Buying Electronic Goods in Hong Kong

When friends and colleagues visit HK, they often ask where's the best place to buy a new camera / walkman / notebook PC / etc. If you're visiting HK with shopping in mind, here are a few tips for you ...

Is it really cheaper here?

Seems obvious, but check the prices before you leave home (and be sure to check what that price includes, as adding costs for cases, batteries, etc., can make a big difference.) A rule of thumb seems to be that visitors from the US can often buy goods at similar prices back home, while visitors from Australia find prices here significantly cheaper.

How much cheaper is worthwhile?

If something goes wrong with your purchase after you get home, there could be major hassle in getting it fixed (though also look at the "warranties" item below). If you are only saving tens of dollars, and it is an item with more chance of something going wrong (e.g. a video camera), make sure that any $$$ you will save won't be outweighed by you worrying that something will go wrong.

What warranty should you be looking for?

There are three common options for warranties:

  • International Warranty
  • Local warranty
  • No warranty (with possible shop warranty)

International Warranty: This is your best option, as it means that even though you buy in HK, the warranty means that any repairs will be carried out in your home country under warranty. This tends to be limited to more expensive items, like notebook PCs.

Local Warranty: If something goes wrong during the warranty period, you'll need to return it to a HK address to get it fixed. That's ok if you travel here regularly for business, but otherwise this is probably the same as "No Warranty" below.

No Warranty: Sometimes you'll see two pieces of the same product next to each other, but one has a much lower price (20% off or more) than the other. You'll probably find that the cheaper one is a parallel import, which means it was bought direct from another country, and not from the official HK distributor. (You'll also hear these called "grey market" copies, or "soei faw" in Cantonese). The obvious difference is that the parallel import is much cheaper, and probably has no warranty. Other side-effects may be that the manuals and any software that ship with the product are in another language (most likely Japanese), so check that you'll be able to use the product.

Do you need a warranty?

Even if a product has no warranty, the shop will usually allow an exchange within 7 or 14 days if the product does not work properly. So if it's something you can use thoroughly for a week before you leave HK (e.g. a digital camera), you may not need the full one year warranty. This is especially true for items that are unlikely to fail, e.g. Compact Flash cards generally work or they don't. (Remember to keep all the packaging, and avoid any wear and scratches, to make it easy to exchange).

Where to buy?

If you're here on vacation, there's a good chance you're staying in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST). As a prime tourist area, it has many shops selling electronic goods. Although I am sure that the majority of the shops there are safe, there are also regular stories in the press about tourists being ripped off in some way or other. So unless you have been introduced to the shop by a local friend, just be careful that you are getting exactly what you have paid for.

Instead I'd suggest you start with one of the large chains of stores, e.g. Fortress or Broadway. These will give you an idea of local prices to compare against any other offers you receive.

I usually go from there to Citicall in Central, and buy there. Looking on the web, I see they actually have several outlets:

  • Citicall Ltd. Shop 3-4, G/F, Mongkok City Centre, 74-78 Sai Yeung St. South, Mongkok, KLN.
  • Citicall Ltd. G/F, 60 Russell St., Causeway Bay, HK.
  • Citicall Ltd. G/F, Hung Kei Mansion, 5-8 Queen Victoria Street, Central
  • Citicall Ltd. Shop G06-07, G/F, Hollywood Plaza, 610 Nathan Road, Mongkok

If you like haggling, you can probably find things a bit cheaper in Mong Kok There's a building on the left of exit E2 from the Mong Kok MTR, opposite the Bank Centre, that has several floors of electronics stores. I bought there once - prices with warranty were slightly cheaper than Citicall, but I blew what little savings there were on the taxi ride home! They did have some cheaper parallel imports though, if that is what you are looking for.

If you have any good stores to recommend, please send them in.

Comments

Guys, I'll be in HK after

Guys, I'll be in HK after the new year. I was wandering where i can find cheap magnetic card reader/writers? also i need cheap rfid/smart card readers/writers. I am on vacation, but I need them for my business, smart card solutions development.

macbook pro

My son is calling in to Hong Kong on the way through from Japan back to England, and so I'd be very interested to know the current street price of a fairly basic model macbook pro ,and where to buy one.
All prices and whereabouts gratefully received.
Greg

Card readers / writers

Not sure exactly, but I'd guess that if you took a walk around the Golden Computer Centre / Arcade, then walked along the shops on Ap Liu Street, you'd find something. I've certainly seen shops there selling barcode equipment, so they've probably also got newer card-related products too.

If you go to Sham Shui Po MTR station, both the above locations are very nearby, and clearly marked on the roadmap in the station.

MrB

macbook pro

Greg,

For starters you can check Apple's HK website for prices and resellers. Hopefully a local Mac user can clarify whether there is enough price difference to make shopping around worthwhile, and recommend a helpful / cheap reseller.

MrB

Card readers / writers

A friend who knows more about this suggested:

Try :

www.acs.com.hk

for contact smart card

http://www.lucky-tech.com/index_int.php

for contactless solutions

Hope this helps!

laptop

do you now if this laptop is avaliable in hong kong http://chinese.engadget.com/2007/10/16/eee-pc-hands-on/
thank you?

Asus EEE PC

Yes, it's available here. I'm currently agonising over whether to buy one or not, thinking it would be good to take with me on an overseas trip I'll be making in a couple of weeks time.

I've seen them in the Wanchai Computer Centre. Several of the shops there have them so I guess you can find them in any of the big computer malls here. Appx prices: the 701 @ HK$2999, and the 702 @ HK$3888.

MrB

PS The EEE is not immune from the unavoidable tech question - should I buy now or wait for something better?

Bought an Asus EEE

I decided to take the plunge and buy one. I'd have preferred the 8Gb model, but I couldn't find any shops with stock in Wanchai or Sham Shui Po, so I went with a 4Gb '701' model.

There are three options:

 - A pink model, that cost HK$2898 and had a rebate coupon to collect a 4Gb SDHC card from Asus

 - A white model, that was out of stock

 - A black model, costing HK$3,200, and without any 4Gb SDHC card offer.

The black model has a webcam included, and the pink didn't. That's the only difference I could see. I'm not sure if the $3,200 price tag is a permanent price, or short-term while demand is high and there are no 8Gb models available.

I wanted a webcam, so I bought the black model, plus an 8Gb SDHC card @ HK$330 and 2Gb RAM for $390. So, $3,920 for an EEE with 2Gb RAM, and 12Gb storage.

MrB

Hello everyone, This seems

Hello everyone,

This seems like a really good, responsive forum going on here. I was wondering if anyone knows how much Onkyo AV receivers cost in Hong Kong, or whether or not they are significantly cheaper than in the UK (or whether they are even available)? I'm interested in the TX-SR505E or TX-SR605 models.

All the best!

Another point to add...

While the electronics here may not necessarily be cheaper, it still seems that Hong Kong is roughly 12-18 months ahead of the US and parts of Europe when it comes to getting the latest gear. Keep that in mind when shopping.

I know my friends back home have been surprised by the phones, gadgets, etc. that I carry back with me from trips to Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tokyo.

digital cameras

Hey,

My friens is going to hong kong in 2 weeks and i would like him to buy a digital camera for me, does anyone knows where I can find the different models available and the prices.

thank you

re digital cameras

Please see this thread for that info.

eunos company

Sorry to say that I have just had the same experience. After seeking out the prices for a Cannon camera and getting a relatively good price from this store I was sucked into believing that another product would offer a better value package. Not only was the second choice dearer but was only worth 50% of what I paid. While I take full responsibilty for my own stupidity they are masters at building a false sense of trust to take you down. Subsequentley, we went back into the shop before leaving the country and demanded that they do something about the scam. We sat in the shop for over an hour and frightened off every European shopper who entered the premises. The stand off ended with a camera upgade and a cheap mp4 player throwen in. Leason learnt but would love to let every tourist know they are crooked--also are attached to the camera shop across the road.

Blackberry phone 8830

I am in Hong Kong now, where can I buy the latesy model of Blackberry phone 8830 series, and how about the price?

Many Thanks

Blackberry 8830

Hi there,

Actually all major Mobile service providers carries these kinds of stuffs. Just go to a few of those stores like 1010, Smartone Vodafone and compare the packages. Usually if these gadgets bundles with a service contract the price tag would be a bit lower. If you buy the handset only you would have to pay in full.

http://www.smartone-vodafone.com/jsp/english/index.jsp#smc
http://1010.hkcsl.com/jsp/home/

Hope this helps a bit.

T

I'm looking for shops selling GPS devices (BT Gps etc...)

I'm looking for shops selling GPS devices, such as BT Gps devices, PNAs, PDAs

Where can i find those shops?..  Any help would be most appreciated! 

Thank You,

Regards

Kent 

Shops selling GPS

Try the Wanchai Computer Center.

I haven't bought any GPS myself, but I'm sure I've seen them for sale in the PDA shops there. The center is small enough to walk right around, but the shops I'm thinking of are at the top of the escalator that brings you up from street level. As you step off the escalator one is ahead and slightly to the left, one is just behind your left shoulder, and another is opposite that one across the corridoor.

Any GPS experts out there that can give better advice?

MrB

Electonic DIY kits.equipments and tech books

Which is the best place to buy (ARM7)educational pcb boards, DIY kits, electronic equipments
and technical books on electronics and computers in HongKong at a reasonable price.

DJ equipments

   Hi Friends I m looking for DJ equipments, pioneer,sony,yamaha and others

Eunos should be blacklisted

I have exactly the same experience with Eunos as described by the previous blog entry.  Eunos has sales people (those bastards) who trick the unfortunately less knowledgeable camera / lens buyers to buy the so called "better", or "higher" quality, or "newer" product.   Through their presentations of an aray of items, they are able to check whether or not the customer knows his product specs by heart.  Once they know that the buyer isn't that knowledgeable, they present him with the so called "best buy".   To cut my story short, my buyer was mesmerized by wonderful alternatives to my first choice.   My buyer was probably confused and bought the 75-300mm USM for the price of the 70-300mm IS USM.  So I paid about 539$ for a lens worth 189$.


Of course my buyer was rather ignorant and stupid, but what I hate so much was the dishonesty of those sellers. 


So consider this as a warning, if you are going to Hong Kong, and if you have not researched in advance about the product you are buying, stay away from EUNOS.  Or stick to your plan, don't get swayed by the sellers.

DSLR Lens trade-in plus cash

I'll be off to HK in 2 weeks, and I'd like to know if there are any camera shops that entertain swaping of lens for dslrs (Olympus) and their location (street).  

Pico Projectors

Can anybody help and advise if it is worth picking up a pico projector (mini projectors) in Hong Kong?

I have looked on the Fortress website and it seems more expensive than the UK for the Phillips and Optoma models.

I have seen a few Chinese made ones also but it is hard finding prices.

 

Any help is appreciated.