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Canon Pricing Policy – Open Letter to Canon Ireland
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Something which Leinsterman feels strongly about so I think that we should place it up here also.
So all you Canon users you might want to support this.I really would like to buy my equipment here in Ireland. Currently I buy everything from Germany or USA.
I am in the process of buying a Canon 100-400 IS L zoom, some prices –
Ireland’s best –
Gunns – ?1850
Conns – ?2050The Rest –
http://www.ac-foto.com (Germany) – ?1,420
http://www.bhphotovideo.com – ?1240 approx depending on exchange rates (this is the non grey market verison)Compare this to the Nikon D200 body at ?1,940 from Gunns and ?1,700 from ac-foto. Apparently the problem affects Nikon to a much lessor extent.
My conclusion – This problem is not created by Gunns or Conns or other Irish retailers. It is created by Canon Ireland and their pricing strategy to the retailers. This is in not in the anyone’s interest since is forces us to risk buying gear overseas and takes local business out of the country. I’m sure it would be interesting to see how European law deals with this situation too. Is Canon policy in fact legal under EU law ?
My solution. Lets let Canon know how we feel about this situation. we can vote with our feet. In fact I already have in buying Sigma lenses.
The person you need to write to is –
Philip Brady
Canon Ireland Limited
Arena Road
Sandyford Industrial Estate
Dublin 18It is in your interest to participate the more of us that do the better the chance that Canon might respond.
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Hi,
Here is a draft extract from the (rather long… sorry) letter I have sent to Canon Ireland. I have removed some parts to protect my privacy –
Firstly let me say I am the owner of a Canon EOS 20d SLR and an assortment of other Canon products. (including 50mm F1.8 lens, Speedlight 420EX, iP8500 printer, 75-300mm USM lens, Powershot S400, EOS 500 SLR, Battery grip BG-E2). I purchased all of my Canon equipment overseas despite wanting to buy here in Ireland, keeping money and jobs in Ireland. The EOS range of camera equipment is excellent; the EOS 20d body is by far the best imaging product I have ever purchased.
As an amateur photography enthusiast, I have advanced to the point where I want to start to acquire better Camera equipment and build a good collection of quality lenses. I am currently considering the purchase of the Canon 100-400mm IS L lens for my first purchase (hopefully of many) in the ?L? range. I have investigated pricing of this lens here, in Germany, the UK and in the USA. My findings lead me to believe that Canon Ireland?s pricing policy towards retailers is causing a problem that is against the interests of consumers, the Irish camera retail business, the Irish economy and the Canon Corporation itself.
Let me illustrate this point by making a comparison of the retail pricing on the 100-400mm IS L lens to the Nikon D200 body. I have had occasion to do business with all of the retailers below, they are all reputable and none of these items are grey market ?
? Irish Retailer 1 – ?2,050 / net of Irish VAT – ?1,694
? Irish Retailer 2 – ?1,850 / net of Irish VAT – ?1,529
? German Retailer 1 – ?1,420 / net of German VAT – ?1,224 (Note: This is less than retailer?s cost in Ireland!!)
? UK Retailer 1 – ?1,745 / net of UK VAT – ?1,442
? USA Retailer 1 – ?1,200 / net of New York State tax – ?1,105Let me compare this to the pricing of the Nikon D200 body as follows (same retailers) ?
? Irish Retailer 1 – ?1,940 / net of Irish VAT – ?1,603
? Irish Retailer 2 – ?1,700 / net of Irish VAT – ?1,405
? German Retailer 1 – ?1,700 / net of German VAT – ?1,465
? UK retailer 1 – ?1,670 / net of UK VAT – ?1,421
? USA Retailer 1 – ?1,460 / net of New York State Tax – ?1,341As you can see, for the same outlets, Nikon pricing is far more consistent. This makes Nikon a more attractive option to Irish consumers wanting to buy Irish and have local support / warranty. I have no doubt this will hurt Canon business interests in Ireland now that Nikon have released the excellent D200.
I appreciate that one can expect a variation from retailer to retailer in a free market. I also appreciate that distribution cost, local VAT rates etc. can lead to significant variation between markets…..
…. I have shared this information with others in the photography forum of http://www.boards.ie. You can clearly see in this forum an indication of an overwhelming trend for Irish photography enthusiasts either to purchase their camera equipment overseas or buy from Nikon and others.
It appears we have all come to the same conclusion: Someone, somewhere in the Canon Ireland supply chain is overpricing. In my opinion it is not the retailers, the finger of suspicion points directly at Canon Ireland. There can be no justification for such wide variation within the EU zone. I would be interested to see how this lines up under EU law. It appears to be the application of outdated pricing policies long overdue for review in the light of a new global economy and the emergence of online retailing.
Whoever is at the centre of this problem is hurting the entire supply chain including Canon Ireland. It is stifling local business growth in the sector and forcing money directly out of the Irish economy. Something has to give here, Canon cannot expect local retailers to continue act as their showroom while overseas and online retailers reap the benefits of the sale.
I would be grateful if you could review this situation and let me know what, if anything, Canon intends to do in the short term to address it.
It is unfortunate that I am now forced to consider if it is in my interest to write off my losses with Canon and move to Nikon. I am willing to be patient to give Canon the opportunity to respond, but my patience is beginning to run out. In the interim I am without a suitable long lens which is not making me very happy with Canon.
Have friends in the States at the mo and I’m hoping they’ll do some shopping for me!!!!
Since I changer to digital imaging 4 years ago I’ve used Olympus and they’re very good but have not moved with the times so this week I finally made the big change and decided to go Canon. I have just got the EOS 1Ds Mark II. Bought it from Calumet, Belfast…………..much less than I could get it down here.
Gerry
Congrats Gerry… Thats a sweet machine… I too found that the prices over here are too much… I just bought a 5D and 24 TSE lens from AC foto in Germany… Much cheaper thatn here too…!
Richie
I think that it is not point to write to Cannon Ireland.
The e-mails and letters should go to the Cannon headoffice and not only to one person.
More people should be copied.Interesting thread (particularly as I’m a Canon user myself). For some time, I always put Canon’s high prices in Ireland down to the high VAT rate we have here. Then, in the last six months I was speaking to a well known wedding photographer in Cork who told me he had recently upgraded to the EOS 1Ds MkII and purchased his kit in the UK. As a fully registered professional, he is not subject to VAT charges yet it was still significantly cheaper for him to get his new Canon kit from the UK (he said he’s been doing it for years). So that can only mean one thing – Canon Ireland are taking us for a ride.
But we all know that Ireland is an expensive place to shop – not just cameras but pretty much everything else too, so it should come as no great surprise to us, and I doubt very much that Canon are going to change their policy simply because of a few letters and emails. The photographic sector in Ireland probably isn’t even that important to Canon – it’s the business equipment sector where they probably generate most of their revenue from over here. Also, you’ve got to take into account the import method used byt the Camera manufactureres. Some come in direct from Japan while others come in via the UK. I’m not sure which way Canon does it, but there can be a significant diffrence in the retail price as a result of varying tarrif taxes.
ECP,
i’ve just done the same thing…..just bought the EOS 1Ds mark II and got it from Belfast and as I’m VAT registered
I was able to save a bit. Also the price there is lower than here anyway without taking the VAT element on boardHi,
Just a quick update …
The MD of Canon Ireland rang and left a message for me while I was away on vacation. I’ll return his call and post it here.
Interesting thread, esp. as I’m looking around for the best place to buy a 350D right now…!
I’ve never considered the problem in any depth, but looking at the UK I can save well over a hundred euro easily on the 350D – significant given the retail price of well under 1,000 euro.
It seems a great shame to shop abroad when there are some decent retailers here only too happy to give advice etc. I’m willing to pay that “little bit extra” over internet prices to buy “serious” kit from a real person who I could go to for help should anything go pear-shaped, but when that amounts to an extra hundred or more euro, forget it.
I’ll be interested to hear any developments on this topic. Seems as though the retailers themselves should have spotted the problem already and done something about it themselves, if it was something they were concerned about. Is this not the sort of thing they’d want to do? Are they making too much money to care that a portion of their business from “serious” photographers is being lost to online outlets?
I can understand them not worrying too much about all the “impulse” buyers getting their kit online for a few hundred euro, given the small chance of a repeat sale in that kind of market, but when you’re talking about higher-end kit which would bring in additional sales of lenses, periperals etc, it seems strange that they’ve not done anything to address pricing of high-end kit already.
Just thinking out loud!
Doesn’t seem to be a big problem with Nikon. Last year when I bought by D70 (now for sale ;) ), I bought it for practically the same price in Cork
as the cheapest online from the UK. I think that it was ?20 dearer, which is nothing considering I didn’t have to wait for it.Mark
Cant wait to hear what they say… keep us posted Leinsterman…! I personally dont like buying outside Ireland but with the prices being quoted I dont have an option…!
Richie
Here is the text of my latest email to Philip Brady at Canon –
Hi Philip,
This is just a quick follow up on our discussion last week. I attach some research I did through online forums on the subject of where people are buying their Canon gear. As you can see your customers are not shopping in this country. In fact 40% are not even shopping in the EU.
I really think Canon needs to address this as soon as possible for many of the reasons outlined in my letter. A few additional considerations –
Nikon DSLR’s are now equal if not better than most Canon DSLR’s, e.g. D200 is getter better reviews than the 30D
Sigma have caught up on lenses
The cost difference of buying Sigma and Nikon in Ireland vesus overseas is not as significant as that of Canon. In the EU it is not signifcant at all. In fact Gunn’s are doing the Nikon D200 body for less than Germany.
It is hurting your business not only forcing money overseas but also sending customers to Nikon. Follow the link to the thread I started for evidence of this.This is an open discussion with many of your Irish customers following. I am keeping a thread on the subject open to others in boards.ie. The link is –
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt…p?t=2054960859
The is a similar thread ar photography ireland –
https://www.photographyireland.net/vi…hp?p=4517#4517
As discussed lets catch up in a few weeks when you have more to say on this subject.
For additional information please see the thread at boards.ie
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