Answer: Yes & NO
Yes = for small items / purchases (Perhaps Items Under £20)
Let me explain, I started buying from Hong Kong about 3 months ago. Basically I needed a pouch / case to protect one of my beloved SB600's. I done a search on ebay and the only pouch / case that I could find that catered to my needs was the one that was from the seller "Fotocola" in Hong Kong.
After much considering I thought to my self sod it, it's only £6.75 that I'll lose if the worst comes to the worse. So I did, I purchased it and paid for it via Pay Pal.
Two weeks later a white padded envelope is dropped through my letter box, I open it up and there I seen inside was a this 'quality' pouch / case for my SB600. As a matter of fact I was that impressed with the case / pouch that it was not so long after that I did order another one and then another one after that. Yes, the wait for buying stuff from Hong Kong can take up to 4 weeks which is a long time. But if you are not bothered with the wait and would like to save a few pound or two in the process, then buying straight from Hong Kong is the right thing for you.
Since buying my pouches / cases, I have also now bought other little things from China such as an umbrella adaptor, star burst filters, cpl filters etc... as a matter of fact at time of waiting this blog, then I'm still waiting for my latest purchase of my 'battery tester', which I imagine will be with me in the next week or two.
The quality of the products that I have bought from Hong Kong have been of high standards, this means that the quality of the products I have received from Hong Kong have been just as good if not better than the quality of products that I would / could buy here in the UK. Which is why I continue to date buying more and more products from China.
But................ this is the NO part.......................
No = For expensive items / purchases (Perhaps Items Over £20)
Now if you thinking about buying that brand new DSLR from China then I would strongly advise you to think again. I'm not exactly sure as to how it all works, but what I do know is that expensive items from China does attract such things as "Import Tax", "Shipping Charge", "VAT", "Handling Fee" etc...
I have a friend who has in the past bought a compact camera from Hong Kong for £80 on Ebay, then a few weeks later he got a phone call from "HM Revenue & Customs" asking him to pay an extra £40 charge before they would release and deliver the compact camera to his home address.
So there you go people, if you are not bothered about losing anything up to the value of £20 then I'd say yes go ahead and shop from Hong Kong. But do remember it's at your own risk, I my-self have not had one bad experience to date from buying anything from Hong Kong, yes again it's a long wait but it does gets here in the end.
To finish with if you want to spend any thing over £20 on Ebay. Then I would strongly advise you NOT to buy from Hong Kong and instead buy from with in the EU. That way you do NOT get hit with any extra hidden charges.
Hope this helps?
Regards
Gaz
www.strober.co.uk
 |
Yes = for small items / purchases (Perhaps Items Under £20)
Let me explain, I started buying from Hong Kong about 3 months ago. Basically I needed a pouch / case to protect one of my beloved SB600's. I done a search on ebay and the only pouch / case that I could find that catered to my needs was the one that was from the seller "Fotocola" in Hong Kong.
After much considering I thought to my self sod it, it's only £6.75 that I'll lose if the worst comes to the worse. So I did, I purchased it and paid for it via Pay Pal.
Two weeks later a white padded envelope is dropped through my letter box, I open it up and there I seen inside was a this 'quality' pouch / case for my SB600. As a matter of fact I was that impressed with the case / pouch that it was not so long after that I did order another one and then another one after that. Yes, the wait for buying stuff from Hong Kong can take up to 4 weeks which is a long time. But if you are not bothered with the wait and would like to save a few pound or two in the process, then buying straight from Hong Kong is the right thing for you.
Since buying my pouches / cases, I have also now bought other little things from China such as an umbrella adaptor, star burst filters, cpl filters etc... as a matter of fact at time of waiting this blog, then I'm still waiting for my latest purchase of my 'battery tester', which I imagine will be with me in the next week or two.
The quality of the products that I have bought from Hong Kong have been of high standards, this means that the quality of the products I have received from Hong Kong have been just as good if not better than the quality of products that I would / could buy here in the UK. Which is why I continue to date buying more and more products from China.
But................ this is the NO part.......................
No = For expensive items / purchases (Perhaps Items Over £20)
Now if you thinking about buying that brand new DSLR from China then I would strongly advise you to think again. I'm not exactly sure as to how it all works, but what I do know is that expensive items from China does attract such things as "Import Tax", "Shipping Charge", "VAT", "Handling Fee" etc...
I have a friend who has in the past bought a compact camera from Hong Kong for £80 on Ebay, then a few weeks later he got a phone call from "HM Revenue & Customs" asking him to pay an extra £40 charge before they would release and deliver the compact camera to his home address.
So there you go people, if you are not bothered about losing anything up to the value of £20 then I'd say yes go ahead and shop from Hong Kong. But do remember it's at your own risk, I my-self have not had one bad experience to date from buying anything from Hong Kong, yes again it's a long wait but it does gets here in the end.
To finish with if you want to spend any thing over £20 on Ebay. Then I would strongly advise you NOT to buy from Hong Kong and instead buy from with in the EU. That way you do NOT get hit with any extra hidden charges.
Hope this helps?
Regards
Gaz
www.strober.co.uk
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