The Olympus E3

Hi all,

I'm moving to Korea in a couple of weeks, and want to buy an Olympus E3 DSLR.
I don't know whether to buy it here in the UK or wait until I get to Korea.
Could some kind person let me know how much they are (approximately) in Korea?

Thank you very much,

Rob

Hey Rob,

I can't give you a figure, but on a recent visit here, my brother-in-law commented that most of the stuff in the electronics market in Yongsan (the big one in Seoul) was about a third less than it would be in the UK. Whether you can extrapolate that to cameras or not, I don't know. I would hazard a guess that it would probably be at least a bit cheaper in Korea. It almost certainly won't be more expensive I wouldn't have thought.
BTW...which part of Korea are you moving too? If you need any other help or advice, feel free to ask, either here, or you can PM me if you want. Good luck!

Thank you very much indeed!
I'll wait til I get to Seoul.

Cheers and all the best,

Rob

A bit over a year ago, having some spare cash in my pocket after finishing a teaching job, and without doing any research, I bought a Canon digital camera at the duty free shop at Incheon airport on my way back to the U.S. (as a gift). After checking around on the internet back in the U.S. I regretted the decision; I could have bought the camera for $40-70 less.

Latest competitive price quote of Olympus E-3 available in Korea is around 1.42~1.52mil Won, which is between GBP 702~752. (converted at 1 GBP = 2020 Won)

The quote encompasses both on-line and off-line retailers, and should be regarded on an assumption that you suffer from no language barrier in finding, accessing, negotiating with Korean retailers.

Yongsan is famous for their wide-range stockpile and availability, but notorious for their manipulative practice as well. Only well-informed customers are advised to shop there to avoid any rip-off. (the same goes for computers and any other gadgets)

As far as cameras are concerned, there is another market formed around Namdaemun. There could be parallel quotes for the same model - one from the fully licensed, exclusive Korean importer, and the other from, say, 'unlicensed' direct-from-Japanese-wholesale importers. (wouldn't call it a 'black market' as it's not illegal) Both are the same goods (Japanese camera made in sometimes Japan, sometimes China, et el.) but the difference comes with in-country free warranty. Many local customers, however, go for the latter with cheaper price.

If you are moving to Korea then it makes more sense to buy it in Korea to get the warranty. The camera I bought in Shanghai 2 months ago is $30 cheaper than in Yongsan, but that $30 savings would look pretty silly if your camera broke down.