Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Singapore a good place for electronic goods?

Strange as it may seem, tourists who come to Singapore for cheap electronic goods would do well to shop at home. I was researching the prices of cameras because I was thinking of getting a new one and found that the Canon SX110 IS selling in Singapore for about $450 (on eBay) was selling in Australia for $300 according to an Aussie bloke I contacted.




Canon Powershot SX110 IS
Even if we factor in the exchange rate and add 15 -20% more since until very recently the Aussie dollar was about that percentage more expensive than the Sing dollar, the Aussie price would still be lower than the Singapore price. US citizens could buy the same camera on Amazon.com at a lower price than they would pay here in Singapore.

I am sure that cameras are not the only items that are now more expensive in Singapore than in other countries. I wonder what has made us lose this edge in consumer goods. I don't for one moment think that we are paying more because service standards have risen. In this area, service standards, which includes product knowledge, is almost non-existent.