Woes of buying photographic devices ..

The other day I went to a shop in Subang Jaya to ask for the price of the new Nikon D700 camera. The salesman quoted the price as RM 9,688/= body only. As usual, I asked for a discount knowing that shops in Malaysia always gave discounts if you were really serious to buy. However the salesman said that the price was fixed by the shop and that was the price he was willing to part with it - no more, no less. Not happy with the situation, I looked up at the Nikon Malaysia website and true enough, the price for the same camera was RM 9,688/=.

On further enquiries in PJ and KL, the prices quoted for the same camera were RM 8,800, RM 8,700, RM 8,600 and RM 8,500 provided you pay cash for it. If you use credit cards (Visa and Mastercard only, never Amex), the additional charges vary from 2 to 3 percent. Shashinki, an online shop based in Perak, quotes RM 8,888/=. for cash. Since prices are inconsistent I would rather wait until next year to acquire the D700 when its selling price would surely drop to perhaps RM 8,000 or much less.

But that's not all about the Nikon camera. Prices of accessories, of identical brands and specifications, such as filters, batteries, memory cards, flashlights, lenses, tripods, etc vary up to as much as 50 percent or more from shop to shop. Thus two shops I know quoted RM 174/= for a Hoya Polariser while a shop in KLCC quoted RM 100/= for an identical filter. However this same shop in KLCC quoted RM 450/= for a Sandisk Extreme III 8Giga 30 Mb/s memory card when I bought one in PJ for RM 310/=. When I asked the saleman why the big difference in prices for identical items, he was quick to reply that his products were all genuine.

It pays, therefore, to shop around before you intend to purchase, especially for an expensive item like a camera or a lens. The idiot who booked and finally bought the Nikon D700 from the Subang Jaya shop for RM 9,688/= missed a saving of RM 1,188/= if he had shopped around.

The moral of the story is that one could save hundreds, even thousands, if one takes the trouble of checking prices of products. A good way is to start looking up in the websites. You will then have an idea as to how much the product costs; then to physically visit those camera shops in the various complexes in the city and suburbs and make enquiries, assuring that you really wish to acquire the product you have in mind but not sure as to when you make a final decision. You will be surprised that you will be inundated with good offers.