Shopping for Nikon Gear in HK - what a horrible experience!

[juan_su]

Hello everyone,

 

I've just returned from Hong Kong and I have been truely

disappointed with the my experience there while trying to shop for

some nikon gear. Perhaps it may be that I didn't know where to go,

but I saw so many camera shops with their nice flashy neon signs

with Nikon, Canon and such that I had to at least check them out.

First impression; how the heck did they fit all that stuff in those

windows.

 

Anyway, I checked most of the stores on Nathan Road. It seems that

all these stores looked the same once you walk in. One of the things

which I noticed was that there were always like 4-6 people waiting

there and barely any real customers. So it all seemed funny. Also,

every single time I asked them if the had the AF 50mm 1.8D they

always had to make a phone call. The quotes I got ranged from 800HK

all the way to 950HK. One of the stores even said that there wasn't

such model and that Nikon only made the much more pricer 1.4D model.

Then he even had the audacity to tell me that anyone can tell that

the 1.4D models are much better and sharper. Well. I just simply

walked out.

 

Hmmm... what I was really looking for was a store that had all the

gear in the shop so I can see it and test them, but to my dismay, I

was wrong. I could not find such store and soon gave up. Perhaps it

will be much safer for me to buy from Adorama even though it is

online or at the local camera shop in Toronto or heck even ebay as I

have done before.

 

I don't know about anyone else, but if you had a better experience

than me, please share it. On my flight back I happened to sit next

to a police officer from the Hong Kong Police force and I told him

about my experience and he informed me that most of the camera shops

on Nathan are mostly ran by the Triads and gangsters and the reason

why they always call is because they check from the same warehouse

and the reason why there are always so many clerks there is to put

pressures on tourists.

 

I was surprised to hear this. True or not, I'm just sharing my

experience. For others going to Hong Kong, I wish you much better

luck than I had.

[jwenting]

Sounds like any other highstreet photostore in any large city around the world.

If you walk up and down the main shoppingstreets in Amsterdam and go into stores like that you get similar treatment, same in London, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Same without doubt in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Berlin as well to name but a few.

 

You missed out on the small professional stores, the ones the locals go to.

I can't tell you where they are in HK, but I'm sure they exist.

[richard_ilomaki]

Hello

 

Welcome to the world of shopping in Hong Kong! Used to be, one could get a good bargain due to lower shipping costs, lower taxes etc but no more.

 

Without making ethnocentric generalizations, we westerners have to learn how to deal with vendors in many parts of the world. One dealer told me honestly that since he couldn't kill me, at least he could take as much of my money as possible. ( I will name the establishment and address if pressed).

 

I also had major hassles with warrantees on equipment bought there. Unless you have the benefit of being accompanied by a locally born friend, buyer be very ware!

 

When shopping for camera, audio and computer stuff -even clothes- in the Orient, I always ask a local friend to accompany me, and behold, a completely different attitude. Then a reasonable deal is possible.

 

There are a few shops in Lock street, behind Nathan Rd. where more-or-less straight deals are possible. My experience tells me that as good a deal is possible at Henry's or Vistek in Toronto, among others, as can be had in HK, give or take a few dollars. At least you can go back and deal with responsible managers as well as see the gear on display.

 

I recently bought a Nikon 24-85 D lens in Shanghai on my own, but only after researching the prices and specs fully beforehand, as well as the exchange rates. I saved about $CA 50 and the warrantee is good in Canada, but I am sure I wont need it. ( BTW, the store disappeared into the mist in a burst of redevelopment in Shanghai, so the relationship I built up is gone, unless I can find the guy at one of the camera malls there. Therein lies the secret to dealing in HK and other places- a relationship of mutual benfit between the parties, not a contractual one.)

 

Sorry for the length, but that's my experience.

 

Cheers & Joy Kin

[rolandwong]

Hi,

 

My experience is exactly opposite. Perhaps I got some good recommendations from my friends on where I can get Nikon gears. I had got Nikon lenses, Domke bags, Gitzo tripod, and etc in Hong Kong, and got it much cheaper in Singapore. I was allowed to see and try out the equipment too. Although, the shops are always crowded and you don't get good service, but they never force me to purchase anything. I went to Wing Shing and Man Shing, both at MongKok, Kowloon. Fyi.

 

Regards

[ShunCheung]

Just like in many large cities, if you look like and sound like a tourist, the shops will try to take advantage of you. Besides the stores in MongKok (which is on the Kowloon Peninsula) Ronald mentioned above, there are several very fine camera stores on Stanley Street in the Central District on Hong Kong Island.

[leon paul]

What about buying through ebay from Hong Kong suppliers? anyone had any experience,good or bad?

[juan_su]

Well I wish I had a local friend that knew about these local places. Although, I spoke with many of them in Chinese, I guess I didn't really dress like a local. I guess my style didn't really blend in well with the locals. =) Anyway, I don't know when I'll go back to HK in the future but I'll be sure to go away from the Nathan St. camera shops.

[cl_ho2]

This is a very typical shopping experience for tourist in Hong Kong ! It happens day by day ! They end up to pay at least 100-200 % more !

 

Most of the tourist are always attracted by the "nice flashy neon signs" with "Tax Free" or "Duty Free" !!! In fact, there is no sales tax or VAT for local people or tourist ! It is very hard to find or to see local shoppers inside doing shopping as they are well known as the "dark/black shop" in Hong Kong.

 

For safety, there is no except which you can ignore ALL camera shops in Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui !

 

Most of the camera shops in Tung Ying Building, Tsim Sha Tsui are selling second hand or grey import camera equipment but I won't recommend for tourist unless they go with local friends or colleagues.

 

What I can tell nowadays in Hong Kong, nearly all authorized dealers selling consumer electric equipment (camera. camcorder, walkman etc.) quote the same or very similar price. Therefore, I will always advise the tourist to buy them from those chain stores like Broadway, Fortress, Citicall, Tai Lin (most of them have branches at Times Square at Causeway Bay or Harbour City at Tsim Sha Tsui).

 

If you really need more advanced camera equipment (e.g. Nikon F5, D2H, Contax 645, Pentax 67II, Hasselblad, Gitzo, Metz etc.), go to Man Shing (Mongkok), Wing Shing (Mongkok) or Kowloon Life (Yau Ma Tei). You may ask for small discount (1-2% ?) from these shops if you are willing to pay by cash.

 

"AF 50mm 1.8D they always had to make a phone call. The quotes I got ranged from 800HK all the way to 950HK" ---> It is overpriced and it should be the "grey import" without official warranty or even second hand product !

 

"most of the camera shops on Nathan are mostly ran by the Triads and gangsters" ---> Yes, it is true.

 

As a standard rule, don't pay you money until you see the goods. Test it and confirm the price, warranty etc.

 

P.S. a link in Chinese published by a local photo club which is quit useful for reference.

 

http://www.npc.org.hk/chi/refer/yellowpage.php#%AC%DB%BE%F7%A9%B1

[ives]

Quick rules of thumb:

 

1. Avoid the Nathan Road shops (the ones with the neon signs) from Tsim Sha Tsui to

Mongkok.

 

2. Exception to rule 1: Fortress, Broadway. These are reputable chain stores; however,

being chain stores they usually do not have the best prices, nor carry very specialized

photographic equipment.

 

3. Some Stanley St. stores in HK are OK (e.g. Kwong Tai) but I found camera prices there

in general higher than my favorite store, Man Shing of Mongkok. Man Shing is small (and

they specialize only on photo/video products only) but selection is good, and their service

is excellent as Man Shing employees are not pushy.

(Wing Shing is related to Man Shing so I expect service there to be as good as Man Shing.)

[chris_wong]

I recommend Man Shing of Mongkok. It's owned by the same owner of Wing Shing of

Mongkok. Man Shing is a small store specialized to serve "more" professional

photographers. For example, you'd find more Gitzo selections in Man Shing. You'd find

Hasselblad, Rollieflex, Leica, etc in Man Shing too.

 

I don't know if you can save money buying Nikon gears in Hong Kong or not. My

experience is that they're roughly equivalent to buying from B&H or Adorama in the States.

Besides, you don't get USA warranty if you buy Nikon in Hong Kong.

[david_lau3]

Everyone before going to buy equipment in Hong Kong should read this thread in Photo.net, which has been going on for several years:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000GnZ

 

There are hornest shops and scam in Hong Kong, just like all other major cities. You only buy from those reputable shops as recommended in the above thread, same as you should buy from B&H, Adorama etc in US as advised by many participants in this forum.

[martin_wong2]

Juan Su,

 

How come you don't do enough research before you go to somewhere you don't familiar with, especially travelling abroad ?

[juan_su]

"Juan Su,

How come you don't do enough research before you go to somewhere you don't familiar with, especially travelling abroad ?"

 

Actually, to be honest, I tried to. In fact I kept on searching all over the photo.net for threads on reputable stores in HK before and while I was travelling. And remember, that I was travelling so it isn't like I had access to internet non stop. My main objective in my first time back to Hong Kong as an adult was not to spend the entire trip searching for a pro shop. I spent most of my time checking out the locations and taking photos. Also, it wasn't like that had anything specific that I wanted to buy; mainly I was more interested in seeing what kind of gear they had or if I could find a good product at a relatively low price. So of course I checked out the stores near Nathan as the hotel I was staying in was one block off Nathan on Jordan. I did visit many of the other chain stores like Broadway or Fortress, but I didn't find anything amazing in term of selection of pro gear so I didn't really bother with them.

But none-the-less, it certainly was an experience and I will learn from it.

[peter_ho1]

Get a list of authorized dealer from Nikon HK

http://www.nikon.com.hk/

Good luck my friend....fyi the 50/F1.8 only cost me HKD 700

[juan_su]

Thanks for the list, I'll be sure to check it out. But at 700HK, that's a pretty good price. The first store which I checked out (not in Nathan) quoted me 750HK which I thought was pretty good since it was less then $100US.

[roland_larson]

As always, do some research to save unnecessary bad encounters; or read some previous posts regards shopping in <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=007bHS">Hong</a> <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006yZ7">Kong</a>

.

[raymond_chi]

I had similar experience shopping on Powell street in San Francisco. That was back in the days before the internet got so popular. I wonder how those &*#$#$@%% stores stay in business. They expect you to bargain down the price. Poor tourist.

 

I am glad there's internet and B&H. ;)

[ching_wa_yip]

You have to know where to shop, as you do anywhere else in the world (no offense). I was born in HK (now in US) and I have been buying photo gears in both places. As Roland mentioned I only have good things to say about Wing Shing and Man Shing in MongKok, Kowloon. Many of my HK friends shop there. As honest as B&H but with lower price in general... bought a new FM3a kit for ~US$200 less (forget how much exactly) 1 yr ago. -Best Regards

[raunak_k]

<p>Shops to visit: Wing Shing and Man Shing in Mongkok, Coxell cam2 in Mongkok, Citicall/fortress and Broadway chain stores, DC fever in Mongkok (inside simcity).<br>

Shops to avoid: Tin Cheung Camera, Mongkok. I was looking for a Manfrotto Tripod/head and a tripod bag and the prices they quoted were even more than those quoted on their website. Next day, I ended up buying the tripod/head from wing shing and went to Tin Cheung to only buy the bag. Finding that I had the Manfrotto with me they asked me where I got it from and for how much. When I told them, they said that they could offer me a better deal and that I should return the tripod to wing shing. Their price was only 30 HKD less than wing shing so I told them I was looking for the bag only. But now the price of the bag was a good 50 HKD more than the previous day !! I told the shopkeeper that I had come there only the previous day and that how could they increase the price so much in one day. She replied curtly that "if you want good price then you buy the bag and tripod/head from us". Was really fed up with their attitude and left from there. Picked up the bag finally at an even better price in DC fever in the same building. There are two more tin cheung camera stores in HK and people seem to say good things about them but I would advise tourists to go there with a chinese friend in order to avoid being ripped off. Also better to have an idea about the prices of the gear you want to buy and be sure about what you want to buy. Many of the shops (tin cheung, DC career, Shops on Nathan road, TST) will try to advise you to buy something else instead of what you were looking for. If you are not sure that the price the shop is offering is good or no, DON"T BUY. Go back to your hotel and look up the prices on the internet and come back the next day.</p>