Buying camera online

[dradttg]

Dear all,

I just went to check out the price of Olympus C5060 at Best just now and was quoted $1400. For Cathay Photo I was quoted $1300.

I visited some online website in the US and the price of this camera is only USD$467 and for one it was going at USD$395 for brand new with full assessories.

For the price I will pay for C5060 here, I can get a C8080 with a lot of other assessories.

I am very tempted to buy from the website but wonder if there will be any warranty or other problems.

Have any of you buy from online website before?

Thank you.

[weileong]

You buy overseas then no warranty

So a bit of luck applies.

[jesperlam]

But do they have something call International warranty?

[dradttg]

You buy overseas then no warranty

So a bit of luck applies.

I worry about that too.

I have sent email to ask them liao because most of them say USA Warranty. If only pay a bit more, I will upgrade to International.

[lightningstrike]

can any bro advice whether i will be able to but a digicam at changi DFS store upon my return to spore? if can, will be the tax-free price be lower than that in the market?

[neokn]

Check out Alan Photo @ SLS before you decide on the camera. They provide good service and cheap price.

[dradttg]

can any bro advice whether i will be able to but a digicam at changi DFS store upon my return to spore? if can, will be the tax-free price be lower than that in the market?

Dont know bro.

I find that the DFS stuff are not much cheaper than the non-DFS ones.

[dradttg]

Check out Alan Photo @ SLS before you decide on the camera. They provide good service and cheap price.

Hi Bro,

Where's SLS?

Thanks.

[lightningstrike]

Hi Bro,

Where's SLS?

Thanks.

SLS = Sim Lim Square

[dradttg]

SLS = Sim Lim Square

icic...getting old liao. All the abbreviation dont understand.

I am not really that experience with camera and my experience with Sim Lim Square is sometime they have "special" type of warranty or sometime some of the parts that is suppose to be in the box is not there. Tt why I am quite apprehensive about getting things there.

I will go check it out.

[surfedelic]

Try www.bargaincity.com.sg

[weileong]

I once bought a garmin GPS locally.

Before that I was looking at mail ordering it but later I decided to get it locally at abt 40% more cost.

After I got my garmin GPS, I used it and soon after 10mins or so it con out. I immediately went back to the local agent and they gave me a brand new unit.

Wow imagine if I bought it from US and the same thing happen then I will need to send back to the US already.

The price difference was around $400. Guess there is just a risk to take.

[neokn]

icic...getting old liao. All the abbreviation dont understand.

I am not really that experience with camera and my experience with Sim Lim Square is sometime they have "special" type of warranty or sometime some of the parts that is suppose to be in the box is not there. Tt why I am quite apprehensive about getting things there.

I will go check it out.

You can trust Alan Photo for not excluding any addition item that is included in your package. Check out the camera package from Cathay Photo if you are not sure what's in the package.

Also brush up your bargain skill who konws you will fetch an unbelievable price from them. Ps. Don't mistake this statement as they sell item expensive, just that if you want more discount or any extra freebie that is how you will be getting it.

[terryansimon]

can any bro advice whether i will be able to but a digicam at changi DFS store upon my return to spore? if can, will be the tax-free price be lower than that in the market?

no. return from other country into Changi, the only DFS you can buy is liquor and perfume. not even cigarettes. electronics and everything is only when you leave.

I may be wrong though, but I swear this was the case when I came back from Thailand.

[dradttg]

You can trust Alan Photo for not excluding any addition item that is included in your package. Check out the camera package from Cathay Photo if you are not sure what's in the package.

Also brush up your bargain skill who konws you will fetch an unbelievable price from them. Ps. Don't mistake this statement as they sell item expensive, just that if you want more discount or any extra freebie that is how you will be getting it.

I hope so too. Really really too much different in price (about $600).

Bargain city fare better with $1200 + 3 freebies.

[terryansimon]

I always, without fail, get my stuff from Cathay Photo. the guys at Peninsula Plaza are especially friendly, and are always willing to answer every idiotic question I throw at them. be it lens material, thread size, speed, etc, they always never fail to answer with a smile on their face. not to mention they don't take it personally if you say you don't want the product.

I can't say the same for Alan Photo. I've been there a couple of times and a couple of times I've been....well, treated with answers that sound like as if he could do without my sales. so I'm not too pleased with their serivce overall.

if you want, you can check out John 3:16 at Funan. they offer quite good service there as well, although I've heard one complain from a person, saying that they actually laugh at newbies there etc.

overall, shop around at the more established places like Cathay/Alan first. get the price quotations, find out what is included in any packages, and then go bargain hunting. the best place to do bargain hunting will be Sim Lim Square. but if I'm not mistaken, most cameras now have a price protection system there. meaning to say that the agent actually sets a price at which they can sell at. or an RRP. a shop will most likely not sell below the RRP simply because it will not be maximising it's profits, unless it's ultra confident that this move will allow it to have a larger customer base.

so check out Sim Lim Square and find out whether they sell below a certain price, and if they do sell below a certain price, try and see if there is anything that is short changed. like....exclusion of extra batteries/media/camera bag/etc.

[dradttg]

I always, without fail, get my stuff from Cathay Photo. the guys at Peninsula Plaza are especially friendly, and are always willing to answer every idiotic question I throw at them. be it lens material, thread size, speed, etc, they always never fail to answer with a smile on their face. not to mention they don't take it personally if you say you don't want the product.

I can't say the same for Alan Photo. I've been there a couple of times and a couple of times I've been....well, treated with answers that sound like as if he could do without my sales. so I'm not too pleased with their serivce overall.

if you want, you can check out John 3:16 at Funan. they offer quite good service there as well, although I've heard one complain from a person, saying that they actually laugh at newbies there etc.

overall, shop around at the more established places like Cathay/Alan first. get the price quotations, find out what is included in any packages, and then go bargain hunting. the best place to do bargain hunting will be Sim Lim Square. but if I'm not mistaken, most cameras now have a price protection system there. meaning to say that the agent actually sets a price at which they can sell at. or an RRP. a shop will most likely not sell below the RRP simply because it will not be maximising it's profits, unless it's ultra confident that this move will allow it to have a larger customer base.

so check out Sim Lim Square and find out whether they sell below a certain price, and if they do sell below a certain price, try and see if there is anything that is short changed. like....exclusion of extra batteries/media/camera bag/etc.

Thanks for the advise.

Cathay Photo was the first one I check the price with because I have gotten my first digital there too. The only problem is their working hour 7 pm and 8 pm. I can never reach there on time.

[neokn]

I always, without fail, get my stuff from Cathay Photo. the guys at Peninsula Plaza are especially friendly, and are always willing to answer every idiotic question I throw at them. be it lens material, thread size, speed, etc, they always never fail to answer with a smile on their face. not to mention they don't take it personally if you say you don't want the product.

I can't say the same for Alan Photo. I've been there a couple of times and a couple of times I've been....well, treated with answers that sound like as if he could do without my sales. so I'm not too pleased with their serivce overall.

if you want, you can check out John 3:16 at Funan. they offer quite good service there as well, although I've heard one complain from a person, saying that they actually laugh at newbies there etc.

overall, shop around at the more established places like Cathay/Alan first. get the price quotations, find out what is included in any packages, and then go bargain hunting. the best place to do bargain hunting will be Sim Lim Square. but if I'm not mistaken, most cameras now have a price protection system there. meaning to say that the agent actually sets a price at which they can sell at. or an RRP. a shop will most likely not sell below the RRP simply because it will not be maximising it's profits, unless it's ultra confident that this move will allow it to have a larger customer base.

so check out Sim Lim Square and find out whether they sell below a certain price, and if they do sell below a certain price, try and see if there is anything that is short changed. like....exclusion of extra batteries/media/camera bag/etc.

No offence. But I always get that "What you want" & "Can you afford" type of look on their face whenever I enter C*****y P**** @ Peninsula. May be because of my casual wear or I don't have ###### hair????? Anyway, C***** P**** @ Centerpoint is worth visiting coz they don't give me that look there.

Alan Photo - Yes, you will get ignore couple of time. But whenever I go there that means I just ask their price and if it is reasonable price below ..... I will complete the transaction.

John 3:16 is also a good camera shop to check out. Look for Samuel if you are there, nice chap whom is always willing to help. (Provided he is not busy) coz they are shorthanded. I normally seat for 15 to 20mins to get serve coz they are always so chatty with every customers.

SLS RRP is set by their internal committee, gone are the days where 1 shop will differents in $50 to $100 from one another. And also then there was the parallel importer whom are selling their item @ what reseller shop is getting.

[terryansimon]

RRP isn't set by internal committee, but rather the agent that brings the camera in. unless the internal committee is the agent itself, then fair enough.

how can the internal committee have a say in how much the camera can be sold for? or a certain product for that matter. the IC can only enforce it and say you must not sell above RRP or below your cost. that's all.

either that, or I'm wrong.

and parallel importers do not enjoy local warranty rights, unless they exclusively go pay a premium with the local agent. but by doing that, you need to recover your cost, and the price difference will be the same as those that come in with an agent authorising it.

[neokn]

True, RRP or what we call controlled price is set by distriubutor. This is have been closely followed for brands like S*** and a hand full. Another pricing will be called the Preferred Retail Price which the profit margin is advise by the internal committee to prevent huge price war, so nowsaday you don't see such a big price gap.

Well, like I say gone are the days when everyone is so scare of going to SLS coz they don't know whether will they be the next robert or not. I'm guilty as one of the Robert too.

Some distributor may have problem trying to match the cost of some product that are imported. But I think end user will benefit from parallel importing coz most of the pple whom you see @ SLS level 1 to 3 are mostly foreigner. So will the computer end-users from level 4 to 6.

Cheers

[dradttg]

Just went to Alan @ SLS yesterday.

Very happy with the service. This is the first time I was told by a salesman in SLS to wait another 2 - 3 weeks for new model of camera to come out. I still remember the days when the salesman insisted on discussing the price before a demo.

Thanks for the good recommendation.