OK call me paranoid.. but all those big brands that they sell in the electronic malls - are they guaranteed to be genuine? Sony, Canon, Epson, and cameras and camera memory cards - Sandisk, etc..?

Nope....not a one.

Copies of all of them are availible in China.

Best Buy....probably the best shot at getting genuine goods.

I am more worried about used one than fake one.

Welcome to the quintessential dilemma in all of China for the next 50 years.

if one thing in china is real,it must be you

In the bigger stores you generally won't find too much fake stuff. And if in doubt, take a local along, I've got some local buddies who seem to be able to spot anything fake from 50 yards away. There are just small, subtle signs you wouldn't even think of that often give it away. With memory cards, though, it's pretty hard to distinguish real from fake. And the ones you buy from online auction sites are 95% fake.

jeannie5 wrote:if one thing in china is real,it must be you

Hey...... I LOVE China, there are just some people here that are making it bad for the rest of us.

I have bough in the last 5 years quite a lot of expensive electronic gear at the small stalls underground in xujiahui, and similar spots in beijing. Including 2 digital cameras, one about 1000USD. My experience is that they sell the real stuff, I have compared with the same models bought in Europe, and they work exactly the same. Then again, the price is not so low here, only about 10-20% lower than Europe.

I think for hi-tech devices there are not so many fakes because it would be difficult to copy the latest canon camera/ipod/etc. They would need to get some chips and components that are not readily available in the market.

For simpler things, such as flash cards, spare batteries, cases, straps, etc., these are usually fake, but then if you insist on it they usually admit it. And really, it is a very good deal as they usually work OK, and it is in the accesories that you can really cut the price, possible to negociate down to 50%.

it is a wrong idea that you think all are fake, but it is also a wrong idea that you think all are original.
anyway, You get what you pay for. remember that...

george_916 wrote: You get what you pay for. remember that...

NO PLACE is this further from the truth than in China.... if you get scammed out of the gate [which is SOP here], then a high price doesn't always guarantee quality stuff.

As a general rule though, you are correct IF you are getting authentic merchandise.

Why don't you just do the natural thing: ask them if its fake, ask to see it, try it in the shop, spend half an hour testing sound/taking pictures, whatever . If it works fine, then it is fine, no??

Check out the small stalls at Xujiahui, there are so many of them identical, that you are always sure to get the best price, by walking on to the next stall once you get the lowest offer from one. Cheaper that big malls and more choice. They have really all the models.

if you want to buy original stuff, then you should go to official shop in shanghai.
but if you think you will get cheaper one from those small stalls or even retailors in street. you will take a risk that you will be ripped off or cheated.
it is fair, isn't it?

jeannie5 wrote:if one thing in china is real,it must be you

hahhahahhaha.....this is a good one~

Real Products - Usually the cheaper stuff is grey import - from HK or Japan.
So no tax paid on it.

You may have warranty problems if you have issues, but usually the store will take care of that for you. I would say its no more hassle than trying to get a locally bought item fixed here.

You get what you pay for - if its too cheap, usually there is a reason.
That said, many copies are *better* quality than the real things in some cases.

You generally won't see copies of laptops and expensive electronics goods - the margins aren't there. Stuff like ipod copies and memory sticks you'll get tons of fakes because they're cheap to make, and the margins are there.

They're pretty obvious to spot though.

China's QC is getting better and better all the time. Some things are crap because they're priced that way. I'd buy Chinese goods in the middle tier - they're cheaper than western ones, and the quality (and sometimes the factory) is the same.

Don't worry so much about it.

Also, don't go for the cheapest cheapest price you can find.

I usually pay a little more, and get from a supplier that will be around in a year.
The ones that don't know how to do business price themselves out of the market, and may not be there in 2 or 3 months time...

Yeah, ^^ totally agree. You do get fake ipods and cameras, but they are very obvious fakes. If you see an ipod/digicam, and try it, and it looks and works like it is supposed to, then it is the real thing. The prices are not that much cheaper than in Europe though.

I think it depends very much on what kind of device you are buying. For equipment where the quality aspect is more subjective, like sound systems, it does get tricky.

I saw some beautiful Marantz amps at the electronics market on Fuxing Lu for over 2000USD. It is so easy to fake these analog electronics just using poor quality components that I would never risk buying that kind of thing here. And sound tests in a shop can be deceiving.

OK rather than starting a new thread I have another question.

I am assuming the things I am after are NOT fake because... it is very hard to bargain. I'll be lucky if I can get 10% off. I don't know if it's because of me or what but they don't seem to be interested in giving me a 'good' price at all and happy to let me walk away. This has happened at many many vendors at both Xujiahui and HK digital plaza.

Soo.... what is the deal here?

Why can't we get the price much lower? is it fixed?? is their profit margin that small?

I'm after a specific model of printer, and a camera and the price does not vary much from store to store either. 100 RMB at most.

It's not the fake market [as far as you know]... so chances are "most" products are real and therefore are both higher priced and also have lower margins.

camelina, one thing you should know about Nikon (and I am assuming other high-end camera companies) is that they control their pricing pretty tightly. For someone to be an "authorized Nikon dealer" they must agree to sell Nikon items for what the company tells them to. This is to avoid a price war. You might get them down a bit, but for the most part anybody who sells Nikon items can not dip below a certain level. I got a Nikon D80 six months ago, and every shop I visited that was an authorized Nikon dealer had a price within 5% of every other shop.

Go to Gubei Carrefour, there is a new shoe shop on the second floor. It is called 'Claohe' . It's logo is uncannily just like the Clarkes logo in both colour and text style. And just to reassure the would be buyer underneath it it states 'Made from England'...

Shoes are technological?

both of the XD memory cards I've bought in China have become corrupt a few months after buying them. I bought what looked to be genuine brands, so who knows whether it was a fake or just poor QC from a reputable company.
Bought them at the camera mall and XJH Grand Gateway- pretty frustrating.

Think I'll go to Best Buy for my next card

SanDisk..Same.
Bought three ...all puked in the middle of use. Lost data once.

Buy "real"

ULNBcn wrote:Shoes are technological?

Just another example of false branding

* Andyfff - Yes I had the exact same experience with Canon so what you say must be true. The prices I got were xx00, xx50, xx90, xx99. And all stores wouldn't go down at all. - so by that I assume they must be the real deal, then?

* Swissjames - So Bestbuy definitely has real cards? Yes I have heard about the fake memory cards being rife.. and very hard to tell the difference.

* Shanghaiceltic - Yes I have seen that fake Clarks shoe store too and thought exactly the same thing! hahahaa.

@george_916, @ULNBcn .... word

What you pay for is what you get. If you are a tight assss and expect a $1000USD item for $30USD, then ask yourself this .... WHY/HOW????

And as ULN said, not all electronic items are cheap in China, some items are 15-25% cheaper in HKG/SGP.....

If you are anally paraniod about legit electronic gear - get it from a brand name department store (ie Best Buy as a previous poster mentioned).

I've seen Brand Name stores carry fakes.
Carrefour has been successfully sued here for selling fakes (shoes).

Mind, you, after going to Yiwu, and looking at what they sell shoes for, I'm not buying retail again..

Real Cards - I generally stick with Kingston - you can check the website to see if the manufacture number is real or not. Plus they have lifetime warranty, so if it breaks, you swap out for another one.

Flash does have a limited lifetime - cheap flash only lasts for 10,000 writes or so, and some of the fakes use the cheap cheap stuff. You also get stuff thats labelled incorrectly - I've had people try to sell me 32G Sony USB sticks for silly money (200rmb), if it doesn't smell right pricewise, its not real.

Most stores here will have the same prices for stuff like Camera's, as there is very little margin - 3-5% is common. The ones that are cheaper are grey import. If you buy something thats cheaper, make sure they will honour the warranty.

Generally if the instructions are in English, its an import.

If you can, get stuff made in Japan, the QC is excellent, especially for Camera equipment. Malaysian and Thai stuff isn't that much different from China made imho, so there isn't much to be gained from that. For HDD's, definitely avoid Malaysia, China ones last longer.

Best Buy also carries fakes, so be careful there too.

yes, they are probably the real deal.

Best Buy also carries fakes??? Well what hope is there then?

Well I would go to BB to save myself the stress however they don't sell the model I am after.