'm also going to check the mamiya.com and

ask them about the case of someone legitimately buying from an

authorized dealer outside of the country, NOT grey market, per se.

I'll let you know what if anything they respond.

 

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copy of email follows....

 

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Hiya Dave

 

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I think maybe you didn't understand my posting. I'm not buying "Grey

Market." (It is possible, but there is very little difference in

prices,

so therefore I'm buying from the importer) The prices I quoted are

from

the authorized Mamiya Distributer here in Hong Kong. I live in Hong

Kong. If I were to move to the USA, and my RZ stuff needed repair

under

warrenty and Mamiya refised to do it, I'd sue them sooooo fast...

 

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>From the answers I have had from legal bottom feeders (here in HK),

there is NO way that the customs people in the USA could stop you from

importing anything Mamiya from Hong Kong (as long as it is not

counterfeit), but you would be liable for any duties owing. Period.

 

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This is not a conflict like the "Zeiss" war in the 50's/60's whwich

started the rumour of people being made to scrape off the Mamiya name

on

cameras coming into the country.

 

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If, on the otherhand, you have personal knowledge of customs

confiscating anything Mamiya, please let me know. Otherwise I think

you are merely continuing an "Urban Legend."

 

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regards,

 

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Douglas

[douglas_st.denny1]

Here's the response from Mamiya USA as answered in their RZ Forum..

(The complete question and answer are located at http://mamiya.com/

cgi-bin/WebX?13@^34342@.ee6b2c3 )

 

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begin quote..."Douglas: Mamiya America can only provide warranty

service on merchandise purchased from dealers within the USA. We are

able to repair

foreign bought equipment at our regular rates. If you move to the USA

in the future, taking your possesions with you should not be a

problem.

However, you should always consult local officials to avoid any

possible suprises as you are departing."...unquote

 

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The first part seems clear. Mamiya USA will repair foreign bought

Mamiya products, but a charge will be made. The second part seems a

bit fuzzy. I wonder what "officials" they mean? Customs here in HK?

Mamiya Distributer in HK? My wife?

 

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In any case, in about 4 hours I'll have my new camera in my hands....

 

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regards,

 

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Douglas

[robert_monaghan]

see http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/hongkong.html Savings 40-60% on

New Grey Market PhotoGear - Buying in Japan, Seoul, Hong Kong,

Singapore, Grand Cayman - for more on grey market buys overseas etc.

 

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A few US importer/distributors such as Mamiya USA and Bogen/Metz

control US registered trademarks. Even in these cases, U.S. customs

regulations evidently permit importing a personal camera, lens, back

etc. under sundry exemptions. Duties tend to run from 0 to about 6%

on most photo-items. Fees charged by shippers/custom brokers vary

widely ($6 to $150). But under these personal import exemptions, you

can send in personal use items - you just can't import lots of

multiple items for resale. You don't have to bring the goods thru

customs yourself - you can mail or have them mailed to you too. ;-)

 

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Under Magnuson-Moss/FTC Fair Trade Regs, parts for repairs must be

made available for a certain period (nominally 5 to 7 years for camera

gear) on an equal basis within the USA. Third party or independent

repairers should be able to get any part that the factory repairers

can get - even the consumer can do so too (but there may be high setup

or minimum order requirements to discourage consumer repairers). An

importer may be able to refuse to repair anything in or out of

warranty, but doing so only hurts them. You can always find an

independent repairperson, usually one trained by the factory and

cheaper too!

 

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Recently, certain Hong Kong major shops have declined to directly ship

certain trademarked goods, specifically Mamiya trademarked items, to

USA buyers only - a change from recent previous practices, it appears.

 

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So I am looking for info on trans-shipping services in Hong Kong that

can trans-ship packages to the USA from Hong Kong. If anyone has a

resource or work-around they are willing to share, please email me at

rmonagha@post.smu.edu - Thanks! bobm

[gallen]

I just got an email back from a store in Singapore called Cathay

Photo. I had inquired about purchasing some Mamiya equipment for my

RZ from them (I am in the US) and they said that this is not possible

due to the "territorial rights," I assume, of Mamiya America (they

did not tell me).

Does anyone have a source for ordering Mamiya equipment overseas and

having it shipped back to the states??

Thanks for everything.

 

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Greg

[rolland_elliott]

This repsonse is for Robert (rmonagha@post.smu.edu)

I just faxed a request for equipment price quotes to Cameron Photo Company also known as Francisco Photo Co. at

18-20 Lock Road Kowloon, Hong Kong

Telephone # 011 852 2367 1297 or 011 852 2369 5677

FAX # 011 852 2739 8575

They quoted me $1515.00 for a Mamiya RB 67 100-200 f/5.2 zoom lens an d $327 for a Sekonic L-508 zoom master spot meter. S&H to the US was a little less than $50 dollars. These prices are great comparted to stores like B&H.

I want to order from them, but first I'd like to know if anyone has done business with this company or any other Japaneese/Hong Kong/overseas mail order company. I've searches the internet throughly on this subject, and although I have found two companies that will do mail order in Hong Kong, I have yet to hear any feedback with doing business with these companies. I would appreciate a response.

 

Thanks Rolland Elliott

[ian_white]

As a partial answer to Rolland's question, I have just purchased an RZ 50mm/4.5W and a 120 back from Cameron Photo. The price was HK$5500 for the lens (about US$736) and HK$2000 for the back (about US$268).

 

Originally I had Cameron fax me a quote and the prices were about 5% higher than those above. I struggled with the risk issue of sending a money order in the mail and eventually had a contact in Hong Kong buy them for me and send them in the mail. He got me the 5% cheaper price.

 

Next time I will use mail order as I now know the shop exists and has an extensive stock and the prices (according to my contact) are competitive.

 

Some other issues are duties, taxes, and warranties. I am in Canada and we have zero duty on imported camera parts but about 25% on complete cameras and bodies. I have no idea what the US situation is. Taxes are zero in Hong Kong and substantial in both Canada and USA. There is of course no effective warranty on this new equipment, however the landed price for new equipment is less than the retail price for used equipment which carries very limited warranties, so I am not sure that the matter is significant (I have only bought used previously as the price for new equipment is outrageous).

 

The other main issue is the retail price for MF equipment in general. The HK prices are 45% of B&H or Vistek's prices. Why is that?? There is clearly a need for the importer to make a margin and the retailer to make a margin on top of the importer's margin, but some company has imported into Hong Kong and the retailer there is happy with his profit.

 

I for one am not in the least bit sure that Mamiya US deserves the margin it adds to its costs (its web-site is very poor for advising us of nw product. The ULD was released a year ago and the site still does not show it). The RZ is a very good system with excellent lenses, however I am sure that many more people would try it if the price was lower. The Pentax 6x7 sems to do very well and a large portion of that could be its lower price (plus excellent glass).

 

Until the North American importers reduce their margins, I will still be tempted to buy from hong Kong.

 

Ian White