Buying camera kit abroad...

[Henry Wilt]

Definitely do not buy in Thailand. It is more expensive here for most electrical/electronic goods, I believe because of import duty. I actually looked at buying my gear from the US and getting it shipped here as it is much cheaper there but personal import duty is between 30 - 60% depending on the mood of the Customs official (i.e. how much you slip him under the table ).
I would guess your best bet would be China or Japan, but as BigFuzzy says be very careful of knock off gear in China.

[LMAshton]

Yep, prices on electronics in this region are nowhere near as low as in the US.

From the research I've done in the past, and from conversations with others in this region, it seems that Malaysia is the cheapest place in general to get electronics. Singapore isn't too bad, either. Your other destinations I have no idea about. But this is all relative to Sri Lanka, where prices here are generally marked up anywhere from 50% to 300% over the US prices. For example, there are people here selling the iPhone 4G for $1700US.

If you're in Singapore for a few days, you might want to do some shopping there. There are the shopping districts in Sim Lim Square where there are a lot of electronics for sale, but there are warnings about the place, too. We've been to Sim Lim Square once and had no problems, but we're hardly experienced shoppers there. We've also been told that prices are cheaper the higher up in the building you go. We didn't have a lot of time to check things out, though.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by Swisstony10

Oh yeah - I already thought about that one. Here in the UK, import duty and VAT is generally designed to be a complete pain in the backside, but if the exchange rate and the foreign price is good enough, it can still be worth it.

The other thing I'm thinking is that if I come back from a holiday abroad with my camera bag as hand luggage, with the lens attached to my camera, what's to say that I didn't take that lens out with me when I went? Chances of getting stopped and checked are pretty slim, so if I'm still going to have a good deal even if I do get stung for import duty, I reckon it's worth a shot..

U.S. customs can technically require you to pay duties if they suspect you purchased it abroad. There's a customs form you're supposed to submit out before you leave the country with serial numbers and such. You can get the money back if you can prove you didn't purchase it abroad, but obviously it's the government. I suspect the UK is similar.

Prices in the U.S. are generally low, so buying abroad hasn't really been a thing recently.

[Henry Wilt]

One thing that has just occurred to me is that in Thailand, and I'm pretty sure this counts for Malaysia and Singapore as well, is that you can reclaim the VAT (or equivalent) on purchases made in the country as you leave so long as you have the correct forms with your purchase. This could offset any Import duties back in England. I'm really not sure whether this is the situation in any of the other countries you are visiting but I'm sure it would be well advertised if it is.

[Swisstony10]

Thanks for all the advice folks - it's proving extremely useful.

I was chatting to my sister about it last night - just as a background, the cruise I'm going on is the one she's working on (which is why I'm getting it free). Currently, she's going back and forth from Vancouver, up through Alaska, across and down through the whole China/Japan/HK/Vietnam/etc area, and then back up and across to Vancouver.

She had a chat with her friend who manages the on-board photography/videography department, and he's advised that the best way for me to acquire a bargainous lens is for her to buy it while they're in the US, and hold on to it for me to pick up when I meet them in Beijing in October, that way I'll have the lens for the whole of my trip, and won't have to waste a second of shore-time by hunting down a particular camera store. That's how he (and his employees who have photography as a hobby as a well as a job) gets most of his kit. The other advantage that he pointed out is that as neither he nor my sister are US citizens, and when shopping ashore are treated as tourists, she'll be able to shop tax-free.

I don't know how much of a saving that is in the US, but before we even think about tax, I could buy a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II over there for $2399, which comes out at £1560, compared with £2149 over here ($3304 over there).

I reckon that's gotta be the way to go...

[jamesev]

Originally Posted by jdepould

U.S. customs can technically require you to pay duties if they suspect you purchased it abroad. There's a customs form you're supposed to submit out before you leave the country with serial numbers and such. You can get the money back if you can prove you didn't purchase it abroad, but obviously it's the government. I suspect the UK is similar.

I would think that in the UK as long as you don't have all the boxes and packaging in your posession and just had a lens / camera in a bag they wouldn't question you. After all camera are a fairly common thing to take with you on holiday. Same with any electronics, if it looks like one of your everyday items then I don't think they'd bat an eyelid.

[Swisstony10]

Yep - that's the way I'm looking at it.

My sister's been working on cruise ships for the last 6 years - because she's so regularly either in or passing through the US, she's been taking advantage of the way so much stuff is cheaper over there than here in the UK to always be tooled with the latest point & shoot, video camera, laptop, Ipod (she's got more Ipods of various generations than is probably healthy), not to mention an array of jewellery (apparently there's a jeweller somewhere in Alsaka who does her very good deals on diamonds). I guess it's because by the time she travels back into the UK she's just someone coming home from being abroad with their laptop in their luggage - she's never had to pay import duty or VAT on any of it.

And if I do get her to get me a lens, the box and documentation will be coming back flat in her suitcase, and the lens will be hanging off my camera.