I hear the stigma around "Grey import" a lot!
From what I understand, the Canon factory in Japan supplies distributors such as Canon China, Canon USA, Canon Australia etc, and from there the online, commercial and shop-front distributors on-sell them.
At the end of the day, all the camera's and all the lenses still initially come from Canon factory in Japan?
So, what does "Grey import" really mean? Why is it so bad?
From what I read on the
DDP and
DWI websites, they seem pretty legitimate. "Grey import" seems to suggest a degree of shadiness or unreliability. Does this mean they can't be trusted?
Admittedly, DWI and DDP aren't as clear as to whether their prices include GST or not. (I can't seem to find it), so one has to be careful that they are comparing apples to apples with the advertised online prices. I sent an e-mail to DWI to get an answer that they are a Hong Kong based company and if the purchase is over $1000, then you would be chareged a 10% GST on top of their online price.
Surely if you buy a camera from a shop, you take it back with your receipt if you think there is something wrong with it and they take care of it.
Surely if you buy from an online store the same thing would apply?
Or not?
Baz.