Yashvin, pages of my life » Ebay

SBM Smile Prepaid cards for your online purchases

Yashvin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:20:20 +0000

Since a few weeks, SBM has introduced a new card in its game. The SBM Smile Prepaid Card.

As you perhaps guessed, the card works a bit like your prepaid sim card. You can for buy pre-loaded cards (Up to Rs20,000) and non-loaded cards (Rs30-150,000) and use it anywhere, just like a debit card and also, use it for online purchases.

The similarities/differences as compared to a debit card or a credit card :

Limit of Rs10,000 per day for the MUR card and up to Rs20,000 for the foreign card.
Similarly as the debit card, the money is yours. So no interests charged like the credit card.
You have a PIN code to protect unauthorized access to the money onto your card.
The card is valid only 6months
Any money unused after the 6months can be transferred back to your main account.
The prepaid card is VISA branded.
Whenever needed, recharge your prepaid card by transferring money to it (through banks)
Card activated on the same day of application made.
For those travelling, there exists 6 different currencies for the foreign card and unlike the MUR card, this one can be recharged through internet banking.

What can make me get hold of a smile prepaid card?

Below are some desirable features to make the prepaid MUR card more widely accepted :

Very important : Allow recharging through Internet Banking or ATMs to remove the hassle of going to a bank for recharging the card.
For example, it does not really make sense for a parent to lose precious time going to the bank monthly when he needs to top up his kid’s pocket money onto the card.
Remove (or Increase) the Rs10,000 daily limit (The card holder needs to understand the risks)
6months validity is a too short period. Increase it.

Without the above mentioned, the card is not too different from the debit card I use daily, while doing my purchases in the supermarket or to withdraw money from an ATM. The limit is still Rs10,000, there is still an application fee each time I need a new card and if am not mistaken, there is no interest accumulated for the money on the prepaid card, unlike for the money which is accessible through my debit card.

More or less similar to the debit card, except that it normally allows internet purchases. No more credit card needed. I am much tempted to get one of the cards to verify if it really works for online purchases through Paypal/eBay.

Anyone wants to try it and let us know? Please share your suggestions/critiques about this new card.

Buying on eBay/Amazon from Mauritius (June 2011)

Yashvin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:38:00 +0000

Many people land onto my blog while looking for information about doing their purchase on Ebay. Why? Most probably because the blog contains valuable data (found nowhere else on the Mauritian web) and on top of that, very active participation and numerous helpful contributions on the behalf of my blog readers.

If you have missed that blog article, I highly recommend you to go through it first and all the comments there (Over 200!)

http://www.yashvinblogs.com/ebay-mauritius/ and
http://www.yashvinblogs.com/ebay-info-for-mauritius/
also, the blog post about Amazon : http://www.yashvinblogs.com/amazon-now-ships-to-mauritius/

Updated info about eBay/Amazon purchases and Custom clearance

About a week ago, I was informed about some changes at the Central Parcel Office and that’s the reason why I had to write an updated post to share these precious bits of information I gathered at the Central Parcel office while politely questioning a customs officer.

What has changed?

A permit issued by the ICTA is necessary to clear all transmitter/receivers/routers from the customs. In short, everything which uses wireless transmission/frequencies to operate.
An Import Permit issued by the Ministry of Commerce is needed to clear any USED/REFURBISHED items from the customs.

The custom officers are only applying the existing laws. These permits have long been in our constitution but they were not applied, until now. From what I have learnt, these measures are now strictly taken into consideration to control the entry of purchases into the island and also, to ensure that items are not forbidden by law.

How to get the permit(s)?

You should know that YOU cannot directly apply for an import permit. Only registered Custom Brokers can complete the procedures by acting as some sort of intermediary between the you and the ministry of commerce. It takes 1-2 days for the permit to get issued.
Now, the permit delivered by the ICTA is a bit more PITA.
Don’t know what it means? You should probably learn by yourself if you go through the steps, but anyways, I will help you.
PITA = Pain In The Ass.
Why? It can take up to 2-3 weeks for the ICTA to process your request.

New to items clearance from the customs?

I will briefly go through some main points that were discussed on the previous post dedicated to Ebay/Mauritius :

Any purchases above Rs10,000 need to be cleared out of the customs by a Custom Broker
Any purchases above Rs1,000 are taxable, 15% VAT.
Items like bags/cigarettes etc have additional duty. For example, 30% on bags + the 15% VAT.
A post office storage fee of Rs50-Rs100 is claimed for any item delivered at the Central Postal Office.
Small and cheaper items usually get delivered by your postman or you may need to fetch it at the nearest post office (no charges to pay for)

What you need at the customs?

Your National Identity card
Your Paypal receipt or any other receipt/bank statement which shows the value of the purchase (very important)

Some prohibited goods.

Guns (Including stunt guns/Pain ball guns) or any other kind of weapons or you may find yourself behind the bars and your house searched immediately after the parcel is opened for verification purposes.
Sex toys. Not all of them but because I do not hold enough knowledge into the topic, I forgot those specific things which cannot be imported.
Laser pointers > 1mW

Whenever you are ensure, do give a call to the customs office to inquire. The phone numbers are available on this page itself.

Note that you may need medical certificates to prove that you need some medicines(drugs) and all drugs are verified and approved by a pharmacian at the customs. (I think that was what I was told).

Where is the Central Parcels Office located?

That’s a question which I regularly need to answer (just like tons others on this topic.)
The Central Parcels Office is located at the back of the Post Office headquarters of Port Louis. The Postal Museum (that old famous stone-made building) is just 50metres away.
If you are travelling by car, you can use the Caudan Parking or the one found at the Granuary (just at the back of the post office). Rs25 for the first 2hours.

Some useful phone numbers

Mauritius parcel office : 213-4813
Customs (Post office): 216-3506
Bureau d’exchange :212-0150
EMS : 213-4813
MRA Tariff Unit : 202-0500 (Call there to get details about duties applicable on products)

I know that many among you will probably be looking for the contact number of a Customs Broker to get your item cleared. In that case, you can drop me a message and I will contact you asap.

Do you have any questions?

Just as I mentioned above, I receive lots of questions either through the blog or by mail. However, lots of people contact me without reading the article and related comments. (btw, many thanks to all those people who contribute to the posts.)

I would politely ask you to go through my first article first, and if you still can’t find the answers to your questions on that page or on this new blog post, do not hesitate to post it here. This said, I have closed the comments section on the previous post, and all questions will now be replied here. If you really want to get an answer fast, the best thing to do is to comment on the blog.

Have a nice time shopping online!

What do you think about Mauritian online stores?

Yashvin — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:43:40 +0000

For nearly one and a half years now, I have been a regular eBay-buyer, with more than a few dozens of purchases ranging from $5 to $500 and above. Personally, I have noticed a growing number of Mauritians showing a real interest in online shopping and they are always looking for someone to reply to their queries and clear their doubts about this new shopping trend. I take great pleasure to reply and provide any additional information on one of the most visited articles of this blog. Special thanks to all those who dedicate their time by providing answers to other Mauritians.

With this increasing popularity and expansion of online stores, a few Mauritian web sites have also grabbed this opportunity toÂ promote and commercialize their products on the web, while offering visitors to carry out online purchases using their credit cards/paypal and even “cash on delivery” facilities.

Some of these online stores deal in :

Flowers/Fresh vegetables/Wine/Food(including sushi)/Coffee
Airline/event tickets
Electronic stuff including Computers/Cameras etc
Gifts
Clothing

List of a few Mauritian online stores

As requested by some readers, here is a list of the stores I came across :

Do you have any additional links to share? Please use the comments section below.

Ashesh previously wrote a great post summing up the different aspects on this topic and the comments section turned out to be very enriching with contributions from persons representing various online MauritianÂ stores. I highly recommend this post if you want in-depth details.

Nearly one year after his post, I want YOU to answer to a few questions :

Did you know that these Mauritian stores exist?
Do you feel that these web sites were (adequately) advertised or have enough media coverage?
Do you think that it’s worth to shop online within our small island?
Will you buy from one of them?
If no, Why? Will discounts/better offers encourage you to give a try?
Do you think that people doubt carrying out online payments through theÂ infrastructure and security implemented in Mauritius?

Feel free to share your thoughts about Mauritian online stores…

Choosing my next mobile device

Yashvin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:34:11 +0000

After 3 years of loyal service, I feel that my Nokia N73 will soon opt for a retirement scheme. The thing that I really love with this mobile is the 3.15MP camera, equipped with Carl Zeiss optics.

Just take it out of your pocket, anywhere and anytime!

Requirement 1 – Camera

As a reader of yashvinblogs.com, you have surely noticed the numerous instantaneousness shots made from my Nokia N73 Camera which helps me in expressing myself. So, as you can guess, the next mobile phone will absolutely need to reach up to that minimum level, with a good and quick focus + video recording.

The camera is one of the most important tools of a blogger. Without a good handy one, I would have missed so many posts. Just imagine, the Champs De Mars accident blog post without any related shots!

Requirement 2 – Keyboard

You might be astonished but I really hate those touch screens mobile phone, you know why?

I feel so uncomfortable hitting those tiny icons or keys with my big fingers. Someday, in a moment of anger, I might even smash the phone right away!

So, that’s leaves me with the traditional keypad and the QWERTY keyboard. I had the chance to test mobile phones with QWERTY keyboards and I feel that I can manage with it.

Point to note : I might accept devices with both a touch screen and a keyboard.

Requirement 3 – WIFI/EDGE

I dont have any special needs like a water proof device. A WIFI/EDGE enabled one is all that I want.

It doesnt really matter if the device has a 2MP or 10MP front camera for 3G calls, I simply don’t care. WIFI is among the things which matter the most in the next purchase.

Requirement 4 – Display screen

I am no mobile phone reviewer like carrotmadman6, our Mauritian Tech blogger but I want one with a large display, one just like everyone else dreams of.

One on which my most used applications or shortcuts can easily be placed, no messy ‘desktop’.

Requirement 5 – OS

Windows Mobile, Android or Symbian, all of them are Ok for me since I don’t plan to test my programming skills or install any specific mobile application. I should be able to install the basic applications including a mobile browser, some java apps, communication tools like mail and MSN/Skype/Google Talk etc.

Requirement 6 -Budget

As you can guess, I don’t want to spend a fortune on the mobile phone, so please keep the price bar low, let’s say <= Rs10,000? I might decide to increase the limit depending on the extras that the device can offer.

To end the list of requirements, I also need to be able to

Make/Receive calls and textos
Use bluetooth to transfer/sync my data
Have a good storage (built in or memory cards) and reliable battery performance.
Other basic things available in most phones. Examples loudspeaker(Speaker), profiles, music/video player

At the end of the day, I just need a device that would allow me to communicate easily.

Can you please advise me and guide me through this tough selection process?

Additional points :

I will most probably buy it through eBay
I like the blackberry-style devices which seem to be very affordable but feel free to suggest any models that you would like to share with us.

Buying on eBay from Mauritius

Yashvin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:02:31 +0000

UPDATE : 29th June 2011

I have an updated post about some measures being strictly taken into consideration at the Customs office. Please make sure that you also read the new article as well as this one. Comments section on this article is closed. Please ask any questions on the new post.

You can read it here : http://www.yashvinblogs.com/ebay-mauritius-2/

Now, here goes the article :
I finally came up with this post since I have been asked practically the same questions for the last few days! Most of the people landed onÂ my D5000 blog post in which I describe my first experience with eBay. So, this post will go mainly to Mauritians wishing to purchase something on ebay, some sort of eBay purchasing guide

Secure Payment

That’s the main concern of most…

Be re-assured, payment on ebay is totally secure!
You need to have a paypal account, linked with your credit card *yeah, u need one*.
When you create your paypal account, you need to “connect” your credit card to that paypal account. Once set up, paypal will carry out a tiny transaction to check if you are actuallyÂ authorizedÂ to use that card. Once this transaction has been done, you need to check your credit card statement (either through an ATM or internet banking) and type the transaction code on paypal so as to get your credit card and paypal linked together.
Whenever you buy something on ebay using paypal, you will be required to enter your paypal login and confirm before the transaction is carried out. All of these go over a secure SSL line, no need to worry…

Note : Paypal accounts in Mauritius CANNOT receive money, not yet, neither from other persons nor through “donations” done on web sites.

What if my item never reaches me?

eBay even thought of this possibility… That’s why the site is one of the most reliable places to do your online shopping.

eBay Buyer Protection, everything is in the name…

In case you don’t receive the advertised item or the item does not reach you, the first thing you should to is : Contact the seller.
The item may have been delayed somewhere. Most sellers with whom I dealt were great, helping as much as possible. Some may even propose to send another item meanwhile or reimburse you.Â If ever the seller does not revert back to you,Â eBayÂ advises you to open a case on the Resolution Center. This will enable you to recover your full purchase, including the shipping cost.

However, always be sure that the item provides eBay Buyer Protection, displayed on the item’s page. Also, it may be advisable to insure your costly item for a few dollars, usually offered by Seller during the purchase.

Finding the right item

eBay contains thousands of items on sale through bidding or “buy now”. So, it might be a bit difficult for you to browse the virtual stores without having the slightest idea about what you wanna buy. For your first purchase, let’s simplify things, we will be talking about “Buy now” items only, no bidding…

Do you really have a $2000 budget? So, as we say in creole : “Pas faire gros liziers!”

Set the minimum/maximum amount you are ready to spend!

IMHO, one of the best features of ebay remains the search engine driving the site. It is free, do try it out!

It is useless spending time browsing items which cannot be shipped to Mauritius. Make sure that the results listed are available to Mauritius by selecting “Mauritius” in the advanced search options.

Finding the right seller…

Sellers on ebay rely a lot on feedback, positive ones. No one wants to deal with a seller with loads of negative feedback. On the other hand, top rated sellers are the ones usually offering a better service, fast shipping etc… And everyone wants to deal with those “top rated” eBay sellers, marked as below :

If you wanna find out negative feedback from a particular seller, you can use third party web sites to check this out.Â Head over to http://toolhaus.org/ and type in the seller name :

This is one of the best tools to check out more info about a seller. As you can see, there was only 34 negative feedback and 5898 positive ones registered over the last month. Now up to you to read the negative ones to see if they are really bad or the buyers were simply ‘stupid’. btw, I highly recommend CameraAuctions for your purchases. My D5000 and SB 600 flash both come from that shop
Hi to the great people out there!

Shipping and tracking

I have been using ebay for less than 1year, purchasing items starting as low as $1 up to the most expensive one at $700…. The items have been shipped from different countries, including US, UK, Hong Kong and China.

Most of the US sellers out there use USPS (United States Postal Service) to ship the items. The commonly shipping methods available are :

USPS Express Mail - See details in above screenshot
ULTRA FAST and Costly but takes only 3-5 days to travel to Mauritius
USPS First Class Mail
USPS Priority Mail

You can get more info about the 2 last shipping here. The items usually take 2-3 weeks to reach the island.

USPS Tracking page : http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm

Hong Kong post.

While purchasing my Tamron 70-300mm, I paid nearly $50 dollars for shipping. pff. Nevertheless, the parcel took over 3 weeks to reach Mauritius. At that price, it was much worthy to purchase the item from the US and pay for an USPS Express Mail for the same price!

Hong Kong post tracking page : http://app3.hongkongpost.com/CGI/mt/enquiry.jsp

And China?

lol, I don’t even worry about items shipped from there… It usually takes 4-6 weeks, no need to hurry

Free Shipping

It is sometimes tempting to look for items marked with “Free Shipping”… However, the item might take 3-5 weeks to reach you and no tracking is available for these “free shipping” items. So, be patient!

Collecting your parcel

Yay! You finally got a card from your postman, asking you to come over to the post office… Take your ID card and run to the nearest post office asap!

Depending on the type of item/price/size, it may be collected from the post office directly. In that case, just sign the necessary papers before going away with your parcel.

Now, if your parcel/item is quite bulky/expensive/important, the postmaster will handle you a card, which needs to be shown at the Parcel Office of Port Louis. All (if not most) personal purchases collected there will be charged a vat amount of 15%.

VAT Calculation :

Given that you have purchased the item for personal use and below Rs10,000, you will be charged a vat amount of 15% on (The value of your purchase – Rs1000). Example : Your item costs Rs8000, you will be charged 15% vat on Rs7000 only.

Hence, do not forget to add the VAT amount in your estimations before buying an item.

Post office delivery charges

I do not know the exact amount, but you may be charged around Rs50-100. Unfortunately, I have no additional info on this part.Â I just paid it quietly

Purchases over Rs10,000 – Critical!

All items valued above Rs10,000 cannot be cleared out of the customs without hiring the service of a “Customs Broker”, a.k.a “Courtier Maritime”. These persons will thus be representing you and carrying out the necessary paper works so that you can get your item out of the customs. They will need some of your personal details to register you at the Mauritius Revenue Authority as an “importer”. Their fees might vary. I paid Rs1, 400 to the one I hired for my camera.

So, before confirming your purchase of over Rs10000, make sure that you add the custom’s broker fee to the purchase’ total amount.

Duty on certain items

No duty is applicable to camera equipment. However, items such as Bags have a duty of 30%!

So, if you bag costs Rs3000 on ebay, duties would be calculated on (3000-1000) = Rs2000. Make sure you add (30% + 15%) = 45%, which roughly comes around Rs3900…Â A few weeks ago, the MRA officer advised me to check the MRA web site for further details about the duty on applicable items. Need to find that list!

Some last words…

We are no more living in a remote island and the advances in technology are bridging the little gap which still exists. Online payments are becoming part of our everyday life, unlike some years ago. The price difference is indeed huge, I had the opportunity to compare prices of DSLR cameras a few months ago.

Shopping online through eBay might be the only solution to Mauritians if they need to access items either not available to Mauritius yet or simply, items at a more reasonable price. From what I learnt, transactions on Amazon and Google Checkout are not possible for us yet, but I am confident that in a few years time, we won’t really feel that we are thousand of kms away from the biggest stores of the world…

I end this long post with these words and hope that the content here really helped you to understand some basic things about eBay, especially if you are looking forward to your first purchase from within the paradise island of Mark Twain…

Feel free to share and like this article on Facebook!

Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro for Nikon

Yashvin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:46:11 +0000

Choosing a second lens for my Nikon D5000 was quite tough.
At first, I wanted to go for either a Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED or Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR (which were both more expensive). But at the end of the day, I finally went for the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro for Nikon (with built in motor) mainly because of the huge price difference.

As any other buyer, I googled for reviews for this lens. I was a bit disappointed since most of the sites used the same text from the official Tamron page. Same for the pictures of the lens itself.

So, this post is my share to the web, featuring shots and previews of my own

n.b : Once again, I love photography as a hobby. This post is nothing professional and has been written from my little experience only. The aim of this post is to provide some additional feedback for this lens from Tamron.

Another ebay experience!

I got a nice deal on ebay! It cost me only $130 + $50 shipping. However, just after my purchase, the seller increased the price by +$20

Once I paid the taxes and other charges at the Mauritius Postal Office, the total cost amounted to around Rs6200. Later, I noticed the same lens on sale at a local photography equipment shot (Era) at around Rs9500. Well, personally I don’t find the difference that huge. It can help you to avoid those hassles like going to the post office, checking your mail box everyday and the huge stress before actually receiving the parcel. And sometimes, time is money!

It took me nearly 3 weeks to get the item shipped from Hong Kong to Mauritius for $50. I wonder why it took so long to come here for that price!

Some pictures of the lens

As promised, here are a few shots :

Tamron 70-300, vertical view (click to enlarge)

Tamron lens on my D5000 (click to enlarge)

Comparing my two lenses (Click to enlarge)

Show me the zoom!

If you are regularly of this blog, you may have surely read the article in which I explained a few things about camera lenses. Anyway, here is a picture which can give you an idea about how far you can zoom.

Zooming with lens (click on image to enlarge)

Please note that first 2 shots have been taken with a 18-55mm lens.

Some shots with the lens.

Cardinal Rouge

The wasp!

This picture is also available on The Photoblog

Some good and bad points…

The price is one among the best positive points of this lens which offers a wide zoom range as well as a macro feature. The macro feature can be enabled between 180-300 mm, bringing the subject much closer.

This is my second lens, the first one being the bundled kit lens (Nikon AF-S DX 18-55mm VR) of my D5000. Comparing these two, the 18-55 lens wins over the Tamron one on the built quality. I do not have much difficulty while shooting at 300mm in normal/bright light conditions. But if your hands shake too much, then you should carry a monopod or tripod if you want to push the lens at the maximum focal length.

Tamron 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro (click to enlarge)

You have perhaps read it somewhere else, it takes some time to autofocus, especially in low light conditions. In these conditions, I usually select one of the focus points manually on my camera before pressing the shutter button. If it still does not work, I push the autofocus switch from “AF” to “MF”.

A small tip : Remove the lens hood in low lighting conditions. It can help improve its ability to auto focus.

Is your camera bag big enough?

My camera bag

Finally, make sure that your camera bag can contain one more lens, especially if you wish to keep the lens hood on it all the time. The bag which I always considered as big and bulky is now not large enough to hold my 2 lenses at the same time. It takes the whole width of my bag and consequently, I need to choose only one of the lens before going out. Buying a backpack will cost meÂ roughlyÂ Rs3000.

I also noticed that because of the large lens hood, a few other backpacks won’t be large enough. Either you look for a bigger one, or remove (or invert) the lens hood each time you keep the lens in the bag.

The last words

The same lens exists for different mounts including Canon. While choosing your lens, make sure that you get the correct one. Â There are two Nikon-compatible versions : one with a built in motor (for D40,D60,D3000,D5000, etc) and another one without a built in motor (D80,D90, etc). The words “Built in Motor” is clearly written on the box.

I think that one cannot expect much for a lower value lens, but IMHO it remains a good purchase, especially if you are tight on budget. Here ends my small review and I hope that you have got a better overview of the lens if you are planning to buy it.

Go for it, it is worth the money!

1st ebay purchase = My Camera Nikon D5000!

Yashvin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:33:13 +0000

Yes! Yes! and Yes! I have finally got my first DSLR, a Nikon D5000!!!

I waited so much. Months elapsed since I decided to go for a new camera. Weeks since I have been checking ebay for the best deal. Days since I have been longing to hold it in my hands. And finally, only a few hours elapsed since I completed all formalities to clear it through the customs…

Choosing the right camera was pretty tough. But the Nikon D5000 won over the Canon 500d, only a few hours before the purchase.

My first ebay purchase!

I really made a big step forward by buying the camera right from ebay, using paypal.

The experience with the ebay seller was nice, and I trusted the whole system set up on ebay for the protection of buyers. The camera was shipped less 2 days after the purchase, and it took only 4 days to reach the island… Yes, only 4 days from New York to Mauritius!

Yesterday, I went to the Parcel Office in Port Louis at 815am, excited like a little kid !!! I have been talking so much about this camera!

I handed my card over to the guy there and the parcel was brought to me. It was HUGE! A Mauritius Revenu Authority (MRA) officer started to check the papers and I was told that I had to hire a “Courtier Maritime” to be able to clear the package through the customs.

“Mo pas pu cpv gagne mo parcel azordi?” I said sadly…

“Non, akoz so valeur trop fort, ena lezotte procedures. Bizin ene Courtier Maritime” said the officer.

For a few seconds, part of my dreams shattered… No camera for today… Anyway, I was glad to see the package in front of my eyes… It did not land in Mauritanie, as a few of my colleagues feared.

I called my cousin (Thanks Kiran!), he contacted his “courtier” and a few hours later, I filled some papers and paid the guy for his services. He made the necessary quickly and today he called me. Everything was ready, the package can now be collected!

At noon, we went to the post office, waited some minutes for another MRA officer to open the parcel, check all the papers and before 1 pm, I was out of the post office, happy and excited, carrying the huge box in my arms!

As promised, I met Dhaneesha immediately so as to be able to take the first picture. She wanted to be in the first one! Once parked in Champs de Mars, I un-boxed the camera, fixed the lens to the camera and shot the first 5 pics.

We were breathless with the result!

Back to work, I was impatient to shoot more pics. Later in the evening, I picked up my sister, drove home quickly and took a closer look at the camera, the accessories and the ‘gifts’ in the package.

I am in love In fact, all of us are in love with the camera!

The cost…

This is the bitter part of this post… And I am sure that most of you want to know how much I invested.Â The camera did cost a lot, but it is much cheaper than those displayed in a few shops in Mauritius.

I bought the camera here at $719. Included in the deal : A 18-55 VR lens, 8Gb memory card, a bag, an extra battery, a card reader, a cleaning kit among others. The shipping cost a total of $98 (including insurance).

Once the parcel reached Mauritius, I had to pay 15% VAT (Approx Rs3800) and as mentioned above, I had to pay Rs1200 to the “Courtier Maritime”.

So, the total cost is approx Rs30,000!!! I am mad, yes I know!

Now that I have my new camera, I need to sell my Fujifilm S5600 asap to cover part of the costs I will write another article soon about the details.

As I said earlier “Pu sa prix la, camera la ena interet tire zoli fotos! tvr!”

A few pics taken on Day 1

The post is pretty long, isnt it? I am so excited and tomorrow will be my first day out with my D5000!
And this is only the beginning!

Prix des caméras à Maurice, un monde de différence.

Yashvin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:59:03 +0000

Depuis quelque temps déjà , je songe sérieusement à acheter un nouvel appareil de photographie. Depuis, je ne cesse de consulter les prix sur le net et aussi à lire les reviews.

J’ai été stupéfait en comparant les prix sur le net avec celle d’un magasin situé à Port Louis.

Pour cet article, je vais prendre le modèle Nikon D5000 (Juin 2009) comme référence.

Sur le site de Nikon, ce camera professionnel est à $730, c’est à dire, environ Rs21,900 ( si on assume que $1 = Rs30). Les prix sur ebay varient mais ne dépassent pas les $1000 (Rs30,000 inclus les bonus dans le deal)

Et dans ce magasin, tenez vous bien, le même camera est vendu à Rs38,000! Presque le double!

Je me demande bien comment ce prix est calculé? Peut être que le cout du fret + la douane + les profits, mais quant même!

Mais est-ce qu’ils arrivent à vendre leur produits, à ce prix exorbitant?

Je vais essayer de consulter les prix dans d’autres magasins, mais je pense bien que les mauriciens doivent avoir recours à l’achat en ligne!

Avez vous d’autres exemples à citer?

Yashvin, pages of my life » Ebay

SBM Smile Prepaid cards for your online purchases

What can make me get hold of a smile prepaid card?

Related Posts:

Buying on eBay/Amazon from Mauritius (June 2011)

Updated info about eBay/Amazon purchases and Custom clearance

What has changed?

How to get the permit(s)?

New to items clearance from the customs?

What you need at the customs?

Some prohibited goods.

Where is the Central Parcels Office located?

Some useful phone numbers

Do you have any questions?

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What do you think about Mauritian online stores?

List of a few Mauritian online stores

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Choosing my next mobile device

Requirement 1 – Camera

Requirement 2 – Keyboard

Requirement 3 – WIFI/EDGE

Requirement 4 – Display screen

Requirement 5 – OS

Requirement 6 -Budget

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Buying on eBay from Mauritius

UPDATE : 29th June 2011

Secure Payment

What if my item never reaches me?

Finding the right item

Finding the right seller…

Shipping and tracking

Free Shipping

Collecting your parcel

Some last words…

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Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro for Nikon

Another ebay experience!

Some pictures of the lens

Show me the zoom!

Some shots with the lens.

Some good and bad points…

Is your camera bag big enough?

The last words

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1st ebay purchase = My Camera Nikon D5000!

My first ebay purchase!

The cost…

A few pics taken on Day 1

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Prix des caméras à Maurice, un monde de différence.

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