Is MBK good place to buy Smartphone?

[rockyysdt]

As you know, travelers only have short time.

Is MBK a good place to negotiate good deals on unlocked Smartphones?

Price range 7,000 - 12,000.

Need best bang for buck.

Cheers.

R

[tonray]

Prices across BKK are almost the same everywhere, especially for newly released models. Any mall has a section (sometimes a whole floor) with cell phone vendors.

1) first find the features you want

2) next narrow down the models with those features

3) go anywhere....prices do not vary that much to make a difference.

[WhizBang]

Be careful who you deal with. Many of the small vendors sell 'copies', not the genuine article.

[Lannig]

+1

A lot of very well dressed up cheap Chinese phones on sale that really, really look like genuine Samsung products up to the deepest in the menus (Android version and build strings etc.)

I know a few people who got caught although they really thought they knew better...

Prices for 1st tier brands vary remarkably little from one shop to another. If you find what looks like a real bargain, be cautious.

[A1Str8]

Yes, its a good place. You will get the same smartphone, as you would anywhere else.
Negotiating is only possible, if you want to buy a chinese knockoff...in which case, customs at the airport will show particular interest.
But put in a sim, use it like its been yours for some time and they cannot say anything.

[mtls2005]

Not a lot of price variation/spread, or negotiation possible.

Decide on the exact make/model, then research shops/prices.

thaimobilecenter is a decent source, you can drill down on a model and see prices paid by real people over the last few days.

example (I chose a 7,000-ish baht phone at random, I do not know if this phone is any good.)

http://www.thaimobilecenter.com/spec/Samsung-Galaxy-J7.asp?str_ad=y

http://www.thaimobilecenter.com/spec/price_from_user_all.asp?id=3912

I think the MSRP on this phone is currently 8,900. As you can see, some shops have it for as little as 6,800. While these are "real" phones, they may have a curious provenance (fell off the truck, factory re-work, grey-market, no warranty). Most shops will offer refunds or exchanges within a short time-frame (24 - 72 hours) if you discover a fatal flaw.

You have to balance risk/reward.

[gandalf12]

I have always bought from Zeer Rangsit and the dealers have always given some discount. If possible buy from the manufacturers desk

[mike324]

small shops on average are 1000 baht cheaper for top of the line makes and all will give you free screen protector, they offer the same factory warranty (at least that is what they tell you). If you are a traveler, I would just save the hassle and go to authorize shops, such as J Mart, etc for piece of mind in case you meet a dishonest small shop seller. Don't forget to ask about promotions. When I bought my samsung s6 edge last year, they threw in free screen protector, battery bank, and some memory card reader.

If you are after samsungs, back then there use to be a shop that distributes to other sellers at MBK, you can get phones couple hundred baht cheaper from the distributor compare to reseller. Sorry I don't remember which shop it is anymore.

If you are after low to mid end models, small shops such as at MBK usually have slightly better deals.

There really isn't any deals to be had if you are after top of the line phones. I believe all the phones bought here are unlock to begin with.

Edited May 30, 2016 by mike324

[likeke]

Be careful in MBK. knockoffs everywhere. Just go to any Samsung store and buy the real thing. There is one on the 5th floor at MBK I believe. Samsung Gallaxy has many models in your price range. If you need a case for your phone then the many vendors at MBK can sell you one much cheaper then Samsung.

[MobileTopUp]

MBK is fine, but why not check the phone prices online first.

[off road pat]

There is something strange going on in MBK lately, more than half the Telephone shops in MBK are run by foreigners now, I think Indians that speak better English than the Thais.

But the technicians that repair the phones are all Thai. I wonder why the Thais let foreigners take there jobs so easy ??? if a Farang would take a job from a Thai there there would be a riot, ...so ? I'm trying to understand what is happening there now ?

I would appreciate some information if someone knows more about it....THX in advance...

Best regards.

Edited May 30, 2016 by off road pat

[wooloomooloo]

Only time I ever purchased a phone in MBK was in 2010, which was a Nokia for my wife. It looked like the real deal. Got back to our hotel and plugged it in and nothing happened. Returned a few hours later and the guy that sold it to me wasn't there so spoke to his assistant. She started giving me a load of flannel so I wised up pretty fast.

Above the booth was a phone number to call to report scams (I'll never know if it was a scam or not, I just wanted my money back). So I stared intently at hoarding and took down the number and the assistant got all hysterical. It did the trick as I was on my way within a few minutes with my refund.

[NoshowJones]

Beware of copies.

[NoshowJones]

I bought a second hand Ipad 1 at MBK about four years ago. It is still going strong.

[mtls2005]

As you know, travelers only have short time.

Tourists may be able to get VAT (7 %) refund at the airport. But you'll have to buy at a top-line store, and probably near MSRP.

Genuine product may only have a Thai warranty, so you may have to return to Thailand for warranty service/repair. You can review the enclosed warranty card prior to purchase.

[jobsworth]

There is something strange going on in MBK lately, more than half the Telephone shops in MBK are run by foreigners now, I think Indians that speak better English than the Thais.

But the technicians that repair the phones are all Thai. I wonder why the Thais let foreigners take there jobs so easy ??? if a Farang would take a job from a Thai there there would be a riot, ...so ? I'm trying to understand what is happening there now ?

I would appreciate some information if someone knows more about it....THX in advance...

Best regards.

i don't know about mbk but i do know about panthip plaza. the place is rather empty now and is being refurbished. before that there were many stalls staffed by charming burmese who spoke perfect english. many were cheating.

i don't understand how burmese can work in bangkok without a permit. maybe mbk is similar.

[gjoo888]

MBK is one of the last places I would buy a phone. You would be lucky to negotiate the price down to what stores like Power Buy and Jaymart sell phones for at list price or on sale. I spent 4 hours at MBK one day trying to buy a phone and finally negotiated the price down to what I thought was fair, but I wanted a black phone and they only had white ones. I left and saw a Jaymart stall in a Skytrain station, not only did they have the phone and color I wanted, it was 400 Baht less than the best price I could negotiate at MBK.

Chain stores like Jaymart and others often throw in an SD card or other free gift and help you setting up the phone if you need help. They also have promotions that probably aren't available at MBK. Lazada (online) sometimes has very good prices, but check the warranty information before buying from them. I bought my last phone from Lazada and saved almost 50% on the phone. Fortune Town is also a good place to check, with many independent shops and chain store shops such as Jaymart.

[dddave]

I helped a friend looking for a Asus Zenphone-2. We shopped MBK along with small dealers at Fortune Tower, JayMart, TG and Power Mall at Siam Paragon.

Dealers at MBK consistently gave the highest price quotes, then as you walked away, offering to "discount" to a price that was still 300 to 400 baht higher than prices we received at Fortune and Power Mall.

Best price was a dealer at Fortune Tower (Rama-9 MRT) Also included a case with the deal.

Personally, I consider MBK to be a tourist trap.

[off road pat]

There is something strange going on in MBK lately, more than half the Telephone shops in MBK are run by foreigners now, I think Indians that speak better English than the Thais.

But the technicians that repair the phones are all Thai. I wonder why the Thais let foreigners take there jobs so easy ??? if a Farang would take a job from a Thai there there would be a riot, ...so ? I'm trying to understand what is happening there now ?

I would appreciate some information if someone knows more about it....THX in advance...

Best regards.

i don't know about mbk but i do know about panthip plaza. the place is rather empty now and is being refurbished. before that there were many stalls staffed by charming burmese who spoke perfect english. many were cheating.

i don't understand how burmese can work in bangkok without a permit. maybe mbk is similar.

Yes Panthip has changed a lot, and I would like t to know what the deal is with those foreigners,...( Burmese or Indians ) are the Thais letting them take there jobs so easy ?

And I'm not speaking about two or five foreigners, in MBK over half of the telephone shops on the 4 floor are foreigners already. In Panthip there are also foreigners running small shops on the 1 or 2 floor....if there is no apparent opposition to this ? it could be that there is a powerful Mafia pulling the strings.... ?!

Best regards.

[off road pat]

I helped a friend looking for a Asus Zenphone-2. We shopped MBK along with small dealers at Fortune Tower, JayMart, TG and Power Mall at Siam Paragon.

Dealers at MBK consistently gave the highest price quotes, then as you walked away, offering to "discount" to a price that was still 300 to 400 baht higher than prices we received at Fortune and Power Mall.

Best price was a dealer at Fortune Tower (Rama-9 MRT) Also included a case with the deal.

Personally, I consider MBK to be a tourist trap.

Yes MBK has become a tourist trap. but they have some good technicians that can repair telephones with good quality work.

I love to look around in fortune , MBK and Panthip for the newest gadgets and so ... but I got the best deals in Chinatown.

Best regards.

[JaseTheBass]

There is something strange going on in MBK lately, more than half the Telephone shops in MBK are run by foreigners now, I think Indians that speak better English than the Thais.

But the technicians that repair the phones are all Thai. I wonder why the Thais let foreigners take there jobs so easy ??? if a Farang would take a job from a Thai there there would be a riot, ...so ? I'm trying to understand what is happening there now ?

I would appreciate some information if someone knows more about it....THX in advance...

Best regards.

There are many localised 'Indians' here. They own most of Sukhumvit and have been here for generations. Most go to the best schools here so tend to speak good English and will wipe the floor with most Thais in matters of business.