Shanghai Shopping Trip?

Pippy_Neville

Pippy_Neville

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A friend of mine is going to work in China for a few months, not too far from Shanghai - he's hoping to go and do some shopping for camera stuff while he's there and has asked me for my list too. I have to admit that at the moment neither of us knows if gear there is A) cheap or B) all fake.

Anyone been to Shanghai or know anything about what to look out for or where to go that's trustworthy? I'm not after a new body (not from there) so not too worried about warranty issues but I was thinking about some 580exii (or the new one that's rumoured if that's out by christmad) and some pocket wizards.

Oh, and I'll be in LA while he's in China, so I have the opportunity to buy stuff there instead?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Pip
 
I have been to Shanghai but didn't look at photo equipment at all. I would be VERY careful buying anything too expensive. In fact I would only buy from a place that I had had a personal recommendation for. ;)


Shanghai is an amazing city, you will ove it.
 
My experience of pricing is China is you only really save VAT. If you make it clear you don't want both receipts (one of which makes the seller have to pay a sales tax) you can usually get the goods a little cheaper. Make sure you keep the personal sales receipt to prove it was personally imported for any warranty claims.

You'll save nothing or potentially end up paying more if you declare the goods to customs. The fine is £250+ if you're caught trying to avoid declaring the goods. Your call if you want to roll the dice on that one!
 
Cheers guys, guess I'll not be bothering then. I've decided today not to get pocket wizards at the moment and spend the money on flashes instead (and order some RF602's off of Graham anyway)
 
Just to add my two penneth worth. When I was in China last year, I had just got my 450D from Jacobs Digital over here, and I didn't think the prices of camera gear over there were much of a bargain at all.

It led me to believe that rip-off Britain is not necessarily such a rip-off at all. Mind you, the prices probably start higher over there because they expect you to haggle them down!
 
Strange how different people have such different experiences...

I was in Shanghai a few weeks ago and did look to see what's available.
You won't find a camera shop there, what you will find is 3 separate locations that are totally dedicated to photography, I went to just one of them, 5 floors of a shopping mall, each floor dedicated to different product types (cameras/lenses, albums/mounts, small accessories, large format, lighting). The choice is totally amazing, I saw things there that you will never see in London or New York and all of the sellers are directly competing for your business, so the prices are very competitive.
And as for fake items, nonsense.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Strange how different people have such different experiences...

I was in Shanghai a few weeks ago and did look to see what's available.
You won't find a camera shop there, what you will find is 3 separate locations that are totally dedicated to photography, I went to just one of them, 5 floors of a shopping mall, each floor dedicated to different product types (cameras/lenses, albums/mounts, small accessories, large format, lighting). The choice is totally amazing, I saw things there that you will never see in London or New York and all of the sellers are directly competing for your business, so the prices are very competitive.
And as for fake items, nonsense.
Click to expand...

I agree about there being amazing stock (though Japan was even better for this!), but what reseller in the UK are you comparing prices with? How about compared to camera price buster? I realise it might not be an apples to apples comparison, but when abroad you typically don't have the luxury of buying online. I go to China semi-frequently, so if you have some insight on where to go and save (even at the current Y11:£1) then please give specifics.
 
Mud said:
I agree about there being amazing stock (though Japan was even better for this!), but what reseller in the UK are you comparing prices with? How about compared to camera price buster? I realise it might not be an apples to apples comparison, but when abroad you typically don't have the luxury of buying online. I go to China semi-frequently, so if you have some insight on where to go and save (even at the current Y11:£1) then please give specifics.
Click to expand...
I came back a month ago. I went to look, not to buy and can't even remember which of the malls I went to, although I could find out. It was a short taxi ride from the centre.
I looked at large format cameras and some other things and I think the price relationship was about the same as clothes, about half UK prices real prices, not marked prices.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I came back a month ago. I went to look, not to buy and can't even remember which of the malls I went to, although I could find out. It was a short taxi ride from the centre.
I looked at large format cameras and some other things and I think the price relationship was about the same as clothes, about half UK prices real prices, not marked prices.
Click to expand...
If you could let me know whereabouts the mall/s were and what they were called I'd really appreciate it Garry.
Cheers
pip
 
db247 said:
Thirded :) I'll be there in December. Garry.. thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
So will I, not forgotten - just waiting for someone to get back to me
 
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