Best price for 40D in Singapore

Ok fella's,

It's just a few days now until my flight into Sing.

I have already been offered a 40d for S$1750 (including the GST) thats "on the visa card" price. not bad. that comes with full warranty.

One poster (crowep) a few days back noted that someone offered him a "grey market" 40D with no warranty for S$1450. that with "card costs" and GST. This store was in "Sin Lim" area... "the first store on the left near the Rochor road taxi rank" No name was given... shame, as that is a crazy low price.

I was just wondering if anyone knew any other dealers offering prices like this? anyone in Lucky's Plaza? and if not there, other than "Sin Lim"?? can any Singapore regulars tell me of some other good areas to go hunting for a deal.

It'll be for a body and a few bits of L glass and bags, tri pods, and heaps of other gear. Basically a full set up.

any help would be great!! cheers guys!

--

That crazy price is an often-used trick to con both locals and tourists alike. They will quote real low to entice you inside and then pile up the accessories (like extra batts, grip, cards, etc.) at exorbitant prices. Buyers beware!

The only shop worth a visit on the ground floor of Sim Lim Square is Alan Photo. See the link below for the latest prices from the more reputable shops in Singapore.

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=184322&page=17
--
Rumplestiltskin
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=22915

Rumplestiltskin said:

That crazy price is an often-used trick to con both locals and
tourists alike. They will quote real low to entice you inside and
then pile up the accessories (like extra batts, grip, cards, etc.) at
exorbitant prices. Buyers beware!

The only shop worth a visit on the ground floor of Sim Lim Square is
Alan Photo. See the link below for the latest prices from the more
reputable shops in Singapore.

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=184322&page=17
--
Rumplestiltskin
http://gallery.clubsnap.com/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=22915

Click to expand...

You are being lucky, that is with half the stuff taken out of the box and asking for payment to put it back in. 1,450 you could get a body. No charger, no battery, no leads, no nothing. Body and REALLY body only. These places you CAN get a good deal but know exactly what you are doing. Price is almost certainly pre-GST (add 7%) and for cash (for cc add another 2-3%). If you refuse to pay for at least enough extras then they will not sell it to you.

Do yourself a favour. Go to John 3:16 (Funan), Alan Photo(Funan) or Cathay(Peninsula Plaza or Marina quare). 1st and last I buy all my stuff from, friends highly recommend the middle one.

If you find out the name of the shop selling for 1,450, let me know. I don't believe you would walk out with the standard kit under retail (these places aim at tourists, lowbll them with a first offer then rip them blnd on the rest). I can spend Sat morning wasting their time.

Only EVER go to Sim Lim (or Lucky Plaza) if you know exactly the price of everything. Bargains available, but mostly fleece tourists is order of the day.

Yeah sorry, edited to add, Alan phot in SL sq is good as well. Could have guessed that from above though.

The name is Sim Lim (not Sin Lim), and I wouldn't recommend buying there specially not trying to get a bargain, as there would be definitely a catch, and many of them aren't that friendly either, so the whole experience would just waste your time and energy.

I would recommend one and only place: Cathay Photo in Peninsula Plaza. They will save you the time and frustration of Sim Lim.

Just as a side comment, Singapore in general isn't such a great place to find bargains in Electronics any more. I would compare carefully the prices with your home town, with all the pros and cons.

Ok,

I understand the risks, but there is no way i'd be suckered into buying "body only" and then have them "bait and switch" me and try to charge me extra for the charger, strap and plug.

I had read that HK prices weren't THAT much better than Sing anyway? am i wrong? it's not so expensive to fly up to HK, my only worry is that Singapore is very easy and very English speaking, and i know it a bit and travel there regularly... whereas Hong Kong seems much "harder" and is much further out of my "loop".

Anyway, thanks for the links and thanks also for the warnings... but don't worry!! "they" stand a much better chance of getting ripped off than i do!

--

I'm Indonesian and often go to Singapore for shopping, visiting friends and relatives, etc.

Lucky Plaza (Sim Lin) is not a good place to buy those stuff anymore, EXCEPT you have trusty local friend (Singaporean and able to speak chinese/mandarin) who will guide you in there. If you don't have friend to make a bargain for you, I suggest NOT TO DO that yourself...it will end-up dissapointing. Hope it will not happen.
--
Grab the moment, not just image!

As noted above, I have posted a list of reputable shops found in Singapore just a few days back on another thread, perhaps you can look that up. It also has the contact numbers.

If you can live with 'grey' sets, try Orient Photo, 6th floor of Sim Lim Square. They should be able to give you very competitve prices, yet they have a stellar reputation to date with the local fraternity.

As for Alan Photo, do be careful as sometimes, especially when the boss is not around, they do this sort bundling garbage for a prince's ransom thingy too to unwary people.

If you're in the Lucky Plaza area, try Lords, they are pretty reputable too.

Here's the list:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=24691330

Thanks for that maxxevv mate!!

just what i was looking for. i'll give a few of them a call, but i guess it'll be better once we are face to face and we can actually get down to the business of cutting a deal.

Great. I'm stoked out on this 40D. Reports from most users seem to be pretty much flat out 100% happy.

Hopefully this will be the start of a long and happy relationship.

i'll be posting my best pics once i get it for "critique"... nice.
--

for 1450, they can keep the manual, battery, charger software, wires ... . i'd still buy

Just didn't want you to leave the island with a sour taste.

These shops have been serving the local community here very well, and for 99% of the experience, par excellence. Thought it would do them service to refer business back to them too.

Enjoy your trip to Singapore!

If you have the time drop by the main photographic forum here: http://www.clubsnap.org . It'll provide a better idea of why these shops are 'preferred'.

A shop that is very well-regarded by tourists is Parisilk. They have several outlets, and work in a very unique way:

• no prices indicated on goods
• no price haggling, not even for regular customers (like me)
• no questions asked (well, almost never) in cases where there are early defects, warrantly claims, etc

For Canon and most other camera gear, they are a cheaper than the well-respected camera specialists like Cathay Photo, John 3:16. Not by a large margin, but perhaps 1-2%. They offer goods with genuine Canon warranty, as my warranty registrations, etc, are all recognised by Canon Singapore.

I have no affiliation with Parisilk. They are my supplier for camera gear, TV, household equipment (washing m/c, fridge, etc).

Don't risk Sim Lim or Far East Shopping Ctr or other touristy joints unless a reliable local contact is shopping with you. Likewise chains like Harvey Norman, Best Denki etc will charge much higher -- closer to recommended selling price.

Ahh... a really old-time shop. Still remember the original shop at Transit Road, maybe some 25years back!

Yes, very interesting way of business, which is also their niche as they do have droves of loyal and long-time customers. Especially when it comes to electronic products.

I make two or three trips to Singapore a year and will be down there again in just over a week, hopefully returning with a 40D.

Parisilk in Holland Village, mentioned by another poster, is very popular with the expat community. Buying anything in Singapore can be a real hassle and you never know with some people how honest they are being. With Parisilk you know that you aren't getting ripped off. They work on a high turnover, low profit margin basis.

I've bought all my recent photo gear at Cathay. It's a proper camera shop - in fact they have several shops close together that specialise in different gear. One does bodies and lenses, another tripods, and another lighting gear. They know their stuff and don't sell all sorts of electronic gear in addition to camera gear.

I wrote to them recently and received the following on 4th September:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. Canon 40D (body only) @S$1820.00
2. BG-E2N Battery grip for Canon 40D @s$230.00 (not available locally yet)
3. Canon 100mm F2.8 macro lens @S$757.00
4. Nikon D40 kit including 18-55mm lens @S$830.00 (Free: 2 GB SD card)
E & OE

Please note that the above price(s) are:
a) ex-Singapore Store in SINGAPORE DOLLARS
b) subject to 7% GST if purchase is made in Singapore ( ).

Validity of quote:
1 week after which any changes will be made without prior notice.
In addition, please present this email IMMEDIATELY when you are served by
our sales staff so that the above prices are accorded to you. Any
purchase made for the quoted product(s) w/o this email, or prior to
receiving this email, will render this quote invalid.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Canon gear is for me and the D40 kit is for my girlfriend as a first SLR. I have always used Canon but for the money, the D40 kit seems to be the best option for her.

I will be able to claim some of the GST back at the airport. Cathay isn't the cheapest place but it gives me peace of mind buying from them. I would never buy at Lucky or anywhere similar.

I bought my last laptop at Sim Lim and there is no problem with many of the shops on the higher levels but the shops on the ground floor tend to prey on gullible tourists.

John 3:16 is fine but my last purchase in Singapore was a reflector. The people in Cathay made disparaging remarks about the brand of reflector sold in John 3:16 and exactly the same happened when I went into John 3:16.

The general situation there has improved drastically since I first went in 1990 but the Chinese shopkeepers are still very good at salesmanship. In 1990 I wanted a compact 35mm camera to use occasionally instead of my Canon A1.

Shopkeepers then would tell you that other shops sold cameras that looked exactly the same but contained plastic lenses made in China instead of glass lenses made in Japan.

I think there is enough information in this thread already for you not to go wrong.

Hi,

I did open a new thread for 30D price in Singapore but no replies yet. Could you advice me on the 30D price in the reputable camera shops of Singapore?

Giri

Giri

You could try e-mailing Cathay ([email protected]) or John 3:16 ([email protected]) for quotes.

I will happily find out for you but I won't get there for another week.

Because of Singapore's 'kiasu' culture, I can guarantee that since the 40D was announced, no self-respecting Singaporean will want a 30D now. In the same building as Cathay (and also just across the road) are some second-hand camera shops.

Immediately after the 20D was announced they were full of 10Ds and when the 30D came along they were full of 20Ds. They will now be full of 30Ds.

If you can't get the deal you want on a new camera, a lightly used second-hand one might be an option.

Shops in Singapore only tend to be interested in selling the latest equipment and buyers only tend to be interested in buying the latest equipment. The old stock will go quickly and it won't be long before new 30Ds will be difficult to get hold of.

When I bought my laptop (IBM X31) it had just been discontinued but I wasn't bothered about having the latest and greatest. It had only been discontinued for a couple of months and I could only find one shop that had any in stock.

Not the cheapest, but a one stop shop, they have everything. Make a list before you go, or you end up buying more then planned.

I got the 40D at 1950 SGD and got 7% tax back at the airport.

PS: they throw in the EF lensbook, 20 DVD-R's and a Sandisk Ultra II 2 Gb card (is the canon promotion)

I left with the camera and a Spyder2express, and EF 50 1.4, and some cokin-P stuff. to bad tey didn;t have the hood for the 17-55 in stock.

--
I decided to do photography as a hobby cause it's cheaper then golf