Electronics, Hong Kong

Electronic shops in Kowloon on Nathan Rd. and other near-by streets offer a variety of products. I have been buying electronic products in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, and I suggest the following:

1. Before going to HK, check the various products/models in your country's stores, examine their manuals (even use them and return them, if posiible) and decide on at least a couple of models you like.. Also, check their prices on the Internet for these products/models that you like, and keep in mind that prices for the SAME model/product vary depending on the country in which the product was manufactured.

2. In HK, before shopping at small street shops, first check the prices of models you examined in your country at much larger stores; they are generally fixed and lower than the prices of small street shops. Never buy products if you do not know their prices in your country, unless you are willing to risk paying more.

3. If you consider buying a product/model you had not shopped for back home, keep in mind that the best source of information about a product is the product's manual (make sure it is the correct manual), not what you hear, so it is important that you spend time at the shop reading the manuals before buying and signing off any papers (agreement).

4. Make sure you buy the EXACT product you have examined or shopped with ALL its parts/accessories described in the manual, and it is compatible with your country's system (PAL, NTSC). (Friends have bought products such as cell phones that did not work in their country).

What to buy: If you happen to find a product at a lower price, ask yourself if the lower price is worth the following : (a) not being able to return or exchange it, (b) the possibility that the product will not operate properly in your country, (c) warranty might not be valid in your country, (d) repair facilities or parts might not be available, if model is not popular, (e) inability to purchase extended service warranty. I have had my camcorder that I purchased in HK repaired in Bangkok several times, where the can get parts and repair costs are cheaper.

BE CAREFUL. Avoid buying electronic products in small street stores, where you are very likely to be "ripped-off". If you decide to shop at any of them, be aware of selling tricks salespeople use at these shops, like Welltime EV Centre, on Nathan Rd., where I recently had a very unpleasant experience. After buying acamcorder and signed the "no excange, no return" forms, the salesman asked me to wait a few minutes to charge the battery. While waiting, I was approched by a different salesman, who started telling me all kinds of negative things about he camcorder that I had purchased. The second salesman suggested that I buy a more expensive model because of all the model's "wonderful" features that he told me and my friend who as with me at the store. After haggling and getting him to lower the price by about 30%, I decided to pay the difference to buy the "better" model. Needless to say that this model not only did not have or could do what the salesman had indicated, but I also saw the same model upon my return in the USA priced at 30% less than I had paid! Make sure you know you examine the product and its price in your country before shopping in HK, especially in small shops.

hi all,

i have been to most of the south east asia and china. Due to the peers, i had a myth too that singapore market is cheap. but coming over to HK, i realized, so long i had been sleeping.

i bought canon EOS350D for 7800HKD from broadway, timesquare in causeway bay area. Advantage i got purchasing from broadway was 1 kit bag, 1 gig SD Card, tripod stand and a extra battery along with international warranty of 1 year and 2 years local warranty if within HK. i mean this was worth a deal against SGP market or in Shenzhen market. In shenzhen, wherein i live at presently, i was getting only lens and the body for 6330 Yuan. but the warranty was only for China mainland. i mean at any time 7800 HKD deal was much better. in Sgp Sim Lim plaza i was getting whole kit for around 2700 SGP dollar...i mean thats a fortune when i compare to the deal i got in HK.

What to buy: 1. www.tincheungcamera.com.hk - is a genuine shop, pretty good infact, person knows camera stuff pretty cool and proffesionals seldom drop in here to do thier local purchases.

2. broadway - http://www.ibroadway.com.hk/ this is where i purchased my camera. as said, there are always offers going on. i mean, if you are a sensible buyer, you wont paying 100 HKD more and getting more like i got...along with camera, i got kit bag, 1 gig mem card, extra battery and a tripod stand too... you can try your luck in trying out bargaining, if salesman is really cool, you might just be lucky...so dont shy from asking for favours ;)

3. fortress - http://www.fortress.com.hk/en/home.html Similar to broadway, but its more professional shop... offers like i got in broadway are very limited in fortress. when i purchased from broadway, fortress wasnt offering any. :( hence i selected broadway

4. Wing Shing - Wing Shing Photo Supplies (MAP)
57, Sai Yeung Choi St.
Mong Kok, Hong Kong
TEL: (852) 2396-6886/6961
FAX: (852) 2856-3977

Prices here are 10 percent below market prices, if u want polite and kind salesman, ask for SImon Tang.

What to pay: so as i said, try your luck. try to bargain. if salesman is cool..u might get lowered prices.

Broadway is an electronic shop chain which also sells digital camera.
I am told by friends that this shop is pretty reliable.
If I am not mistaken, there are two Broadway shops in the Time Square located at different floors. I bought my digital camera at the Broadway store in ShaTin.

What to buy: electronics, digital camera

What to pay: good price

If you're new to the skill of haggling, then see what you can learn on the internet, as it would require a thesis to explain. This is probably THE place where you can fine tune your haggling skills. If you don't speak Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), then don't worry. You might see a calculator being passed back and forth, as the universal language is going to be either the Hong Kong dollar or the RMB (mainland China).

Another tip: Provided you walked away from one vendor and you still want that knock-off or whatever it is, then here's what you can do. Say for example that in your last haggling, the lowest the guy would go is 35, and 30 was your 'target price'. Before you go to the next vendor, put exactly 30 in one pocket all by itself. This way, when you're saying 25-28, and the vendor is down to 35, pull out the 30 (rolled up so you can't tell it's 30 when you pull it out) as if to empty that pocket. It would even help if you pretended to search the other pocket and found nothing in it, too! It's a trick to show you're willing to pay more, but that's your "obvious" limit because that's all you've got. Just make sure you don't have money sticking out of other pockets! Now go out there and have fun!!

What to buy: Prices for fake rolexes may start at 90 $US and since I bought 2, I got him down to 20 $US. If you offer to buy multiples, you should be able to get a better deal, too! Just as in car dealerships, walk away and you'll easily find yourself another person selling the same thing. Practice makes perfect.

At night, maybe starting around 9pm, you'll see tables set up on some streets adjacent to the Sheraton Hotel. You can haggle if you buy multiple fake (copy) Polo shirts, fake Oakleys, and so on.

At 12 midnight, the tables are all folded up as if it's against the law to be on the street past that time, so watch the time closely. Spend the time to watch what others pay and you might be able to 'jump in' and pay the same price on someone else's haggle!

What to pay: It's about $3 US for a copy Polo shirt, maybe ~$7 for fake Oakleys.

Stanley Street is one of many places to go for electronics in Hong Kong, or more importantly, a new camera. The street is packed with electronc store, after electonic store, advertising the big names like Kodak, Nikon, Fuji, and Sony. It is possible to find a bargain, but dont expect many of them to be advertised. Like most places in Asia, you have to ask about the price of something first, and the price they give you is ussually higher then what they will sell it for.

When is comes to electronics, make sure you have an idea of what the average going price is on something before trying to shop for it in Hong Kong. Most of the time you can get them cheaper here, but only if you know how much something should be.

3/4 floors that sells ALL electronic goods that you can name!! Great place to huggle/bargain. Best to shop around first before you stuff cos price varies at each shops.

What to buy: Buy a cool USB Web Cam Night Shoot Mic for laptop/desktop $95.00 HKD (around 6 pound!).

What to pay: Remember to huggle!

What to buy: Okay I hate the Coporate world but at the same time i hate being ripped off by people.
NEVER EVER buy electroncis from the small shops in Tsim Shai Tsai . Go into Harbour city and buy them from Fortress or any other large store. It'll be much cheaper and your not hassled the second you walk in!!!
This is a very good tip. TRUST me.