Hong Kong eBay sellers - Are they legit?

There seems to be some fairly cheap strobes (mostly Sea & Sea, I think) listed on eBay, being sold out of Hong Kong. Does anyone know whether these sellers are genuine?

I know close to 100% of memory cards sold by HK eBay sellers are fake, but it'd be a fair bit harder to fake a strobe... Has anyone here bought strobes from HK?

Thanks.

I have a good experience with two suppliers from HK, I bought from there few items in the past and it was excellent. As from any other seller I use the e-bay feedback system and check that it has no less then 99.5 positive feedbacks.

Have purchased a Sea and Sea YS110 strobe and a lens off sellers in Hong Kong and had no problems at all.

Regards

Gary

Just expect a long wait for shipping.

I've bought quite a bit of new camera equipment and lenses from Hong Kong via ebay. I've been very pleased. I've often received the gear within a couple of days, almost quick at domestic purchases.

The reason that they are often cheap is that they don't bear import tax and VAT (sales tax) which would normally have to be added when buying. However, many of the dealer seem to be more than helpful with Customs declaratons.

There seems to be some fairly cheap strobes (mostly Sea & Sea, I think) listed on eBay, being sold out of Hong Kong. Does anyone know whether these sellers are genuine?

 

I know close to 100% of memory cards sold by HK eBay sellers are fake, but it'd be a fair bit harder to fake a strobe... Has anyone here bought strobes from HK?

 

Thanks.

Hard to say, do you have a link to their ebay page?

Awhile back I remember chatting with one HK lady who had a little side business of selling Suunto D9's on ebay. She was selling them well below what could be had even on say www.diveinn.com or any US internet retailer. She was getting an instructor's discount from a local dive shop so could still make a tidy profit even at these unbelievable prices. Obviously the issue is what happens when it craps out and how they would honor a warranty...

In general, I've noticed the prices on Japanese strobes at official dealers here in HK can be substantially less than what they sell for overseas (close to what they sell for in Japan). Definitely with Inon's. I haven't really checked prices on S&S strobes. There are a number of reputable dive/photo shops in HK but I am not aware of them selling stuff on ebay (who knows... )

Actually I ended up buying my Inon strobes directly from Japan as they were cheaper even with shipping (no duty tax into HK...). edit: purchased along with my housing, etc. from Yuzo at www.uwdigitalcamera.com