How to Buy Gadgets in China And Not Get Screwed

pocketbook full of cash and bags at quick , I stood , sass agape love , in front of the five - story electronics fair in front of me . It was one of several 12 in Shanghai , magical places where floor after floor are meet to bursting with gadget vendors begging you to stop by and see their wares . Like Circuit Cities on scissure , everyone inside is despairing to make a sales event and every price is conveyable . Welcome to the way the Chinese - or at least the legal age who live in megacities like this one - buy their electronics . Just minute earlier , I had directed a cab machine driver to take me to one of the bigger technical school market place , the Shanghai PC Mall , locate in the Pudong expanse of Shanghai . “ Are you certain you do n’t want to go to a Best Buy ? We have those here now , ” he said . It ’s true - Best Buy afford its largest store ever in Shanghai in 2006 . Since then , it ’s issue the red ribbon on a 2nd outlet and recently received permission from the government to start building four more . But what would be the pointedness of me exit there ?

One of the more ironical qualities of corrupt electronics in China is that , despite all components being made here , strange ship’s company goods still count as imports . Suggested retail damage are pumped even gamy than they would be in the U.S … . unless you know how to negotiate for a better deal . But Best Buy scowl on bargaining , even in China . “ You are n’t a local . The shopkeepers will snap you apart , ” the taxi driver warn , laughing , as we approached the Shanghai PC Mall . Well , we ’d see about that . I marched resolutely in , and was mechanically bomb by three sales agreement clerks from three different booths , all hawking the latest notebooks from some of the best known tummy - Sony , Toshiba , Dell . “ Come and browse for a minute , maybe you ’ll see something you like , ” said one . “ Go this way , we have a extra today that you might be interested in , ” warbled another . “ What do you need ? What do you require ? state me , I ’ll bump you a good deal , ” the third trill .

In every cubicle - like course is a representative who ’ll help desexualize your microcomputer problem and , if you ’re not measured , sell you something you do n’t call for . I have to admit , the saturation start me . Coming from New York , I was used to aisle of disaffected or otherwise nonexistent employees . The last metre I ’d seen such fervor was when a kid in an oversized blue shirt confirmed that I was buying something expensive and insisted I needed a longer warranty . I scuttled off apace and the three salespeople mechanically turned around to provoke the next mortal to enter . This time around , I was n’t track down big game . Televisions , netbooks and DSLR tv camera would have to wait until I ’d become more sure-footed in my chaffering … and had more hard cash . Debit notice are still pretty rare in this rural area , and credit cards even more so . Most minutes still rely , ridiculously , on cold hard placard . To bribe a comely laptop , I ’d have to stuff my pocket with over a thousand 100 - Yuan dynasty notes — Chinese currency ’s largest denomination .

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Every booth sells its own unique odds and ends of gadgetry , imperviable to categorization or rescript . On this trip-up , my list was more mundane , consist mostly of accouterment and doodads . I block at a booth with at least thirteen brands of webcams crowd around an liquid crystal display screen . Some were from launch name like Logitech , others were made by local companies I ’d never heard of . After waffling a bit over the specifications of each choice the market keeper presented me , I asked how much for a simple Chinese - branded 3 - megapixel number . “ 180 kwai , ” she say . I paused then respond that I ’d actually take it for 100 Mongol dynasty . “ Done ! ” She pack it up apace , grin and stretch out her hired hand to take my bill . Damn it . I ’d done enough bargaining in my life to know that when a deal is solve this quickly , I ’d probably been suckered . indisputable $ 15 U.S. is n’t a horrible price to ante up for a webcam , but who knows how cheap I could of stimulate it for if I ’d been a little more ambitious . I vow to stick to brand name goods from then on , where at least the obsessive hours I ’d drop browsing Consumer Reports and Newegg.com would give me some indication of their true value .

level upon splendiferous sheeny floor of stuff ! With that in mind , I next tried my hand at nabbing a wireless router . This meter around I went for something I recognized : an 802.11b / g Netgear that would run about $ 40 in the US . The starting price this time around was 300 yuan ( or about $ 45 ) . I countered with 150 and was scoff at . Employing my good “ Well , if you really are n’t get going to sell it to me for that much , I guess I ’ll just be on my manner ” looking , I got the clerk to sigh and give it to me for 200 yuan . $ 10 off the US price and no sales tax added on at the end of the mess . Not too shabby . In the next minute , I haggled over everything from speakers to hard drives to extra RAM for my laptop computer ( installed for loose , with an extra discount bemuse in if I result my old storage stick with them ) . I came home that day , arms loaded with new clobber , fill with having save a good 20 to 25 % off of US street monetary value .

Yes , those are iPhones ( and actual ace , too ) . No , they ’re not supported in China yet . Do n’t tell anyone , okay ? And yet , I had also work out out why Best Buy , despite its inherent inability to ever vie on price , was doing so well over here . negociate for what you want is a pain . Being accosted by vendors attempt to convert you that they ’re the 1 you should buy from is a mess of accent . Worrying about whether everything will turn as promised at home is downright draining . And the mirthful thing was , I approached the experience as an informed consumer . It must be a thousand clip more frustrating for someone with less experience , who would doubtless actualize too late that they paid way of life more than they should have . What Best Buy offers in China is a haven for the emotionally outwear . Their store comes at a hefty exchange premium , but with none of the uncertainty of the tech bazaars . You ’ll never turn around and find the next vendor selling what you just bought for 10 % less . There is no “ if only I were savvier ” moment . Oh — and if something is amiss with your purchase , Best Buy wo n’t call at you for being a doofus when you rejoin it ( well , at least not over here . The Consumeristsays things might be different States - side ) . That kind of psychological self-confidence has put the company in a curiously sinewy position . Despite initially horrendous predictions , Best Buy ’s Shanghai wall socket is now one of the company ’s top-10 revenue generator worldwide . This is credibly why three of its four raw China stores will be locate in this city . But would I lead there the next time I require a flying gadget locating ? Heck no . Somewhere back at the Shanghai PC Mall , there ’s a netbook with my name on it . And it ’s waiting for me to get ahead it in a bargaining battle for the ages . Paying retail ? That ’s for sissies .

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