I bought a brand new 5D MkII body from a dealer on eBay a few months ago and couldn't be happier. The cost was $2090 AUS inclusive of shipping and GST. It was sent directly from HK within three days (even though the seller listed his business in Melbourne). He also offered a 3 year warranty (sent back to Melbourne). I also bought a 580 EX II flash for around $450 from the same dealer (included GST, shipping & 3 year warranty). I am not concerned about a warranty in any case as I have owned and still own (passed on to the kids) a 300D, 350D, 400D & 450D and have never had a problem of any description.
If you shop around on eBay you certainly can pick up some bargains such as the following items for my 5D : brand new in boxes inc. free shipping from HK, Canon E1 handgrip $9, 2 x genuine LP-E6 batteries $32 and BG-E6 battery grip $59; an even $100 all up.
As a matter of interest, I have added some picks of the 5D shown with my 450D, the 5D turned out much larger than I expected with the extra accessories!
I didn't know when GST is an issue, had a look on the GST site and quickly got lost in pages of guff that got me lost. I have seen some sub $2,000 prices for 5D MK ll bodies, but didn't know if GST was going to come into the equation.
The 5D MK ll and 70-200 f2.8L lens turned up today, so almost 2 weeks from order date. I ordered a camera bag and filter from DWI the day after ordering the camera and lens and that has not arrived as yet, so seems 2 weeks is a realistic time for my neck of the woods. Different if one is in a capital city.
Thanks Liz, and good to know your camera turned up okay also.
So IMO there are hundreds of $$ to be saved by shopping this way. Just purchased a mains power supply for the 5D camera that was a third of the price inclucing postage, of the cheapest in Australia. They were, BestBatt.com . I purchased a mains power supply for my Astro 40D a few years ago from them and it is working fine.
I have recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S III mobile phone on-line from Techrific. After a long wait, the phone arrived at last and found that it came with an operating manual without any English, so could not read the manual to follow the start-up steps to comply with any warranty requirements. The next surprise was the phone charger cord requires an adapter as the plug pin of the charger is not suited to Australian socket. During the purchase, Techrific provided an option to choose for a free gift and I choose the car charger. When the phone was delivered, I realised that it was a cheap car charger, not Samsung brand. All these information were not mentioned in their website and one must enquire prior to purchasing. The service of Techrific is appalling.
Wow Jennifer, that is a big saving. I would not go back to techrific, and only as their communication after they got my money wasn't great. DWI and B&H are very good IMO. All the best.
I can recommend http://www.d-d-photographics.com.au/ for grey import cameras.
I bought my 5DmkII and some other stuff there and if you're in Sydney it's great to be able to go into an actual shop and get the same prices as online.
BUT I have a friend who bought a 7D from them and it was a lemon, it got sent away to be fixed twice and each time it was away for over a month.
I guess you can get unlucky and I'm not sure how much better the experience would have been for him had it been a local stock camera.
Do not deal with Techrific. I purchased a Samsung S4 and used it for less than a month then No voice when i make or receive a call,Sent it back to them twice to get it remedied but they just install a new firmware and send it back to me.I have been waiting in this state for more than three months.sent it to Sydney then to Melbourne and wasted my money on posting the item.
I will only purchase electronic goods from a store now as Techrific made shopping online the worst.
Lucky,the xmas finished so i will contact the Consumer protection & seek a compensation at a magistrate.
D-D Photographics went into receivership in August, they are still trading with a new A.B.N. and supposedly new owners, but I am still waiting for a Visa chargeback to come through for $3000. I wouldn't touch any of these online stores after that experience, but I did purchase from Digital Rev, as they accept Paypal and I felt more confident with Paypal's buyer protection.
The products turned up within 4 days, as opposed to waiting for over 8 weeks with D-D Photographics and then finding out they had gone bust.
Caveat Emptor indeed!
