Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghitulescu
You have to add the import tax - which is not at all small, I reckon to be around 30% if not 40%.
BH Photo is a very respected eshop in the US. I am not sure about its deals with EU.
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My Sony DPT-S1 slipped through the customs. I figure this was because of the slim packaging, light weight and the description on the package; "digital paper." I wonder what they imagined that meant!
Generally I'm happy to pay taxes and by no means condone tax-evasion. On the other hand paying hundreds of euros extra for a device that isn't available in my country, rendering warranty arrangements highly inconvenient (if not impossible) in context of both money- and time-resources, isn't amongst my primary sources of joy either.
I also bought my unit from an individual on Yahoo Japan auctions, which was a bit risky in and by itself. It was a bit cheaper than from BHPhoto and the transaction was successful. As pointed out, BHPhoto seems like a respectable business, so I personally wouldn't worry purchasing from them. There is also Taobao, but I have no experience shopping there.
Always when buying from Internet auction sites analyze the seller's user profile and feedback, and - if possible - their communication style. Then put that in proper context and your expectations should become more realistic and risk assessment more accurate.
To those of you who for whatever reason are considering getting a Japanese unit I can say this: All you need is the English manual and average short-term memory. I certainly don't have a problem using mine (I don't know Japanese). It may help if you can read katakana, but in the end there are not many places to go around in the UI - it doesn't matter what the text says, but what happens after you push buttons. There are also apps for smart devices that allow you to take photos of text and the app interprets it using OCR and gives you a translation (just equip yourself with some common sense and good sense of humor when deciphering some of the translations).