Best destinations to shop for travel gear and gadgets (part 2)
With the summer season creeping up on us the time for holidaying is coming and why not arrange for a holiday in some of the best destinations to shop for travel gear and gadgets while you’re at it.
We stayed firmly in Asia in our last article, talking about the options open to you in Hong Kong, South Kore and Japan but today we’ll be talking about the place where everything seems to be made in, China.
For those of you who are not sticklers for having brand name gadgets and you don’t mind locally branded versions of tech then you’ll find some of the cheapest Android tablets and phones in local Chinese computer markets, just that their names will be Ainol or Cube or something completely unknown in the West. A good place to start would be to check prices online on taobao – the Chinese version of eBay, and also a quick Google look will turn up lots of companies selling these devices overseas, but even so, the Chinese prices are roughly 20% cheaper than online exporters.
Sticking with the Asian location, you’ll find Singapore quite similar to Hong Kong, as far as finding and buying gadgets goes, even though Hong Kong prices are somewhat cheaper. You might however lean towards visiting Singapore because as opposed to Hong Kong, English is widely spoken here thus helping tremendously with bargaining and asking questions. Singapore is the place to go for general electronics, computers, cameras and high-street brands and you can also get back your 7% GST when you leave the country.
USA
In case you’re visiting America, the latest economic problems have driven as many prices as possible down since it’s still a place made for consumerism, make sure to keep an eye out of outlet malls where you can find out of season gear at serious discounts.
Keep our worldwide car hire services when planning to visit any of these places.
