Extortionate cost of Ikelite housings in the UK

I am trying to get hold of the Ikelite housing for my Fuji S2 Pro. The US price is $1300, the UK price (from the only official distributor) is £1300.

With the current currency rate of $1.5 to £1 that's a difference of about £434 ($651). Why the huge price hike?

Does anyone know of a cheaper way i can get it?

Would it be cheaper to import it and pay any taxes due?

Why not purchase one in US and import.

All you would have to pay is the VAT difference on the $1300.

This is what I will probably do.

I am dumping my Olympus 4040 and going for a Fuji S2 housed (Ikelite looks like a winner it is the only one with a S2 housing.

I have contacted Subal, UK Germany and SeaCam. All were uncommitted to S2.

Such a shame about D-TTL as I would have preferred to use my D1.

MrFish where are you located in UK. I would be interested to talk to you. My email in my profile.

For those interested in importing to the UK from the USA

The Customs and Excise have stated that the import duty on this item (commodity code 9007910000) is 3.7% and it will be liable for VAT on the full amount. i.e cost of purchase, packing and shipping, and import duty.

So the way i work it is as follows:

Purchase price $1300

Packing/shipping $50

Import duty @ 3.7% of $1350 = $50

VAT = 17.5% of $1400 = $245

Total cost = $1645

at the current conversion rate (and not including bank charges!)

= £1058.

Whilst at the dive show in the NEC Birmingham at the weekend the people at the UnderwaterCameras stand gave me a ikelite UK price leaflet which listed the housing for the S2 at £1199. Delivery is extra.

So if we say delivery is £15 then it is possible to make a saving of

£156 by importing.

Out of interest to import this item to the UK from Belgium is also about £1050 at curent Euro exchange rate.

Don't even consider Belgium, never Belgium, I live here and customer service is crap.

I'm not convinced you need to pay import duty on a housing (I certainly didn't when I imported a video housing from the US) as it is classified as an "accessory" for the camcorder. Perhaps a camera housing is classified differently but I would doubt it. The person I spoke with at Customs & Excise did take some time to come back with the correct code though (unfortunately I don't still have a record of it). If this is the case then importing is even cheaper.

I'd be interested in hearing how the UK retail price is reached from anyone who has this info.

SP

Most customers from the UK who have purchased housings from me had to pay VAT on the landed cost of the unit, i.e. the purchase price plus shipping cost.

Also, the cost for customs including brokerage will vary according to the shipment method. Via courier, you will almost always pay, but you can get lucky sometimes with the postal service.

Each distributor/dealer sets their own prices according to the cost of doing business and overhead. I have not seen many "bad" Ikelite dealers, and Ike is very responsive with direct customer service if necessary. However, the housing might have to make a trip back to the US, and in this case maybe your dealer/distributor will pick up the cost of the shipping or may be able to perform the repair. This kind of support is included in your purchase price.

If you are unhappy with the price, you might want to try negotiating for a discount with the distributor/dealer.

Good luck,