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Ex-UOM student, I live my passion for programming as a senior associate software engineer. Online for more than 5 years now, yashvinblogs.com has a growing number of visitors and a very encouraging participation rate. This success and the passion for blogging drove this blog among the most popular ones of the island.
 
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Yashvin

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	Drive to my photoblog for shots from my mobile phone & my Nikon D5000, purchased directly from eBay.

• http://www.facebook.com/sawanm Sawan

  Voila pourquoi j’n'achette plus les appareils électronique ni les appareils électroménager a Maurice depuis longtemps. Et j’ai un compte sure eBay. On a un plus grand choix et a meilleur prix; livraison et taxe y compris.

• http://www.webdesign-bureau-of-mauritius.com Web Design Bureau of Mauritius

  C’est effectivement les taxes d’import et les taxes douanières qui changent les prix. Ma guitare a été fabriquée au Japon mais je l’ai achetée à son ancien proprio en Australie. Lorsqu’elle est arrivée en France j’ai dû rajouter 200€ de plus pour la dédouaner. C’était l’équivalent de 19.6% du prix de la guitare+les frais de port+l’assurance pour l’envoi.

  Ceci dit, je n’utilise qu’un petit appareil photo numérique compact. Mon rêve aurait été une EOS 350D mais à 790€, c’est encore trop cher pour moi.

• http://themediaguru.blogspot.com carrotmadman6

  DSLRs have a niche market in Mauritius – professional photographers. That’s why it has a high price.
  The mango man only buys cheap point-&-shoots.

  

• http://m3rvin.blogspot.com Mervin

  well freight, vat, profit, duty..no matter the price will rise esp. the profit margin is high.

  a’way i wont recommend this one tho’

  wait for it to be sold in Kit version then buy..but not the D5000..

  u better go for a Nikon D40x and if you afford to add some extra money go for the best ever nikon in terms of quality & money.the D90..kit it with a 18-200 and it will be a marvel.

  and the answer to your question is yes. their sales are ok. many photograph working for the press used nikon because it is well represented in mru.

• http://sozzz.net Sun

  I want one too..! Kind of a dream to have a pro camera..! These prices are discouraging. I guess its better to order them from the Nikon website itself. As for Mauritius, its not only camera prices that suffer from this 100% price jump. almost everything thats imported. The mango people still have their mobile phone though..

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  btw. I will most probably sell my Fujifilm S5600 once I buy a new camera, so if anyone interested, contact me through mail

• http://www.tushal.net Tushal

  I buy most of my stuff through ebay or Amazon.. The prices in Mauritius are freaking too much..
  Just something..There’s an earphone(philips)which sells at Rs150 in Mtius but I bought the same exact earphone on Ebay for $0.99 (free shipping + already delivered to me)

  $1 = Rs32.15

• Mike

  I have been looking for the mid-range Sony Cyber-Shot H series like H50 but cannot find these here. I checked in Sony Port-Louis but they only had the regular compact digital cameras.
  So what retail outlet should you check for mid-range and DSLR, is there a specialist?

• http://nav007.blogspot.com Nav

  I have also wanted a DSLR camera for a long time, and this summer have finally bought one. I bought a entry-level/mid-range Sony alpha-350. I went for this because the a350 is perfect for users who venture into the world of DSLR for the first time.

  btw, i think the price from the Nikon website for $730 is just for the body only, the lens you have to buy separately. With the lens it’s probably an extra $200 (estimate) so it comes close to the $1000 mark (approx Rs30,000).

  You also have to remember that the D5000 has been recently released so it’s bound to be more expensive than other cameras of it’s kind. After 6-12 months time i’m sure the price will start to go down.

  IMO, prices of DSLRs will always be higher than in other countries, such as the USA, because importers in Mauritius cannot import large quantities of DSLRs because it’s simply too expensive for many people or people are satisfied with their digital cameras. Since importers can’t buy in bulk they (i’m assuming) they can’t get them cheaply and therefore have to sell onto the consumer at a higher price.

  Have you considered Sony DSLRs …they’ve only been in the market a few years..but they have brought out a few new models (a380 especially) that will give the likes of Nikon and Cannon good competition. They also tend to be cheaper than other similar makes I think they’ve also released a few good lenses (the lens you use is almost as important as the body), the next 18 months will be interesting in the DSLR world

• http://www.noulakaz.net/ Avinash Meetoo

  I have to agree. Things are very expensive here. The solution is obviously to buy online but I’ve never done that for electronic devices (cause I’m afraid they’ll be in bad shape when they get here…) But it seems that we really don’t have any other possibility to get something at its *real* price.

• ReenaDKL

  Au fait c vraie qu’a Maurice il n’y a pas de limite par rapport aux prix d’achat et de vente.

  example, un ‘gato pima’ peut se vendre a presque Rs.5 et la grosseur et plus petit qu’un 50cs…

  Bref, pour les achats en ligne, moi je conseille

  laredoute.fr

  Les t-shirts et autres prêts-à-porter peuvent descendre jusqu’a moins de 10Euro.

  Moi j’achète en ligne et c secure tout! Pas de souci de livraison, elle se fait chez vous. Des fois vous avez même des cadeaux avec vos achats…

  Maurice c’est devenu le havres des voleurs…un sari qui s’achète a Rs.200 en inde est revendu a Rs5000 à Maurice. (C’est vraie et c’était dand la presse…)

  Enfin! Les Mauriciens se laissent berner et ne font rien pour cesser cette torture de notre petit porte-monnaie.

• http://blog.fadil.fr Fadil

  I did tell you – buy cameras online.
  AFAIK, there’s a Nikon representative in Mauritius (in a shop nearby the town hall of Port-Louis (the town hall faces the street where the shop is found.)

• Mike

  If you buy online is there import duties to be paid at customs? The last time I ordered a special T-shirt and cap from the UK I had to pay just under Rs200 tax when collecting the parcel at post/customs Port Louis.

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @Mervin : The D40 seems very nice, and remains one of the options.
  However, I want to buy one which I won’t need to upgrade for at last a few years.
  I also believe that they may be selling their cameras to companies rather than individuals, for simple reasons as warranty, payment, reach.

  @Sun : A dream, yeah. Hope to make mine true soon
  I think that Nikon itself doesnt sell its products, instead it redirects you to resellers.
  Hey, the mobile phone is good too, my N73 has a nice 3MP

  @Yashvin : Oops, that me

  @Tushal : I must admit, I never bought from ebay or amazon. Till now, I have only been paying my domains and hosting lol!

  @Mike : Because of the rare purchases, shops won’t invest into expensive equipments which will be used for display only
  I fear that DSLR should be purchased anywhere, as far as it is not in Mauritius. Else, for common point and shoot, I find the deals in (Courts, Galaxy, and family) not bad.
  I will try to inquire about the additional tax or fee which must be paid for parcels

  @Nav : DSLRs from Sony, Canon etc?
  I have not really checked out the features and price. Perhaps I should now before making my final decision.
  The Sony alpha-350 seems a bit more expensive though.

  @Avinash : One of my fears too, especially if you are buying something worth a lot.
  But till now, I have heard any bad experience, yet.

  @ReenaDKL : La dure realité!
  Pu gato piments la, pff. Mo rapel dans universiter morice, ene ti gato piment, tipti, mari tipti encore, ti p van mari cher!

  @Fadil : Yeah, buying online seems to be The only way.
  Nikon Representative? Have a look and you will be astonished with the prices, pff.

• ReenaDKL

  @ Mike

  Nope, all is included when you pay. i never paid a Rs when it comes here.

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @ReenaDKL : No, you have got to pay some fees, that what my friend told me, but I need to confirm.
  Perhaps it depends on the type of parcel?

• axon

  Good evening….am planning to buy a used 5800 nokia from uk . will there be any duty here in mauritius when i pick the item??

• http://www.tushal.net Tushal

  @yashvin and Avinash–>Having fedex as the shipping service helps. + using fedex, you don’t have to pay for Custom taxes!(The trick is to include shipping insurance on your item) Else, there is at least 30% tax on electrical items!

• http://www.tushal.net Tushal

  @Axon–>Yes. There is a 30% tax(according to what some people told me). One way to avoid that is to include shipping insurance + use Fedex but it costs a bit more..

• http://m3rvin.blogspot.com Mervin

  the d5000 has defects in it. even nikon has recognised that new firmware doesn’t correct it.

  it depends on your budget.

  canon eos 5d mark II or nikon d3 but these will costs $$$$..yeah 4 digit believe me lol

  go for the nikon d90 :p

• axon

  Thx tushal……

• Muzzammil

  lor premie valeur rs1000 ou rs1500 to pa paye ni tax ni tva. mai aprer, li azout so tva a 15% et ban duty lor ban item ki ena duty.

• bailleurk

  the price of the camera sounds reasonable if you compare this to the fact that the amount of money we pay to buy a car in this country is twice as much the sum at which they are sold in europe for example:)
  BTW: Im still EDO’ing!

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @bailleurk : Courage! sadmin is monitoring you from home

• Mike

  For information: today, I saw the Canon EOS1000 for sale at Courts (Phoenix-les-Halles) for Rs29,800. Courts also has the Nikon D60 for a little less.

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @Mike : pff. Indeed, quite expensive the price in mauritius.

  How much was the D60? u remember?

  That was Mike, a yashvinblogs.com reporter, live from Phoenix Les Halles
  Thanks Mike, we will contact u later

• Mike

  At Courts in the Galileo area of Phoenix Les Halles, the Nikon D60 was priced +- Rs28000. The Canon and Nikon seem to be the only two DSLR models available.:P

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  Mike : Yeah, excessively overpriced!

• Suraj M

  Hi i bought a few stuffs online. But people please remember that when you order anything fragile (like all electronic items) you are taking a great risk. These are handled quite roughly at the post and the courier companies.

  I have worked at D*L (name moderated by Yashvin) and saw a guy throwing an imac in his van to make the delivery!!!

  Goods sold in our shops maybe higher priced but at least you are sure they came in proper containers and that they were carefully delivered to the shops.

• CanCreT

  Tushal said:
  @yashvin and Avinash–>Having fedex as the shipping service helps. + using fedex, you don’t have to pay for Custom taxes!(The trick is to include shipping insurance on your item) Else, there is at least 30% tax on electrical items!

  Importing any product by any freight company is subject to custom taxes and VAT. But NOT all electronic equip r taxable. Most of them (i know this will surprise you) have 0% duty (u still have to pay for VAT though), except TV which still have 30%. Btw, TNT is cheaper from most part of the world, so try to see which is cheaper as FedEx, TNT n DHL all offer nearly same level of service.

  @Yashvin: I had the funny experience once from the ‘local representative’ of Nikon in Mauritius. I bought a D80 at Rs 43k (body only) when the same stuffs was about Rs35k online but thought about aftersales service n so on. So, after using for about 3 months, it broke down n it’s only then that guy there point out that by warranty, he meant INTERNATIONAL WARRANTY!!!! so i had to pay for the freight to and from france because he bought his stuffs from there. Funny thing was that i had to wait form 3 months due to this guy poor logistics!!!

  So, just bear in mind that most of the companies selling pro camera are not entitled to service them n only sell them with international warranty. So, if they r offering them on local warranty, dont forget to insist on the Local Warranty Card.

  Finally, why the price for these niche stuffs r expensive in mtius? Since nearly all these retailers cannot repair them (as they r not authorised to), they will have to either ship back the body to overseas or simply just give u a new unit n scrap the old one. Both solutions r costly. So, they have to even it out on the selling price n since the number they sell is low… u can figure it out

• photo amateur

  Quite astounding! How come they sell cameras at very high prices? Actually there is no taxes on photographic equipments apart from the VAT.

• Ashok

  Hi every one actually I have a canon eos 450d a friend has brouth this from india very cheaper about 21000 thousand & iam very happy to get this camera now i want to buy another camera a nikon d90 or canon 40d
  it is very expensive do you think can i get second hand? thanks
  phone num 9403068

• Sab

  Moi i want to buy a core i7 from ebay, the price+shipping is $400
  how much the custom fee is for it??

• http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin

  @Sab : You should call the Central Postal Office and ask to talk to the tax department. That’s what I did a few days ago. You will get the num from the phone directory.

• Sab

  Merci Yash.
  Well I want to share something with you all :
  Buying from ebay is something amazing if you know what you are doing.

  Some Guidelines:

  - Look for top sellers with cheaper prices

  - Look for USPS Express Shipping( EMS Here). With USPS Express you can
  track your item; when it has been brought to/from warehouse, the transit, the shiping date, when it enters Mauritius, etc…

  - Ask Seller If he can send as gift!(To avoid paying Customs)

  - Take buyers protection(In case of item Damaged During Shipping)

  - Ask seller for discounts(They give Discounts)

  Well thats all from me I am 16 i don’t know much of it

  So Wanna say Mo mari apprecier sa blog la

• Pingback: 1st ebay purchase = My Camera Nikon D5000! | Yashvin, pages of my life

• http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin

  As you can read, I have finally purchased the Nikon D5000 on ebay

  Read the post here.

• http://www.geekscribes.net/blog Inf

  Whaaa.. I saw this post too late! :/

  Anyway, you can get DSLR’s at cheap-enough prices at Game. Their prices are decent as compared to other places. I believe they offer Mem card + Bag as gifts, along with a printer. Watch for promos.

  You can get something decent (A Canon 1000D I think) at around Rs. 21k. I am not very sure about the price, but it was ok at the time of the promo.

• Pingback: Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro for Nikon | Yashvin, pages of my life

• http://nubaz.net Vasco

  D3000 @courts curepipe Rs23 000…
  500$ from online retail

• Ashika

  Hi,

  I was just looking for some info about the Canon EOS 35OD camera in mauritius and fall on yr article.
  Nice to hear that u got your nikon baby

  I am trying hard to have either a Nikon or Canon 35OD asap .

  cheers,

  H.

• Pingback: Buying on eBay from Mauritius | Yashvin, pages of my life

• Kesh

  Hi guys, just letting you know I saw as from today, 23.2.2011, on sale at Game (Trianon), a Nikon D3100 with 18-55 mm lens, 1 year warranty at around Rs23,000. The price isn’t exact but it’s definitely more than 23K and less than 24K rupees.

  As for buying online, there’s this site that looks promising, offering cameras and accessories at low prices, as well a range of other electronics:
  http://www.themultishop.com/browse-the-shop/

  Keep shooting

• Kesh

  Sorry guys, the price for the D3100 at Game was at Rs22,350. It’s due in stock this march apparently.

• Ashvin

  Nikon D3100 for sale. less than 3 months old. Excellent condition. like new. If interested contact me @ ashvin02@gmail.com

• http://facebook.com/ebaymanager Thumiah Jehu

  Game and Courts are not official reseller of nikon products, so beware. personally i’ve bought my d70 on ebay (used) for MUR 13,300 and i see that a d3100 cost only 31,150+shipping > the best deal ever follow link http://cgi.ebay.com/New-USA-Nikon-D3100-Digital-SLR-Camera-Body-5-Lens-Kit-/380332439263?pt=Digital_Cameras&hash=item588d9476df

• nirpaL

  good review brother
  Keep it up
  i liked ur reviews very much and it helped me in choosing/having an idea about the fees

• nit

  @Yashvin: whats ur price???

• http://www.yashvinblogs.com Yashvin

  @nit: It has been sold for more than 1 year now.

• exia

  Hi guys, for some time i’ve been looking for a good prosumer DSLR camera to buy and i’ve always been a Canon fanboy lol, The price in mauritius is just too insane, the entry-level 1100D is near Rs 30,000 which unacceptable even the 550D which is about Rs 52,000 !!!,

  so i asked some family who was coming to mauriitius to buy the 60D for me which is a high-end DSLR and is situated below Canon flagships DSLR’s like the 1D Mark IV which you will have to sell your kidney to afford one!

  and i was so gladly surprised to see that my Canon 60D (not D60) cost about 760 pound sterling–> Rs 32,000 in our currency  !! much less than the entry-mid level 550D, i got it with its stock lens kit 18-55mm, Even if the lens is stock the quality is great. Don’t buy camera in mauritius, if you have family its great if not buy online