Pe-Boxing Day sale

[Rose]

HDew have announced a preBoxing Day sale and there are some good deals, Eg: a Canon 100-400 MKII is £1349 (£500 cheaper than Wex)

[GrahamL]

Hi Rose,

Sadly HDEW's sale seems more Canon oriented than Nikon, though they do have the Nikkor 300mm f4E VR Fresnel AF-S at £1,199, a price cheaper than that in the US and almost £500 cheaper than Wex's. Tempting discount for such an unusually light telephoto prime.

Merry Christmas,

Graham

[Rose]

And quite a few Olympus products too...

[davidb]

HDew have announced a preBoxing Day sale and there are some good deals, Eg: a Canon 100-400 MKII is £1349 (£500 cheaper than Wex)

I've already upgraded my Canon 100-400mm to the Mk II at £1,573 from Amazon Marketplace (and imported from Germany) and am awaiting a cash-back from Canon of £250 (total £1,323). Now that is a good deal compared to Wex's £1,849!!

[Mike Farley]

Thanks for the heads up, Rose. There are certainly some very tempting offers. The price for the 7D II is well over £200 lower than what I paid for the original version back in 2010 and that includes what HDEW was asking at the time.

While HDEW and others are offering lower prices than other UK retailers which stock officially imported products, most of the additional money is going to the maufacturers as the mark up on camera goods is quite low. It makes you wonder how it is possible to justify such a large differential in prices according to where in the world products are sold.

[GrahamL]

Hi Mike,

While true, HDEW does give repair warranties and purchasing from them does come under full UK sales/VAT regulations. Admittedly they don't have the costs a shop retailer like London Camera Exchange, Parks Cameras or Jessops does, and it's good to have the manufacturer's blessing.

Still, as commented there is quite a price difference to be had on some products... Probably best to compare with their postal equivalent such as Amazon or E-bay and accept there are additional risks and potential hassles with such sources. There's certainly one Hoya filter purchase on Amazon I wouldn't care to repeat.

Graham

[Mike Farley]

..... HDEW does give repair warranties and purchasing from them does come under full UK sales/VAT regulations. Admittedly they don't have the costs a shop retailer like London Camera Exchange, Parks Cameras or Jessops does, and it's good to have the manufacturer's blessing.

HDEW gives a better warranty than Canon et al, being for three years rather than the manufacturer's typical solitary one and they probably use the same repairers. Granted their costs might not be as great as for conventional retailers, but they are making their money by exploiting price differentials around the world and passing on the savings to customers. HDEW has been around for many years and members who have bought from them have been happy with the service received; there does not appear to be any greater risk when purchasing from them compared to other retailers who are not operating out of their spare bedroom.

For anyone who does not want to give their custom to a grey importer, I have found that there are occasional special deals available at events such as The Photography Show when it is possible to get a similar price on official UK stock. Earlier this year at a promotional day hosted by Amateur Photographer I bought a Fuji lens which was being offered at 10% off and when combined with a cashback deal the final cost was a pound or so lower than the best grey import price I could fnd.

[Iggy]

Some 8 weeks ago, I purchased a Canon 70D body and opted to pick up and pay by credit at their small HDEW offices on a business estate on a Saturday before 2 pm.
Receipt for £519 showed VAT paid and included 2 year warranty. No change in price on the 24-105mm lens at £425 either.
Happy with the Canon that I am currently using with my existing Sigma lenses (17-70mm; 70-300mm). Also pleased with HDEW Cameras.

Iggy