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TP S$2.00; 36% upside...
HK: My encounter with an unsavoury sales practice
Written by Leong Chan Teik
Friday, 03 July 2009
Tsim Sa Tsui at night. Photo by Leong Chan Teik
THIS ARTICLE isn’t about stocks but it’s still about money – and how I recently discovered an unusual and unsavoury sales tactic of a shop in Hong Kong. I had a small interest in buying a new camera – a Nikon D60, which retails for S$988 in Courts Singapore.
I thought that since I was in Hong Kong, I’d check out the prices – without having any particularly strong desire to make a purchase. Passing by a shop near the Star Ferry terminal, I asked for the price and was told it’s HK$3,500.
That’s just about S$700, and my interest was considerably perked up. Not wanting to disrupt my family’s plans, I deferred checking out other stores until we were walking back to our hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui area.
I darted into and out of a few shops and each time the price got lower: HK$3,200, HK$2,800, and then HK$2,400. How did prices become progressively lower?
It had to do with my strategy of telling each of the shops about the lowest price I had been quoted. They simply had to give me a better deal, or lose a customer. But two shops didn’t – they stuck to their HK$3,500-HK$4,000 quotation.
As it would soon be dinner time, at around 6.30 pm, I settled on the next best deal from a shop near Prat Avenue and Chatham Road South.
A salesman there quoted HK$2,350 – about half the price in Singapore - and was I eager to lay my hands on the D60!
As we settled around a counter, the salesman started writing out an invoice and asked: “Can you pay now?”
I counted the money and handed it to him, expecting that in the next instant he would fish out the Nikon nicely packaged in a box.
He didn’t. I felt uneasy as he handed the cash and invoice to one of his colleagues, and then turn to tell me: “He has to go to our other shop to get the camera. We don’t keep stock for this model.”
The Nikon D60
Well, that’s reasonable enough, and he asked me why I had chosen the Nikon D60. “Actually, it’s not a good camera,” he began.
I was treated to some technical explanation about the disadvantages of the D60’s lens motor, and its CMOS image sensors. Then came the ‘I told you so’ proof: he took out a D60 that was on display, fiddled with it and asked me to shoot a few shots.
To my initial disbelief, the images had a bluish tinge – unlike the clear and sharp images of a Sony camera that I was asked to also try out.
But I have been a photographer hobbyist for too many years not to have confidence in the Nikon – and I was sure that I was being persuaded to give up the Nikon (for which the shop was probably making slim profits, if any) for the pricey Sony (HK$6,500).
Not wanting to be dragged further into why the D60 is a lousy camera, I changed the topic. ”So when will your man return with my camera?” I asked.
The salesman called out to one of his colleagues, who then picked up the phone and appeared to have a brief conversation.
The persuasion game resumed with the salesman asking me: “Why don’t you take the Sony? It’s now on promotion, and you get a telephoto lens on top of the standard lens.”
I politely replied: “Maybe next time. Now, it’s too expensive. I just want the D60. It’s more than enough for my needs.”
Salesman: “So price is your only consideration?”
I had to get him back to what I really wanted to know: “Hey, when is your man coming back? Why don’t you give me a time?”
Salesman: “He has to go to the warehouse, and take out the stock. You can’t wait?”
Me: “I can wait. Just tell me when he will be back.”
Salesman: “If you can’t wait, I will give you back your money.”
Me: “I can wait. Just tell me when he will be back.”
Salesman: “You take back your money and you come back later for your camera.” Me: “What time?”
Salesman: “10.30 pm.”
At that instant, I knew the HK$2,350 tag was nothing but a sales ploy. I took back the money, counted it twice, and walked off in a huff.
No way was I going to go back at 10.30 pm. My parting shot: “If you can’t sell at this price, why didn’t you say so?”
I got my money back but what if I had felt trapped and, at the same time, swayed by his talking down the D60 and bought the Sony instead? Certainly, I would have no bargaining power on his Sony, and would probably end up paying far more than even in Singapore!
What if I had paid for the Nikon through my credit card? Oh, the likely hassle to get my money back...
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