Oh ye of little faith! :p

Actually, it's also because you can get an occasional dud, even if absolutely real and from a store known for selling genuine merchandise. I've had this happen even in the USA. Returns even to willing merchants aren't fun anywhere in the world. So not only do I check memory sticks and minispeakers at BuyNow Electronics Mall, I've even had Carrefour here in Beijing open the Philips vacuum cleaner box, checked for inclusion of all the accessories, and plug it in and run it in the store...before repacking it. A heck of a lot easier to check in the store rather than get it all the way home only to be surprised. I've actually done similar in the USA (after paying of course). The look on the faces of the store personnel is priceless...:D

Indeed, merchants who accept returns are not necessarily sourcing higher quality goods, but they're probably just building it into their retail price so that they end up with the same or perhaps even a bigger margin.

In the absence of government regulation, competition means that the lowest price usually wins.

I have never found anything at the electronic malls in Zhongguancun
thats a better price then in the US. Except bootleg software
which 9 times out of ten doesn't work anyway.

I too have never had much success at finding bargains at electronic malls. However, if you can read a bit of Chinese and are technically inclined, there are many bargains to be had here.

For example, I've just picked up 6 802.11n routers for Y159 each. The cheapest comparable product in the US is $34.

The only catch is that the firmware is Chinese so it needs to be reflashed. But the hardware is identical.

Actually there are some decent prices for genuine accessory-type items, if you know your merchandise and your local vendors. You have to remember that some of us live in China, and don't get back to the USA but once or twice a year. Yes, I prefer to order from newegg.com or similar and pick it up in the USA, but when you need a new flash memory stick or cell phone battery, sometimes you can't wait, regardless of price differentials or quality risk. This is where local "trustworthy" (I use that word on a relative basis) sources come in handy. But again, to repeat my original advice to OP, for the casual visitor, I wouldn't recommend making China the focus of an electronic or photographic shopping trip for high-value merchandise.

There are many cases of people being shown fake demos or similar. Being shown a demo of an item doesn't always equate to being given a legitimate product. Even before you delve into the issue of International warranties.

How about?

-cell phone chargers
-Li batteries
-routers (as noted above)
-refurbished computers (like the place on Women's Street)
-entry level cell phones
-noise canceling headsets

Don't forget Hello Kitty cell phone charms^

The demo is pretty foolproof for the smallish things I've bought (i.e., memory sticks and lithium batteries). And for those things, I've been more concerned about whether the device is properly functional rather than whether it is genuine.

I haven't bought a PC in China but if I ever did, probably I wouldn't be satisfied with a demo, I'd have it assembled and test it myself for a half hour. But my knowledge of the area may not be typical of all.

full disclosure: I already bought the camera in the US but I was just having buyers remorse and wondering if I shouldn't have waited until I was in Macau next week. Glad to hear I probably did the right thing in that regard.

as for the SD card, i live in kind of a podunk town so the biggest I can find without ordering is 16 gb but I want a 32 or bigger (napoleon complex). However I am leaving soon so I don't want to ship one. So somewhere in Taiwan, Macau, HK, or Shanghai I will probably buy a 32 gb or bigger SDHC card.

I guess I am really not looking to get a deal neccessarily, but not to get ripped-off. I am getting the impression that maybe HK would be the best for this... or maybe TPE but I will only be near the airport. Is there an electronics district in HK or should I go to a big-box? Also I will be in MFM first so are there ANY reputable electronics stores there?

and on a sidenote, does anyone how what the biggest SDHC card currently available is?

I've bought very inexpensive "universal" DVD players in China -- prices ran from $25 to $50 USD -- that we got so we could watch Region 6 DVDs when we got home.

Just be prepared to pay more for it in China than you would pay online in the U.S. You might think that electronics stuff is cheaper because so much of it is made there, but it's hard to beat U.S. sale prices. In fact, if you find one on sale at Fry's, you could probably have it shipped overnight and pay less than you would in China!

While I'm convinced that Fry's sells many of its loss leaders below cost, I still maintain that certain products are even cheaper in China. SD cards are a category that could go either way; just be sure to test it before you buy.

Be really carefull with memory cards etc as ebay if flooded with sticks etc that for instance will say 32gb.. when you do the properties of it on the computer it shows 32gb. The reallity of it is that it is only 8gb. You can search yahoo to find a free program to run on the stick to determine what it really is. I bought one and I am pretty computer savy and I thought It was really 32 gb but when I ran the test it was only 8gb. Fortunately I got a refund. But be very carefull as most of them are coming from China.

Last trip I saw a guy selling 120gb and 240gb flash drives. You expect me to believe those sizes???