Most countries in the Western world have dropped luxury taxes and import
duties on electronics. The only real difference in prices should derive from
local taxes, particularly VAT style taxes.
Here in Australia the VAT (GST) is 10%. I would bet that you could buy a
camcorder from a discount outlet here for no more than 10% more than you
could buy it in Hong Kong. (And you can claim the GST back when you leave
Australia ...). In fact, I bet you could buy it on-line cheaper in Australia
than in a shop in HK, as the overheads are so low.
Its not that HK has become expensive. Its that the Western world has largely
dropped punitive taxes on electronics, so the rest of the world has become
cheap.
USA is undoubtedly the cheapest/best place to buy, as some States have no
sales tax at all, and there is huge competition and range. You will probably
get stuff another 10% cheaper than in HK, if you can wait that long.
Australia or HK second best, Singapore next, forget about the rest.
Personally, I would just buy it in Norway. That way you can take your time
to find the best deal, play with it before you go, it will work with your TV
and voltage standards, warranty will be available, etc etc. This stuff has
got to be worth more than saving 10% of the purchase price?
"Hallvard Tangeraas" wrote in message
news:1g1dc2t.1s6m8941rmst0kN%hallvard@despammed.com...
> wrote:
>
> > I am here in Hong Kong working and can check some prices for you if
> > you let me know what band and model you are looking for.
>
> Thanks. I've already mailed you privately about that.
>
> Since I posted my initial message I found some prices of camcorders in
> Hong Kong, and they're not much cheaper than here in Norway!!!
> Perhaps 5% to 10% cheaper :-(
>
> Has Hong Kong become an expensive place lately? I lived there until
> 1984, and was back on a short vacation 10 years ago. Prices were a lot
> lower in comparison to back home here, but perhaps that's changed.
>
> I'm looking into buying various electronic devices (such as a MiniDisc
> (MD) recorder) and camera stuff (additional lenses, filters etc.), but
> maybe other places I'm going to will be cheaper? Isn't Hong Kong the
> cheap "shopper's paradise" it used to be?
>
> Along my trip I'll be going to: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia,
> Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, USA. Will any of these places
> be better for shopping than Hong Kong? Useful to know before I start on
> my trip as Hong Kong will be the first stop.
>
>
> Hallvard
> --
> Atari Launchpad :
> Notator/Creator SL :
|
