I have to agree that there are some unscrupulous dealers at Sim Lim.
Once I wanted to buy a Canon Powershot A430 from a shop. The recommended selling price from Canon was $299 (with 512MB SD card), while the shopkeeper quoted just $220. But then, I got suspicious of the low price.
Me: 'What's the warranty length?'
Shopkeeper: 'No warranty. You want, must pay $30!'
Me: 'Oh... then is there any memory card to go with it?'
Shopkeeper: 'No dun have.... you want 512MB, must pay $40!'
Then that's a total of 220 + 30 + 40 = $290. So what's the diff?!?!
I told him straight in the face: 'NO DEAL'. As I was leaving the shop, he kept cursing and shouting at how I was missing out on such a 'good deal'.
I walked into another shop. This time, they were selling the exact same camera for $240 - but with the warranty and 512 MB card thrown in. Heck, when he saw that I was a student, he said: 'Ok lah... since you're local, and you're still studying, I will give you the whole set for $220. Can?'
So my word of advice: As dumb as it may sound, please ask for things like memory cards and warranty when you buy a camera. Ask to try out the camera to make sure it isn't defective.
That freakin' first shopkeeper nearly screwed me of $70.
