Buying Nikon DSLR camera in Tokyo

Hello!

I am travelling to Japan in two weeks and was wondering whether it will be cheaper to buy a Nikon D5500 camera in Japan than it is in Australia (here the price is around 950AUD for the body only).

Is there any way of finding out whether it is worth buying the camera once I am Tokyo rather than buying it here before departing?

Many thanks
Angel

http://kakaku.com/item/K0000732494/

Do you mean this one? (This is from "kakaku.com," a Japanese price comparison site.)

The lowest price available is 72,875 yen, so a bit less than in Australia going by the current exchange rate, but considering that most of those shops listed are mail-order only, and that you might not be able to find a good deal while in Japan, and you never know what kind of warranty you might get, if you definitely want to get it, I would buy it in my country.

For your reference, among the top 15 sellers (so the ones offering the lowest prices), only 2 sell at their physical stores, one in TOkyo and the other in Osaka.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, that's the model. I checked the link, I am actually saw the kit I am after:

http://kakaku.com/item/J0000014511/

THe price is significantly lower than in Australia.
Japan = 1013 AUD
Australia = 1450 AUD

But as you said, hard to say which is the retail price on a shop in the street. Although I guess I can also benefit from consumption tax discount (8%)? Can you tell is the prices in kakaku website include tax?

And yes, the warranty is something definitely to take into account.

The prices they list on "kakaku.com" includes tax already.
Note that only certain stores can handle duty free for non-residents of Japan.

OK, with the "kit," the top three shops are all in Tokyo and have physical stores. All three are located in eastern part of Tokyo: Okachimachi, Kanda/Akihabara, and Hongo.

All of the three shops in Tokyo (the top 3) only take cash (cash on delivery or remit into bank account for mail order), and they say call in advance to make sure that they have the merchandise in stock. So while they have physical stores, they seem to be mail-order/internet shop mainly, just making the store front available for customers who want to come pick up the merchandise themselves.

It may be good idea to get the camera at home with a lens, and then try to buy extra lens once in there.

Thanks for the info.
Do you live in Japan yourself?

Me? Yes, I am Japanese living in Japan.

OOh. I see. Nice English.

I finally bought today here in Melbourne.

For future reference in case anyone read this in the future: Nikon does not longer offer "full" international warranty. It is now region based, meaning the scope of the warranty is limited to certain countries belonging to that region. In my case here in Australia, the warranty covers AUS, NZ and Pacific Islands.
The warranty wouldnt have covered the camera here in Australia if I would have bought it in Japan.

Thanks for your help.
Looking forward arriving to Tokyo next Friday!

FYI, Nikon only offers domestic warranties on domestic models (and has been doing so for at least some 15-20 years, if not always). It's the same with virtually every of the other electronics company in Japan. Some offer special (higher priced) "international models" what come with multi-lingual menus, manuals, and an international warranty, but they aren't usually a very good deal unless the specific model that you want is not offered in your region.

There is one point not mentioned here so far.

Usually, the camera body has a local domestic warranty only, BUT the lenses have an international warranty. This is consistent across most brands, except Olympus, which has international warranty on the body as well.

Don't forget to take your receipt and claim the GST back on your way out of AU.

Thanks for the extra information. Didn't know the lens are warrantied in a different way.

About the GST, since I am actually living/working here, I reckon I am not entitled for a refund?

Cheers

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Ente/Tour/Are-you-a-traveller

You can get your GST back.

You can get your GST back.

...but according to the site you also have to declare it when reentering the country and repay the gst...

That's right. I could claim TSR on my camera, but due the fact that its value is above 900AUD, I would have to declare it:

"If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring in up to A$900 worth of general goods into Australia duty-free, or A$450 if you are younger than 18. Families travelling together can pool this allowance (so a couple with a child can bring in a total of A$900 + $900 + A$450 = A$2250 worth of general goods into Australia without paying duty or tax). This is called your Passenger Concession.
"

"for goods where you have previously claimed a tax refund under TRS, you will need to pay that refund back"