Sim Lim Square, Singapore

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Sim Lim Square is a must if shopping for electronics in Singapore. Though there are no shortage of places to shop for electronics in Singapore, being that there is a electronic or IT mall on almost every corner. Sim Lim Square easily stands out above the rest when it comes to competitive prices. 6 floors of electronics and IT outlets vying for your attention and your dollar. It is expected of you to bargain!

Remember to shop around at Sim Lim Square. Dont be affraid to ask for a price of an item, and then walk into the next outlet and tell them what the neighbor shop is offering. Also paying with cash instead of credit can effect your price. Last but not least, be aware that certain warranties on electronics may be annulled depending on the outlet. Dont take for granted that just becuase the dealer says it's covered, that it will be.

There is a good variety of computer related stuff and you can bargain with the shop assistants. But do look around as you may be able to find a cheaper one at another shop on another level.

What to buy: Computers, softwares and games.

Electronics:

I have been to both Funan mall and Sim Lim Square. Funan mall is big but definitely not as busy as Sim Lim Square. I will take it as an indication of pricing being high in Funan. I have extensively looked into pricing in Sim Lim Square and it does not seem to be cheaper than what we can get here in New Zealand. Offcourse there are more variety however for standard electronics goods, and with weak NZ Dollar (end of 2008), Singapore does not seem to be a cheap destination for buying Electronics goods.

Tourists beware! If you are looking for electronics items, it's advisable to go to the mainstream shopping malls (eg. Harvey Norman, Courts, Best Denki, etc ) found near most MRT stations. For those not in the know, it could turn out to be an expensive buy unless you are buying PC products (Level 4 - 5).

1 - Salesmen will give you a good price but that does not include GST taxes.
2 - If you pay by credit card, there's an additional surcharge.
3 - After you have made payment, they'll inform you, you have to buy additional accessories in order for your electronic goods to work. (So if you really have to get your hands on that item - don't hand over your $$$ till you could turn ON the item and it works to your satisfaction. Also, get them to put down the serial no. of the item you have purchased in the receipt. Otherwise, it's hard to find a recourse to your purchases should you need to file a complaint.)
4 - Adding salt to "your wound", you might have gotten a 2nd hand set which is refurbished to look new.
5 - Never believe much about the government accreditation for shops in Sim Lim Square as it's just a tourism board marketing gimmick.

So it's much better for you to go to Vivocity, Ngee Ann City, Tampines Mall, Jurong Point, Bishan Junction 8, malls which are near to MRT stations where you will find the big electronics departmental stores and prices are fixed . Well, you are still able to claim your tax rebates for your purchases.

Enjoy Singapore and your shopping and trust a Singaporean to tell you the truth.

I read VT shopping before coming to Sim Lim Square, when I should have been reading "Tourist Trap".

I wanted to buy a mobile phone from a reputable shop outside Sim Lim Square, but it was out of stock. So by the time I was walking around in Sim Lim, I already knew what to buy and how much I was willing to spend for it. So this guy quoted a good price lower than my other contact. It turned out it was without the GST!

Anyways, my old phone had been stolen, so needed a replacement. I asked if it was a demo phone, since it was the only unit there. He said it's new. (I later saw photos in the phone taken from inside the shop - showing it was a demo unit). To cut the story short, he not only overcharged on the 2GB memory card I purchased (which my Singaporean friend said I could have gotten a 4GB card), but he conned me. One month later, the phone dies.

Nokia Malaysia won't repair it because it was bought in Singapore. I call the guy up, and he offered to take it to Nokia Singapore, but when he started calling Nokia Malaysia technicians "morons", I decided to bypass him and go straight to Nokia Singapore.

Guess what? Nokia Singapore checked the phone out and said it's not under warranty, implying that I've been conned! For the cost to repair the phone, I might as well buy a new original phone with warranty in Malaysia. So beware! Don't buy from Pixels N Pixels Pte Ltd. It's not worth the savings. It turned out to be a loss. Robbed twice within 2 months! (old phone got stolen, now this!!!)

I sent a complaint to Sim Lim Square to warn them of the retailer but what can they do? I wouldn't be surprised if some other tourist gets ripped off/conned!

And if you don't live in Singapore, buy your Nokia from your home country because Nokia doesn't have international warranty. If it breaks down, whether it's a real phone or not, you have to send it back to Singapore for repairs.

What to buy: Don't buy anything unless you want to be conned BIG time!

What to pay: Save your money and shop elsewhere, far, far away from Sim Lim Square.

Dear All,

Be careful. This is a posting from another forum and I'm posting here to warn the ppl here.

I went to Sim Lim Square on Sunday, 17/06/07 with the intention to purchase a PSP. After scouting for sometimes, my friend and I came to this shop known as Mobile House Electronics Pte Ltd to check on the pricing of the PSP. After much haggling, the sale person offered a standard PSP pack with a 4GB memory stick to us at the price of $420 inclusive of GST, which we eventually bought it.

To our dismay, we realized that there was a missing battery from the pack when we reached home. Hence, I went down to the shop on the following day afternoon, 18/06/07 , Monday to ask for my missing item. However, when I ask the sale person for my battery, he told me angrily that the standard pack does not come with a battery and only the value pack does.

Then after I requested to upgrade to the value pack by topping on money where later he say that it was out of stock and further said we are not allowed to change and insisted on me in purchasing the battery instead. Leaving me with no choice, I have to just buy the battery in order for my PSP to work. He first quoted me a price of $75 for the normal battery but further persuaded me to buy a higher capacity battery with longer battery life and comes with a warranty which we agreed at the price of $105 with GST. In total, I paid $525 for my PSP.

I went back to the shop to look for the sale person. His colleague, a medium built Chinese man in his mid thirties, claimed that he was not around. I recited the incident to him, asked him politely for his help. Instead of being helpful or even clarify the matter further, he pointed his finger at me and said that it was my fault that we assume and did not ask properly before purchasing. He started to raise his voice and smirk at me, asking me to go ahead and call the police or report it to CASE if I want to, saying that he is not afraid. I am seriously feel threaten and been bullied by the 2 sale persons.

What to buy: One day if they are black listed, they can simply change the shop name. Most importantly, the sales person will get pay 40% of the gross margin. The more they cheat you , the more they earn. It's advisable to go to big megastores like Audio House, Best Denki, Court & etc. I know Audio House are case-trust certified and provide 7 days money back guarantee if you are not happy with their price, product or service with no question ask. Star retailers are selected by SLS management and Case-trust certified stores are audited by the authority on their operating systems and services. As comparsion, case-trust is more trustworthy.

this one of the few shop in Sim Lim that have the good price and the good service. They are all so friendly and the things i buy never give me any problem. I recomend this shop Papilion at #02-12 for this especially if you need the electronic and audio product especially the MP4 and the portable dvd players with the lcd tv screen.

As mentioned in other tips, Sim Lim Square provides a unique electronics shopping experience. In its 5 stories, buyers can expect to find everything from large network systems, right down to interesting electronic gadgetry.

Prices are great too - most items can be found with a reduction of about a 10-30% as compared to normal retail prices.

However, it is worth noting that a few shops in Sim Lim Square sells imitation or modified goods. Some also tend to increase the prices and deceive the buyer into over-paying for a product.

In my experience, a camera shop, FOTO POINT (#01-47), which is located in a corner of level 1 in the shopping centre, sells modified/imitated products. Though incredibly cheap (and suspective), several of their items are not original, even if the storeowner says so. I would like to warn all buyers, especially foreigners, of such occurrences in the shopping centre that tarnish its name.

I tried buying a canon camera at the shop last week, and was impressed at its prices. However, after a long talk, the store owner began critisizing canon and attempted to push for his own product, which was more expensive. I later found out that the lenses in the canon display set had been modified to produce significantly poorer images to make the house brand seem better.

Another shop, PIXELS N SHUTTERS, sells products at ridiculously high prices, claiming its products to be exclusive.

Though the impact of these shops create a bad reputation for the Sim Lim Square shopping experience, I would like to let readers know that such occurences are rare, and there are only a small handfull of them. But please, do be wary and aware of such places.

I wish all shoppers a pleasant shopping experience.

Regards,
A Sim Lim Regular