This is how much the Canon EOS R3 costs in different countries around the world
Oct 31, 2021
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Because I’m based in the UK, every time a new camera is released, I always hear “It costs so much more in the UK than it does in the USA!” But how true is that claim? Is it just that the US price doesn’t include tax and the UK price does? Or is it really that much more expensive in the UK?
Well, camera price comparison website Nukeni decided to take a look at the new Canon EOS R3 to see what its suggested retail prices were like around the world. They scoured Canon websites in 166 countries and found prices for 26 of them. For countries where tax was not included, they added it, to see how things really stack up.
Two countries, the USA and Canada, don’t have a single tax rate across the entire country so there are two figures for each of those. These represent the lowest and highest tax areas in those countries. All prices have been converted into US dollars with the exchange rate available at the time of publication for easier comparison.
- China $5,775.21
- United States $5,999.00 (lowest tax rate)
- Malaysia $6,345.16
- Australia $6,465.58
- Switzerland $6,526.58
- Japan $6,565.19
- India $6,670.43
- United States $6,688.89 (highest tax rate)
- Canada $6,776.37 (lowest tax rate)
- Austria $6,934.84
- Germany $6,934.84
- France $6,935.98
- Russia $7,040.48
- Belgium $7,051.58
- Netherlands $7,051.58
- Poland $7,152.87
- Italy $7,271.22
- Finland $7,397.24
- Canada $7,421.74 (highest tax rate)
- Spain $7,444.62
- Denmark $7,505.90
- Portugal $7,571.78
- Sweden $7,620.93
- Ireland $7,733.62
- Vietnam $7,867.61
- New Zealand $7,884.08
- Norway $7,932.74
- United Kingdom $8,043.82
As you can see, there’s quite a difference between the least and most expensive. More than $2,200 difference first and last place. China wins, at $5,777.21 followed by the USA’s lowest tax rate option coming at $5,999 – some states don’t charge sales tax at all. But even at the highest state sales tax rate, the USA still comes in at eighth, costing $6,688.89.
The UK, though, well, yeah. That’s way down the list, coming in dead last at $8,043.82. And from looking at the Amazon pricing data for other cameras on Nukeni, this trend isn’t unique to the Canon EOS R3 but across the board. As an example, here’s the Amazon UK and Amazon USA price history for the Canon EOS R6 (body only).
And here’s the same price history comparison for the Sony A7c (also body only).
The USA isn’t always the cheapest country but the difference in price between the USA and the UK is very noticeable throughout every brand and model. I am curious how such comparisons would have looked before the whole Brexit debacle with its accompanying decimated exchange rate and apparent shipping issues. Right now, though, it looks like the UK is probably the most expensive place to be if you’re a photographer.
If you want to see what your camera costs around the world, head on over to Nukeni and hit up the search.
Data and screenshots used with permission
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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12 responses to “This is how much the Canon EOS R3 costs in different countries around the world”
It would be interesting to see Hong Kong price as there is no taxes as in China.
Found one offer for cca 6500 USD
Slovenia – $7.113
From now on I will get the new gear from Austria, thanks for this article :)
UK photographers have always been shafted by the likes of manufacturers – especially the likes of Canon and the company wonders why so many individuals are willing to go down the grey market route – as they know we’re being ripped off compared to other countries , even were tax is higher than that of the uk
Not always. Up until the pound plummeted in 2016, the prices were pretty comparable between the UK and USA once you took the tax into account. If you removed 20% from the UK price (or 17.5% before that) and converted to US$, they were very close. After that, though, not so much. And now that it’s more difficult to get goods into the UK, the prices have bumped up again. This is the cost of “taking back control” and getting a blue passport. :)
So you may as well book a holiday to China and get the camera there!
In the UK WEX is selling the body for £4900 before tax.
£4900 converted to USD is $6616, and B&H has them at $5999 before tax, only a difference of $617.; not really enough to warrant hopping on a plane to NYC for the weekend to grab one.
Even with the 20% tax in the UK, all professionals will claim that back, same as the US. So a more fair comparison should be before tax.
Not all professional photographers in the UK are VAT registered, nor do they need to be. So, not all professionals will or even can claim it back. :)
Even if they are not VAT registered, they can still claim it back for work.
They can claim a portion of it as an expense for several years and not pay income tax on the cost (as they could if they bought it overseas) but they can not claim the VAT back.
and thats the reason I dropped my first accountant.
Because your first accountant was acting within the law? HMRC themselves say that you cannot collect VAT, nor can you get VAT refunded on purchases, if you are not VAT registered. That’s kinda the whole point of becoming VAT registered.