Purchasing Electronic Goods, Singapore

Ladies and gentelman, I wuld suggest not even going into the shop called SLR Pro, located on the ground floor in Sim Lim Square. Yes, I got duped because I was stupid. You WILL be duped if you go there.

Singaporeans are normally honest. The owner and salesman at the specific shop does not care about return customers, they try to fleece new tourists. Unfortunately, they are quite good at this.

Unique Suggestions: Do your resarch first on what you want to buy and do not be side-tracked by the salesman to buy something else. When you get their "best Price" on an item, go buy it cheaper, anyware else.

Fun Alternatives: Any other shop is better and mostly cheaper.

SIM LIM is electronics warehouse, aka shopping centre/mall.

Unique Suggestions: And of course everybody wants to cheat. Everybody ( that is 99% all shops) are vague, and tricky).Everything what is said is true. But its FUN !
Just be yourself, dont want too much right now, take your time, compare a lot. Ask people.
Dont have an "open question" , look for what you want to have. Its a game. For the salespersons it is too.
Many tricks will be tried:
- pay extra when with creditcard
- the extra 7% tax suddenly is added
- they dont want to sell standard things, only with extra batteries, memory cards etc, dont do that, say it, and go to next shop
- check, double check the things, serial numbers etc
- have witnesses (1-2 friends)
- keep smiling, dont get angry, but dont do a bad deal

See Sim Lim as a theatre, and you are permitted to be an actor in it.
I even wrote a story about it.. its great .. all those interactions, semi-cheats, undertable-cooperations with other shops. Its really wild western. BE A COWBOW/GIRL there !

Fun Alternatives: if you dont want to bargain etc, and dont want to do all checks, then go to the challenger or courts. You pay 10-20% extra then.

That other electronics mall Funan is nothing. That is a mix of hair saloons and camera/computer shops. WHat would you expect from that??

SIM LIM is electronics warehouse, aka shopping centre/mall.

Unique Suggestions: And of course everybody wants to cheat. Everybody ( that is 99% all shops) are vague, and tricky).Everything what is said is true. But its FUN !
Just be yourself, dont want too much right now, take your time, compare a lot. Ask people.
Dont have an "open question" , look for what you want to have. Its a game. For the salespersons it is too.
Many tricks will be tried:
- pay extra when with creditcard
- the extra 7% tax suddenly is added
- they dont want to sell standard things, only with extra batteries, memory cards etc, dont do that, say it, and go to next shop
- check, double check the things, serial numbers etc
- have witnesses (1-2 friends)
- keep smiling, dont get angry, but dont do a bad deal

See Sim Lim as a theatre, and you are permitted to be an actor in it.
I even wrote a story about it.. its great .. all those interactions, semi-cheats, undertable-cooperations with other shops. Its really wild western. BE A COWBOW/GIRL there !

Fun Alternatives: if you dont want to bargain etc, and dont want to do all checks, then go to the challenger or courts. You pay 10-20% extra then.

That other electronics mall Funan is nothing. That is a mix of hair saloons and camera/computer shops. WHat would you expect from that??

I tried to buy a Samsung galaxy S II in this place.
After negotiating the price, i paid the price (600SGD) and the attendant told me it will cost extra to unblock the cell phone so i could used it abroad.
She was not honest, because she knew i was going to use the mobile phone out of Singapore.
She charged me 80 SGD extra to unblock the cell phone.. I even don´t know if it was really necessary...anyway this price is absurd.
I simply gave up the deal.....and bought it at a Starhub Store in Little India for 738 SGD

Fun Alternatives: To Purchase Electronic Goods i recommend

FUNAN
Starhub (i.e. at Little India).
Mustafa Center

I tried to buy a Samsung galaxy S II in this place.
After negotiating the price, i paid the price (600SGD) and the attendant told me it will cost extra to unblock the cell phone so i could used it abroad.
She was not honest, because she knew i was going to use the mobile phone out of Singapore.
She charged me 80 SGD extra to unblock the cell phone.. I even don´t know if it was really necessary...anyway this price is absurd.
I simply gave up the deal.....and bought it at a Starhub Store in Little India for 738 SGD

Fun Alternatives: To Purchase Electronic Goods i recommend

FUNAN
Starhub (i.e. at Little India).
Mustafa Center

People, please be wary of this shop in Sim Lim Square!!
I personally has a very bad experience with them recently.

They are just cheaters! They sold me a third party slr lens for $275
and was very friendly when they try to sell but the next day when I went back to exchange for Nikon lens
willing to top up. they just simply brush me off and tell me after 1 day the slr Len that I bought yesterday becomes
2nd hand so only can fetch 40% of the purchase price. Wtf!
Then still have the audacity to ask for additional top up of $200 when the top up should be only $45 ($320-$275)

So travelers and locals , please dun patronize this shop! Im in the midst of taking up the this
matter or rather dispute with CASE!

I will make sure I do justice to those who got cheated and kept quiet bout it!

Fun Alternatives: I would suggest buy from a established electronic shop
at least it's safer. and who knows sim lim might sell even higher.

Looking at prices of electronic goods here could be very deceiving, one may think that its a good bargain compared to other stores. But you'll be very surprised when the sales guy punch in those numbers and you would be surprised that it ballooned to sometimes about 150% from the original price tag. It happened to me one time I was looking for the lowest priced PS3 around and I saw one that is priced at $420 so I bought it plus some extra games and accesories. The salesman tried to sell me other stuff I dont need and so I declined and said I already got what I need. He also told me that they will modify the PS3 unit to run hacked games for additional $150 but I said no. He insisted but I declined yet after he computed the total price I was surprised that my total bill was around $900 which from my own calculation should only be around 600. When I asked him why he told me that the total price covered the modification fee which I did not wanted plus GST and other taxes. I was ripped off definitely, I would have cancelled the purchase but the salesman told me I will not get my money back in full because they will cut 20% for the trouble I caused so I ended up buying the item. Now that's very good after sales service! Moral Lesson buy from a legitimate store!

Unique Suggestions: Never hand over your money with out seeing the total price.

Fun Alternatives: Its nice to window shop in SIM LIM then compare prices from legitimate stores and you'll find out that they are alsmost the same.

Lucky Plaza is promoted as a good place to purchase electronics in Singapore - Somewhere to get a bargain. Instead, expect to be ripped-off at every opportunity. You could end up with:

* A second hand camera
* An 'export model' with no warranty
* An old model camera touted as the latest model
* A camera worth 1/2 what you actually paid for it.

Unique Suggestions: Understand that up to 10 of the shops on a floor will be operated by the same owner. You will see the same salesman jumping in between the stores. His name will probably be 'Freddy' So comparing prices between stores within this complex is not a good idea.

1. Do not hand over your money until you are absolutely certain. There is no such thing as a returns policy, or consumer rights with retail purchases from most shops.

2. If you do get caught out, then go back to the store and ask for a refund. They will probably refuse. They probably lied to you during the sales process, so now you have premise to go the Small Claims Tribunal: http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/sct/page.aspx?pageid=3948

3. If you have an overly pushy salesman, just walk away, no matter how much he keeps knocking off the price.

Say that you are leaving the country in the next couple of days, and they will probably process your claim on the same day. A court officer will escort you to the shop and serve them a notice, and they will then very likely give you your money back on the spot.

Fun Alternatives: 1. Shop at a reputable electronics chain. You can usually bargain them down to a good price. You will only save another 2-3% shopping at small and most often, shady shops.

2. Shop online. Singapore is not the electronics discount haven it once was. You can usually get better product information and prices online.

3. Shop at the Mustafa Centre in Little India. Their prices were very competitive and they were my last stop before I left Singapore.

The police and courts have a lot of trouble with retailers in these 2 buildings. Toursists beware!! These shops are run by gangsters who beat up toursists and locals if you question their pricing or show them if they sell you a damaged or incomplete product. Stay away from SLR Pro Pte Ltd in Sim Lim Square and all other shops. These guys call gangs into the shop if you refuse to buy an item. It's depreviation of liberty and cops don't help you, they are not clear about the laws because they don't usually have problems, and the court rules are very strange. The tourist is at a severe disadvantage is you leave the coutry and can't front up to defend yourself!
Stay clear of "SLR PRO Pte Ltd" at Sim Lim Sq. All are con men there an dthey threaten you!

Unique Suggestions: If you do want to buy electronic good in Singapore, go to Funan Centre. It's a government owned building so all retailers have to be approved by the government to open shop an doperate. You'll get better service, non-fake products, and not be intimidated. You pay a bit more but your shopping experience will be better and safer. Don't risk it by going to Sim Lim Sq or Lucky Plaza. Better still, buy the product in your own country and save yourself a migrane!

Fun Alternatives: Shop in your own country!!!

We've been ripped off by one of the salesmen of the Digital@Orchard shop (located at the entrance of the Midpoint Mall). He sold us a wide-angle converter for 700$ (while the street price is 150~230 as I learned after). We try to be refunded the next day, but the man refused, arguing that his boss was not here, etc. Even the police (which we called) could not force him to refund us.

Avoid this place !

Fun Alternatives: The best place in my opinion is the Funan IT Mall. Prices are fixed (but good) and many merchants know what they sell.