Grey Imports

nicols

I was having a discussion with a friend re digital camera grey imports. There is one site, a company based in the UK, that is universally praised for its service and gives out UK VAT receipts (upon request - theres no VAT number on the website but others have checked the VAT number is real) but states that the cameras are only covered by their own warranty (plus an extended warranty via an insurance company), the cameras are 100s of pounds cheaper than other UK online retailers and the cameras are not elegible for UK cash back offers etc. All of this suggests to me these are grey imports but thats not clearly stated. I did find this buried at the foot of their policies page though...

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. Please note that by making a purchase on this website you will be acting as the importer of the product for all purposes including all customs regulations,copyright and trademark laws.You accept that the role of XXXX is limited to sourcing products and making them them available for you to import directly from the country of origin. By purchasing a product through this website you authorise us to make arrangements for clearance of customs on your behalf for the products you have ordered.

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Does anyone know if this is a legal loophole (for them)? My reading of the above is that they (claim) they are not actually import the cameras but effectively providing you with a service (sourcing the import) and filling out the customs forms on your behalf (with the various import / VAT requirements still falling on you, the 'importer').

Is it legal to have this as a small print blanket statement? They'e been running for years so I'm not sure how they could still be trading if this was illegal. Anyone with a background this area can throw anymore light on what this means?

Thanks

Hintza

You are basically buying the camera from abroad and as such you are liable for all duties. You will also not be covered by the manufacturers warranty and will have to rely on the goodwill of the company selling the cameras to sort out any warranty problems. You might also be recharged VAT upon return if for example you send the camera for repair/replacement.

Basically they are offering you the cameras at a price where you are accepting the risk and liability if anything goes wrong, something you will in effect be paying for when you buy a camera in the UK.

In this day and age there is not too much that can go wrong with digital cameras and those in the majority of instances can be attributed to pilot error. Normally dropping them (even from a fairly low height) or getting sand/grit in the lens.

If you are buying a fairly inexpensive camera for snapshots then it is probably a good option.