What is best done in Singapore only? Yea, you guessed it right. Shopping. This is like the national activity. Everybody seems to be filling the carts. Most of the people in the streets have one or two shopping bags in hand and you can tell that they just bought something. Singapore is a major tourist destination in Asia and a lot of trade is done in the city from the water route. Add this geographical benefit to the excise and trade policies; and Singapore becomes a hot destination for shopping.
Get your fix of Laptops, Phones and Cameras now - Everything about the 5 Top Locations for Electronics Shopping in Singapore!
1. Funan – My personal Favorite
A 5 minutes walk from the central City Hall MRT Station is Singapore’s (second) biggest IT Mall, however Sim Lim claiming the first spot wont appear int the Top 5 here, read my warning about the place at the end of this post.
Funan has established itself as the flagship mall for “original” products and good service, both which is missed in Sim Lim.
Funan (Details)
109 North Bridge Road Singapore 179097
Mo-Su: 10.30am – 8.30pm
2. At the annual IT Show Singapore
Once a year Singapore becomes the hub for the South East Asian IT scene, over 4 days the IT Show at Suntec City will display, sell and show off the latest, cheapest and best technologies, gadgets, cameras, PCs… basically everything the electronics enthusiast is dreaming off!
Its the perfect place to find bargains and extremely good deals!
3. Serangoon Plaza / Mustafa Center – 24 Hours of Everything
Mustafa is and will always be a great destination to shop electronics items. Or actually, to shop everything! At Mustafa you get the latest Apple product just next to a bag of turkish spices and a Soccer Jersey from 1980.
For electronics, you can remove the packing and see the real stuff. This is something not entertained in many shopping centers especially for electronics items. Even if you wish to reject the product afterwards, you can just walk right away. The prices are comparative to other markets and ambiance is good. You can see many foreigners there shopping for the electronic items at throw-away prices. Also, there is GST counter inside, which helps to do the paperwork done right there in the premises.
Mustafa Center (Details)
145 Syed Alwi Road Singapore 20770
24 Hours
4. Lucky Plaza – On Orchard Road
The place is unreal with hordes of electronic shops. Although, the prices may seem high initially, but they are because of tourists influx. Also, there are many branded dealers here, but they sell goods at fixed prices. If you bargain, you can have a pretty good deal in your hands. Most of them will reduce the price by 40-50%. However, do check for the original authenticated stickers on the goods before shopping.
Lucky Plaza (Details)
UOB – Lucky Plaza Basement 1
5. Little India
Generally, there are many centers in Little India town for shopping. The Mustafa center too, is located in here.
The whole place has a warm ambiance with spicy and incense fragrances making for a pleasant strolling and shopping environment. The place is overloaded with electronics goods shops. Small or big, you have them all in Little India. The hustle and bustle of the place is tempting enough, just to take a stroll or buy some electronics.
Little India (Details)
Serangoon Rd, Singapore, Singapore 218109
24 hours
WARNING: Sim Lim Square
It has 3 floors of pure electronic heaven or hell. There might be everything available here but what price for. It seems Sim Lim Square is under constant investigation of the Singapore Authorities for scamming tourists, overpricing and selling fake or broken products as new.
For more info read: 5 Places you should avoid when shopping in Singapore
by an Asia experienced 26 year young expat living and surviving in Singapore since years!
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7 Comments for this post
Mar 11, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I wasn’t so impressed with lucky plaza for electronics shopping. Sure there’s lots of stores but the customer service is often not good (sometimes downright obnoxious)
Mar 12, 2010 at 12:05 am
You are bang on target especially with Funan and Mustafa. So whats your take on other fairs like SITEX etc
Apr 8, 2010 at 1:25 am
if you notice, the prices at sitex and sim lim are almost the same. sitex is a place to launch new products and clear off old stocks. if you are an angmo or look like one, you will most probably be chopped in sim lim. the customer services may not be good, but the prices compared to funan, it’s way better. if you know your products that is.
Jul 11, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Angmo can shop too at Sim Lim without any problems, so long you know what you buy but that counts for everywhere in Asia. I come at SIm Lim for years and got NEVER cheated. Lucky Plaza is THE place to look out when you angmo (white) or tourist. Many of them have been cheated at that place. I know friends who have been cheated at FUNAN, any race! If you blond and you don’t know what you buy, any salesman will try to trick you…. everywhere on planet earth!
When you enter Sim Lim Square, avoid the old uncles at the first floor… they will try to cheat anyone, even the locals. Locals know the better shops are upstairs & avoid this floor immediately. Most of them go directly to the 3rd floor….
Locals always say that Funan is for the tourist and Sim Lim for the locals. Prices are HIGHER at Funan. Funny thing is that a lot of shops at Funan are owned by shop owners in Sim Lim. Funan is more in town and easier for tourists but with the new MRT station coming up at Sim Lim, that will be history…
I do have Indian friends who run a shop at Sim Lim and Funan, that’s why I know how it a little bit works. Distributors are the biggest jerks in this game. Challenger dumps its old stock back to the distributor & they sell it back to other shop owners. Thats the reason why some shops have some older stock…. And some distributors charge even 5% higher price to indian shopowners…. that is what I call unfair business!!!
Sep 16, 2010 at 11:29 am
Hi Angry Ang Mo,
Don’t forget to notify your site visitors that Singapore Elelctronics/IT prices have not kept pace with dropping prices in Europe and the US. In the US and Europe large scale adoption of online shopping (largely absent in Singapore), the elimination of the middle man as a result of this as well as currency drops have made Singapore much less attractive price wise. Added to this online in Europe, what you see is what you get. In Singapore you will need to negotiate, shopowners pay high rents and distributors have pricing power that they have lost in the US and Europe. As a result, don’t bother with electronics in Singapore. Save your time so that you can have your chicken rice and Singapore sling!
Cheers!
Nov 7, 2010 at 10:21 am
hi, who knows where in singapore i could buy an original iPad with a cheaper price? based on my research it’s sold at S$1228. are there cheaper ones? do i need to order in advance or i can just walk in to buy it?
Dec 17, 2010 at 12:25 am
Hello everyone i was wondering if you found me saying Ang Mo Sai to you funny as i find you calling me angmo.chiak kantang.
now you wouldnt like it if i refered to you as gooks?
Racism is funny but only if it is used in a funny context not as everyday language.
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