Anyone from Hong Kong?

[[VT]Mofo2000]

Hi, all

 

I'm heading over to mainland in April and gonna leave (and maybe entering) from HK. I got a couple ques about shopping locally, and it's hard to skim thru 80+ pages of info, so please point me to the right direciton, or send me a PM.

 

My only time in HK was about 2 yrs ago and I visited Kwong Wai st. Due to time constraint, I didn't get to go to the other airsoft district, where WGC and Redwolf is located. While the price is cheaper than that of online, I agree w everyone's opinion about the shop's lack of customer relation. The shop keeps tend to ignore you until you start pulling out cash. Only War4's sales people were friendly, we had a nice chat. they gave me a discount and even invited me to a game (but i couldn't go cuz of time). So what about the other airsoft district, do the shops there treat customers better?

 

-I can't speak Cantonese, could only speak English or Mandarin Chinese, I remembered i was barely getting by using a combo of both, will it still be an issue? maybe i'll just print the product info from theri website and show it to them.

 

-I'm in the market for a G&P Mk46, Dboy AKSU and some Pantac (or similar high quality) tacgears, what are some shops that can give me good price and maybe discount in i buy alot of stuff?

 

-As far as payment, I wouldn't want to wandering the streets w wads of cash (especially converted to HKD), is it possible to pay the locals using paypal on their computer? I don't know if they'll take credit card.

 

-also, i understand, traveling back to the US, it's prob a good idea to ship a whole gun using a courier (i'll only bring gears and accessories that don't resemble weapons on the plane), can I ask the shops to pack and ship the guns on the spot? I would hate to walk to the post office holding huge boxes.

 

-finally, is there going to be any major airsoft events, like gun/gear exibits around mid-late April?

 

Any advice would be great. Looking forward to hear from the HK natives, and I hope to run into some of you when I get there. Thanks in advance.

[uscmCorps]

My only time in HK was about 2 yrs ago and I visited Kwong Wai st. Due to time constraint, I didn't get to go to the other airsoft district, where WGC and Redwolf is located. While the price is cheaper than that of online, I agree w everyone's opinion about the shop's lack of customer relation. The shop keeps tend to ignore you until you start pulling out cash. Only War4's sales people were friendly, we had a nice chat. they gave me a discount and even invited me to a game (but i couldn't go cuz of time). So what about the other airsoft district, do the shops there treat customers better?

I speak cantonese fluently, and they still treat me with horrible customer service. It's not personal though. They do it to everyone, even the locals.

 

-I can't speak Cantonese, could only speak English or Mandarin Chinese, I remembered i was barely getting by using a combo of both, will it still be an issue? maybe i'll just print the product info from theri website and show it to them.

Hong Kong Shop Keeps are generally getting better about speaking Mandarin. With the ever increasing influx of Mainlanders and the occassional Taiwanese buyer coming through, HK people are becoming more and more familiar with Mandarin. Things should be better than your previous experience 2 years ago, but not by too much. If you print out the page from their website, it's possible they may quote you a high price than the standard street price. I suggest just going in with a list of the items (broken down by manufacturer, product name, manufacturer's product code, and the store product code). That might be easier.

 

-I'm in the market for a G&P Mk46, Dboy AKSU and some Pantac (or similar high quality) tacgears, what are some shops that can give me good price and maybe discount in i buy alot of stuff?

One thing I have always noticed with pretty much every shop, is that they simply do not have the space to display every item they list in their store inventory. This is further compounded by the fact that many stores do not sort their displays into clear sections. At the same time, some stores will list items as being out of stock that are clearly in stock in their phyiscal store. That's because their e-store is often in a completely different location and inventory numbers don't reflect what's in the physical store. Also, another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of stores don't display items that are blatantly in copyright infringement. Just taking a look in the stores a couple days ago, I noticed a lack of many replica multicam items that are commonly available at most online stores. You can find some Pantac gear, but not the variety you'd find online.

 

-As far as payment, I wouldn't want to wandering the streets w wads of cash (especially converted to HKD), is it possible to pay the locals using paypal on their computer? I don't know if they'll take credit card.

Paypal on their computer? This is doubtful. But it doesn't hurt to try. Pretty much all stores will tell you they prefer cash. Using a credit card will often incur a 3-5% fee. Also remember that HK sales policy is very different than that which you might have come to expect from your own country. In HK, most sales are FINAL. That especially is the case with HK airsoft stores.

 

-also, i understand, traveling back to the US, it's prob a good idea to ship a whole gun using a courier (i'll only bring gears and accessories that don't resemble weapons on the plane), can I ask the shops to pack and ship the guns on the spot? I would hate to walk to the post office holding huge boxes.

You can ask... but they'll probably charge you an arm and a leg to do so... or just refuse to do it. Like I mentioned before, most shops have a physical store, and an online store. They tend to have the online store deal with all the S&H for international shipping. Also consider the fact that when you buy an item from these stores online... not only do they pad their online prices 5-20% over street price, they also pad the hell out of the S&H cost. Sending something yourself via EMS won't be cheap, but it will probably be a heck of a lot cheaper than having them send it.

 

[[VT]Mofo2000]

Great info, USMC. Thanks very much!

[willwizard]

Last summer when I was in HK, I asked several stores whether they would ship the guns for me and they said they would but it would cost an extra 500 HKD which is like 70 USD. It would definitely be a lot cheaper to just walk down to the post office and mail it yourself. There just happens to be a post office right next to Kwong Wah street so it's not too hard to buy and ship.

[allizard]

I'm still ###### off from 2 years ago buying the 3 systema torque up motors at Dentrinity. They give me the wrong type and refuse to exchange it.

 

I'll be in HK about 3 weeks. Does anyone know ROSV have a physical store in HK? I want to buy some accessories and tac gears from them. Or is there a better alternative.

[[VT]Mofo2000]

Did you guys pay w cash? I figured it'd be pretty inconvinient and unsafe to carry alot of bills around, especially for a tourist.

 

and if you choose to ship a whole gun yourself, can you still ask the shop to over the trades and add the orange tip?

 

BTW, anyone got a favorite store, in terms of pricing and/or friendliness?

[allizard]

I had a pretty good experience at Tokyo Model Company.

[willwizard]

Yeah generally everything is dealt in cash. Not too many places take credit cards, especially not some of the smaller airsoft shops. Just try not to flash it around. Like if you know what you're going to buy ahead of time, count out the money before hand and keep it separate from the rest of your money and only pull that out when you make the purchase.

[Sale]

A lot of places do take credit cards, although you will get a better deal if you're paying by cash.

 

As long as you have the money safe from pickpockets (which are quite rare), you will be safe. I can't imagine someone being robbed in Hong Kong, at least not in public and not a gweilo (foreigner). They have schoolkids travelling on the MTR late at night if you get what I mean.

 

-Sale

[DarkLite]

Most people won't rob gwailos because of the incredible amounts of *beep* that happens when they do - a HK local will complain to the police who will do pretty much nothing except file the complaint, but if a gwailo makes a complaint the police get a move on.

 

Stupid, but hey, it's how it is.

 

That being said, Gunner's store is always a good one to try, it's well stocked and the prices are good.

 

Only thing is he doesn't do gear anymore - just guns and accessories.

 

There's a shop NEXT to Gunner's, however, which does only gear - called "Free Dimension".

 

Worth a shot - generally I find that Gunner, CA and Dentrinity have the best customer service - War4, GnG, MMC and Armed Forces were absolutely abysmal - refusing to stop chatting to each other and process my order and cussing it up in cantonese about how the tall gwailo was being a pain in the *albatross* when they were trying to play Mario Kart against each other on the DS.

 

[aznsk8s87]

Armed Forces isn't too bad....

 

I've also never had any issues with pickpockets when I've been in the area. It's simple enough, keep your wallet in a deep pocket.

 

As for bargaining, do the stores allow that? I've only ever bargained at 2 of the shops (and another offered to give me the employee discount for some odd reason). I'd recommend cash transactions.

 

My personal favorite store is Gunner's-nice guy, well stocked, and he's got lots of cute cats running around the place.

[P-E]

I like dentrinity and war4. S3, Free dimension and "the shop with pink-shirted staff in front of war4" are very nice too (altough I've never purchased anything at S3 except tickets for wargame).

Armed force is often a pain for getting the sellers attention, even when yelling "MMMMGOY" in front of them

and pickpockets... never had any problem with that (and I often carry several thousands dollars in my wallet)

[DarkLite]

Armed Forces isn't too bad....

 

I've also never had any issues with pickpockets when I've been in the area. It's simple enough, keep your wallet in a deep pocket.

 

As for bargaining, do the stores allow that? I've only ever bargained at 2 of the shops (and another offered to give me the employee discount for some odd reason). I'd recommend cash transactions.

 

My personal favorite store is Gunner's-nice guy, well stocked, and he's got lots of cute cats running around the place.

 

No more cats in Gunners - some ###### kept stealing kittens so Gunner moved them to his house.

 

I like dentrinity and war4. S3, Free dimension and "the shop with pink-shirted staff in front of war4" are very nice too (altough I've never purchased anything at S3 except tickets for wargame).

Armed force is often a pain for getting the sellers attention, even when yelling "MMMMGOY" in front of them

and pickpockets... never had any problem with that (and I often carry several thousands dollars in my wallet)

 

S3 is utter ######, avoid.

 

The guys with the Pink shirts have good staff but sometimes their prices are good, most of the time their prices are ridiculous.

 

War4 I don't like anymore - they used to be one of my favourites but they've been getting very rude lately.

[[VT]Mofo2000]

How about the shops that aren't located in Kwong Wai, like Redwolf, WGC, Unco, etc?

 

so anyone local wanna go shopping w me?

[DarkLite]

How about the shops that aren't located in Kwong Wai, like Redwolf, WGC, Unco, etc?

 

so anyone local wanna go shopping w me?

 

Unco's fine for shopping but for the love of all things good on a monday do NOT let them upgrade/repair or even THINK about touching the internals of your guns. Every single gun I have seen come out of an upgrade or repair job at Unco has died within a week.

[Docv400]

...S3 is utter ######, avoid...

I thought I'd read that S3 had gone out of business ages ago

They seemed to get a lot of -ve comments on the forums.

 

[Sale]

UnCompany in Wanchai, Island site. Definitely worth a visit and easy to find. Same goes for Redwolf, although they are in an entirely opposite direction in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon site.

 

WGC is in the Kwong Wa Street area (on Dundas Street), and in the same building you'll find SupremeCo. SupremeCo are the place to go for real gear like Blackhawk, Eagle, SureFire and 5.11. If you go to the "Mong Kok Airsoft District" from the Yau Ma Tei MTR station, you actually walk past WGC and SupremeCo before actually getting to the other shops.

 

-Sale

[uscmCorps]

Unco's fine for shopping but for the love of all things good on a monday do NOT let them upgrade/repair or even THINK about touching the internals of your guns. Every single gun I have seen come out of an upgrade or repair job at Unco has died within a week.

Agreed. UNCo will never again touch another gun's internals of mine. NEVER... EVER... AGAIN. They sucked years ago when they first opened up and they still sucked when I gave them another chance a couple years back.

 

I've had a personal gripe about WarIV toys for years now. Back when I was 15 (16 years ago) the owner of WARIV toys (the older guy with the glasses) used to own a small airsoft store under a different name in WanChai (in CCWu building for those of you in the know). I was hard up for money, had a relatively new MGC Glock 23, and decided to trade it in to the shop for cash. The dude totally low balled me (even for a rarely used second hand gun), but I accepted his offer. As I'm walking out the door, I watched him through the window take my Glock and put it in the display case and list it as NEW. He caught me watching him and quickly turned away sheepishly. I'm not ###### as much with him that he low-balled me, it was more the fact that he was going to resell a second hand gun to an unsuspecting buyer as NEW. I just can't trust an individual that does business like that. Couple years later he opened up WarIV toys and I have still never given him a dime of my money to this day.

 

 

[DarkLite]

Agreed. UNCo will never again touch another gun's internals of mine. NEVER... EVER... AGAIN. They sucked years ago when they first opened up and they still sucked when I gave them another chance a couple years back.

 

I've had a personal gripe about WarIV toys for years now. Back when I was 15 (16 years ago) the owner of WARIV toys (the older guy with the glasses) used to own a small airsoft store under a different name in WanChai (in CCWu building for those of you in the know). I was hard up for money, had a relatively new MGC Glock 23, and decided to trade it in to the shop for cash. The dude totally low balled me (even for a rarely used second hand gun), but I accepted his offer. As I'm walking out the door, I watched him through the window take my Glock and put it in the display case and list it as NEW. He caught me watching him and quickly turned away sheepishly. I'm not ###### as much with him that he low-balled me, it was more the fact that he was going to resell a second hand gun to an unsuspecting buyer as NEW. I just can't trust an individual that does business like that. Couple years later he opened up WarIV toys and I have still never given him a dime of my money to this day.

 

Yup. Get's even worse when you look at their "custom" models.

 

TM G3SAS + TM G3 sliding stock = $1650HKD

 

Cost of G3SAS = $1150HKD

Cost of TM G3 sliding stock = $300HKD

Cost of "CUSTOM" price tag = $200HKD

 

Wut.

[Pureownage]

If you go up to the flat where Cobraairsoft is located (its v. near Kwong Wa Street), and if you speak cantonese, they're very friendly and helpful, ive been there 2 or 3 times myself and from my personal experience, theyre great, and theyll take time to show you how things work etc.

[[VT]Mofo2000]

On a seperate subject, i'm also looking for a Takara MasterPiece G1 Megatron, it seems that HK has decent price, but shipping's quite high. Anyone know any good toystore that might stock these?

[aznsk8s87]

I never liked S-3.

 

UNCo's only good because it's convenient, really. Their prices are slightly higher than those of their KWS counterparts. And their upgrades? haha "1.9J" barely breaks the 1.5/1.6 barrier. Even at the sites when the Marshal tests the guns, it's like this:

 

"How powerful is your gun?"

"Uh... 1.9J"

-test-

"You got this upgraded at UN, didn't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"It's barely 1.5J"

 

On the bright side, they're always well stocked and the staff are pretty helpful - pretty honest, too.

[DarkLite]

UNCo's only good because it's convenient, really. Their prices are slightly higher than those of their KWS counterparts. And their upgrades? haha "1.9J" barely breaks the 1.5/1.6 barrier. Even at the sites when the Marshal tests the guns, it's like this:

 

"How powerful is your gun?"

"Uh... 1.9J"

-test-

"You got this upgraded at UN, didn't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"It's barely 1.5J" "It's screeching like an anal virgin in a Thai brothel and the piston is grinding."

 

On the bright side, they're always well stocked and the staff are pretty helpful - pretty honest, too. f**king liars who don't even bother to replace the stock TM gears and Plastic bushings when upgrading and charge you several hundred dollars when all they do is put in a new spring and port the stock TM piston.

 

Fixed.

[guts]

I don't think WGC do walk in. I actually been there once, and they send me away saying they only do online.

[Kellhound]

Been at WGC during my holidays last year but my usual contact wasn't there.

I already knew they only sell on-line, but I went only to visit as they are regular providers for my store and I like to know everybody I do business with.