Purchasing from Europe, living in USA

[dave_d]

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I am located in the USA and want to buy some Leica equipment from a dealer in Germany. Is there anything I need to be aware of when doing this? Will Leica USA honor the warranty? Do I have to pay duty on the incoming equipment? Any advice is appreciated.

[bernd_muc]

I am located in the USA and want to buy some Leica equipment from a dealer in Germany. Is there anything I need to be aware of when doing this? Will Leica USA honor the warranty? Do I have to pay duty on the incoming equipment? Any advice is appreciated.

Hello Dave,

Leica's warranties are worldwide (as expected from a company that makes tools for professionals), so no problems there.

 

As for taxes and duties:

 

1. You shouldn't need to pay the German sales tax (19%) which normally is included in the advertised prices (has to be included for consumer pricing by law).

 

2. You probably need to pay some duty but I couldn't figure out how much - try to find it yourselft at CBP.gov - home page It shouldn't be prohibitively much, though.

 

Bernd

[peter_n]

I've bought lenses from Germany, Holland, England and Japan and an M7 from Australia and I didn't have to pay duty on any of the purchases.

[dave_d]

Bernd, thanks for the information and the link. I looked at that site before posting my question and became frustrated trying to find what duties would be if I have to pay. After some searching I did find this info on duties for photographic equipment: http://hotdocs.usitc.gov/docs/tata/hts/bychapter/0701c90.pdf

 

Peter, thank you for sharing your experiences with purchasing out of the country.