wco81

Wasn't looking to shop for anything but I thought I'd see what prices would be for a polarizer filter for a new lens that I'd brought.

Saw camera shops everywhere -- in malls connected to the TST MTR, for instance.

So I looked around in Harbour City mall and they'd punch in numbers into calculators. They were asking over $1600 for Hoya filters. When I said too much, the guy said $1200 promotional price.

I knew Amazon had B+W polarizers for $80-120.

Now I would expect high prices in these malls but they seemed to be quoting an initial inflated price and expecting people to pay or haggle it down?

I guess more popular or visible items like cameras and phones would be on display with prices listed but would those be straightforward transactions or would there be some shenanigans that I heard about, like items being substituted? I wouldn't think they'd do that in a mall ...

889

In HK, you're expected to know what you want and know what the current price is. Shops in tourist areas like Tsim Sha Tsui are a different breed where shenanigans are rife, but elsewhere there's surprisingly little bargaining and you usually get what you think you're getting.

It's up to you to know what the right price should be, and if the price you're given isn't good enough just move on no hard feelings.

Use Price.com to get an idea of current prices in HK for camera and electronic equipment, though be aware some listings are parallel imports, marked with a 水 character. They're usually cheaper but don't carry a warranty from the local distributor. It's mostly in Chinese, though not too hard to navigate.

http://www.price.com.hk/category.php...132&brand=Hoya

rkkwan

Plenty of mainlanders won't care about prices and they love Harbour City. Locals will never go to any of the camera shop there - even for chains, locals go to their Mong Kok shops instead. Locals know the shops have to inflate the prices to pay for the rent at Harbour City, and locals have no problem with mainlanders paying more than they should be.

wco81

Well I knew prices at places like Fortress would be comparable to list prices in the US.

But I figured without sales tax, prices would be the same or slightly lower than Amazon, Adorama, B&H, etc.

Hey we're way higher.

889

On cameras and electronics, the best prices worldwide not including sales tax are usually in the U.S. Further, Hong Kong tends to receive new models months after the U.S.

If you buy parallel imports in HK you can sometimes get good prices, but may have a warranty concern.

garykung

Are you a local? If not, that's why.

As ridiculous as it sounds, certain merchants in Hong Kong target on tourists, including those from Mainland China, by manipulating prices. Depend on the actual circumstance, what you have experienced may be a criminal offense.

gpia

No sales tax, but also no import tariffs whatsoever (other than on oil, cars, booze and cigs). I am always amazed how so many things are so much more expensive here than in most other places.

tentseller

When was the last time you paid rent for a premium commercial retail premise Hong Kong? Look up the retail rent per s.f. for Hong Kong and compare it to B&H.
I would not be surprise if the total retail rental cost of all the Fortresses or Broadways in HK is more than the facility cost of Amazon in US.

gpia

I am actually familiar with commercial rental prices. But this was actually kind of my point in the first place. You are comparing Amazon to Fortress and Broadway. Both of which do not have a noteworthy online retail presence. Neither do wellcome nor parknshop, although their online stores are somewhat functioning. I am not asking why Broadway and Fortress are selling at the high prices that they do, but why there is no relevant alternatives in this city of constant competition.

Why is there no relevant online store in Hong Kong? Plenty of warehousing space in the new territories.

wco81

The other thing is, there are tons of malls, arcades, etc.

I know space in HK is the highest premium but with so many malls in just about every block, there seems to be high supply of retail space?

I went to a restaurant by the Royal Pacific and got lost in the floor after floor of retailers I had to pass by just to get down to Canton road. Still all lights on on a Sunday evening yet some of the areas were fairly sparse.

Anyways I didn't expect prices to be a lot lower than Amazon but was surprised they were a lot more. If mainlanders don't know better, I guess the practice will continue.

889

This is a complicated issue.

Hong Kong isn't quite the free market place it appears to be, with developers controlling large commercial spaces and distributors controlling prices. You'll note there're no Walmarts in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Carrefour opened hipermarkets in Hong Kong, and fell flat on its face. They closed in 2000.

"A [Carrefour] company official in Paris said the urban development laws in Hong Kong were 'very restrictive for retail' and the group's original plans to expand could not go ahead. 'In Hong Kong, we had a shortage of places and we had no sites. It was not possible to find new locations and we wanted to become a significant size in Hong Kong,' the official said.

"However, retail industry sources speculated whether other retailers had effectively blocked discounter Carrefour from renting larger sites to stop its expansion. One Carrefour supplier also suggested that the spectre of discounting problems might have again reared its head for Carrefour.

"When Carrefour first arrived in the SAR, it attacked the comfortable duopoly run by the established ParknShop and Wellcome. But local suppliers quickly said they would no longer deliver products unless the French retailer put a halt to its discounting. At that time the Consumer Council quizzed 22 firms which had allegedly black-listed Carrefour.

"Seven confirmed taking action to enforce minimum prices, 12 denied the charge and three declined to comment on principle. Carrefour refused to comment yesterday on speculation that it had been squeezed out of Hong Kong."

http://www.scmp.com/article/325154/c...al-retail-mass

There are a few shops that specialize in parallel imports and have very good prices, like Prize-Mart for snacks, but considering Hong Kong's size there aren't that many. For cameras and electronics gear they're usually small operators you'll find on price.com who specialize in parallel imports. Parallel imports have problems with warranty and stable supply: you can never be sure what's going to be in stock.

wco81

Guess the govt is happy with the status quo, that is its coffers are full?

Are taxis licensed by the govt with significant revenues for the coffers? That is, is there an economic incentive to protect a limited set of businesses from encroachment by Uber or online discounters?

tentseller

I am not talking about the lack of online shopping and shipping from a warehouse operation in Hong Kong. We can't call it a cultural issue as online shopping and having the goods delivered is prospering in China.

I am comparing the total annual facilities cost of Amazon is around what Broadway and Fortress are paying for their spaces (my estimate base on experience in the HK property market inner circle).

As much as we want to call it a free market there is an economic system in place where everyone is assure of a cut of the profit and the prosperity boat is not rocked.

889

" . . . there is an economic system in place where everyone is assure of a cut of the profit and the prosperity boat is not rocked."

Taxis are a good example. Yes, they are licensed. Yes, licenses are restricted in number. And yes, the Government controls fares.

"Investment" in taxi licenses is big business in Hong Kong; urban licenses trade for almost US$900,000 each. Influential people have stakes in the taxi trade. Taxi drivers can easily make trouble on the roads. So the Government is loathe to rock the boat.

gpia

Not doubting or questioning your estimate. And I have actually been to B&H's HQ in NYC before, all the way up in that scary little two door elevator. Setting aside the online part of it all - how is it that the same bottle of cheap non branded water that is sold in Europe for 3.2 HKD (incl. 7% VAT in this case) for 18.9 HKD in stores (and online) here? It's not a xxx-layer distribution system like in Japan and Korea, and logistics/space can't attribute to several hundred percent. So yeah, the prosperity boat thing it must be, as illustrated in the Carrefour story above.