Hong Kong or Singapore?

[honey lamb]

Aer John is saving like mad for a camcorder to replace the one stolen many moons ago at MCO (we were not flying VS that day). Where would he get the best deal, Hong Kong or Singapore?

[RichardMannion]

I would actually say Singapore - I found HKG to be expensive. Maybe its just me but I like buyign from reputable places, I hate the whole Totenham Court Road experience. I bought a new digital camera in the Sun City?? Mall in Singapore at a huge depratment store called Harvey Normans - they had great service, a good range and good prices. They helped with the form for the international warranty too!

There is a whole IT mall which has a branch of Harvey Norman and many other electircal retailers too, but I daren't venture for fear of running out of luggage space!

Thanks,
Richard

HL - wherever you do it, be sure to haggle. I've never been to HKG, but I can tell you that I got a lovely camcorder in SIN, plus a fair few additions, for a reasonable price after a lot of bargaining....

Cheers

Michael

For what it's worth, my experience in Hong Kong is that you're not going to get all that far haggling. Compared with the UK, prices for things like cameras are actually pretty similar, once you factor in the lack of VAT here, and you're not going to get more than a few % off arguing. What you will get - and here mcuth is right - is extras. You should be haggling not over price, but for a case, tapes/memory/discs (depending on the camera), a tripod, a screen protector, even a spare battery or charger. That's where you can get a nice difference between UK retail and Asian.

It's also worth noting that a lot of places will try to charge more (or throw in less freebies) for a credit card purchase rather than EPS (local debit card system) or cash.

Another vote for Singapore. We were there in May and I was reminded how much more civilised it is than HKG. Not a great fan of haggling myself - especially as they generally know a lot more than you.

Phil

My vote is for Singapore as well. You're much less likely to get ripped off there. Suntec City (as mentioned by Richard) is a good place to start. If you feel like a good haggle, try Funan IT Mall - lots of shops selling mostly the same thing so you need to put in the hours comparing them all and haggling with them all but you'll generally come out with a very good price. Sim Lim is also worth a look but a bit more out of the way.


As someone else has mentioned, bargaining for extras is a good way to proceed once you've run out of steam on the headline price.

Chris