bc magazine, hong kong

Look around the tube on any workday rush hour and I guarantee the faces of at least half your fellow passengers’ will be stuck to a gadget – an iPhone or iPod, a CrackBerry, PSP or NDS, perhaps even a new Sony VAIO P. Without a doubt, Hong Kong is gadget heaven: Here you can get the latest and the hippest, sometimes weeks before it sees the light of day in the US or Europe. Which is all good for consumers in Hong Kong, even though it means a given ‘latest model’ is likely to pop up on any street corner almost as commonly as the Wanchai hawkers trading in yesterday’s cast-offs.

Still, you might think that the lure of the latest gadget would be offset at least by cost – by hanging on to your now only slightly time-worn geegaw for a while longer, you could get the latest model a lot cheaper when the price dives a few months after the big release. But it doesn’t work that way and, apart from the envious stares that make the newest model such a thrill to flash around – or the scornful looks if you don’t own one, it is too easy to at least pick up the new toy on a delayed pay plan from one of the chain stores: Broadway, Citicall and Fortress tout 24-month interest-free instalment plans for small items and up to 48-month plans for bigger ones, like 50” TVs. Owning the latest NetBook or mobile phone probably only costs $250 a month or so.

But what makes the whole deal irresistible is the resale market. An earlier article on CNET Asia Blog delved into the second-hand market for gadgets here in Hong Kong and found that a stroll downtown, say around Mong Kok or Wanchai where all the audio-visual electronics shops and computer arcades are, reveals at least one hawker on every street corner buying used gadgets – mobile phones, DVD players, PMPs, NDSs, PSPs, cameras, notebook computers, all the way to game consoles. If you have something to sell, they’ll pay for it.

Not only out on the highway will you find a good deal; hosts of second-hand resellers amongst the gadget shopping malls are also keen to take that penultimate generation gadget off you for a quite satisfying return. And even if you leave the shopping areas completely out of the picture, literally dozens of local tech forums promote great deals in their used goods section. So hawkers, resellers, forums – it all adds up to a fantastic driver for the gadget craze.

For as the demand for the latest piece of technological magic grips Hong Kong, so the demand for its older sibling is feverish in Mainland China. All those not-so-old cast-offs from obsessed Hong Kongers will be refurbished (or perhaps not) and lucratively peddled off on the Mainland (or to the daily flood of Mainland tourists) as bright and shiny second-hand but seldom-used desirables. Or even, by an unscrupulous salesman, as new.

So in Hong Kong, it has become quite the norm, especially among youngsters, to always be fingering the very latest model of gadget – and if money gets tight or boredom sets in, it is as easy as a walk down the street to trade it in, knowing how stress-free it will be to come by the goodies of the next big release.

Now, here’s a tip if you are one of those whose gaze is always on the next bit of technological whizz-bangery: Check out www.price.com.hk. It’s a Chinese site (but as most of the product names are in English you can still work out the latest price) that lists most gadgets’ prices and availability in Hong Kong for both imports (cheaper, with no local, though sometimes worldwide, warranties) and local retail versions. The list spans digital cameras, DSLRs, DV camcorders, PDAs, monitors, LCD TVs, game consoles, notebooks and all sorts of other computer-related products. It is a good place to find bargains or even just a benchmark for checking out prices at other outlets. Happy shopping – and reselling. Phooey