Five Places Filipinos Love to Buy their Gadgets Offline

More and more Filipinos use the internet to transact since we have more e-commerce sites and online gadget stores. Nevertheless, many still prefer to buy their gadgets first-hand. Here are five places we recommend should you like to take a little tour of the metro to buy your next gadget.

Buying a product offline do require a lot of effort – transportaton fares, time, and a lot of patience are key to find that best gadget deal. Holiday season is in full swing, and you might wonder how to spend that hard-earned bonus or thirteenth month pay. Before you proceed, I recommend that you ask yourself with these six questions before you buy a gadget.

Here’s our list in no particular order. Definitely not a paid advertisement.

1. SM Cyberzone (Megamall and SM North EDSA)

Photo from SM Cyberzone’s website

While it come as no surprise for many, shopping malls are one of the primary destinations a lot of people go to when they want to buy a gadget. Our malls have evolved over time as they now have dedicated areas just for everything tech: SM has CyberZone which is perhaps the biggest and most widely visited. There are a few more competing ones that cater specifically for the tech-savvy such as Forum Robinsons in EDSA-Pioneer, Mandaluyong.

If you’re on a tight budget and want to purchase a second-hand unit, or want to have your gadget repaired without going to the official service centers, establishments such as Ever Gotesco in Commonwealth and Farmers Plaza in Cubao, both in Quezon City, have floors with kiosks of cellular shops that also offer accessories such as cases and screen protectors, to name a few.

Here’s a tip: We discussed before that concept stores are actually made by the distributors at the request of the brands they carry. While going to a concept store sure do make purchases offline easy, we recommend that you search around for the best deals. Oftentimes, I get products that I want at a lower price on stores that carry a lot of products than the concept stores themselves.

2. Gilmore Avenue in QC

Photo by alfman of Panoramio

If there is one destination I go to when I purchase computer parts, it has to be this place. Gilmore, located in Quezon City, is an IT hub for all things computer-related — cases, motherboards, and other computer peripherals. There are shops that offer discounts if you are a part of an online community (PCHub), and a few that you see also in malls (PC Gilmore). It also helps that the location is easily accessible by public transportation (a few meters away from LRT-2 Gilmore Station), so walking to the stores are quite hassle-free.

Here’s a tip: Don’t get persuaded by promo men giving you brochures and leaflets as soon as you go down the Gilmore LRT Station. Take time to roam around. Lots of stores here do match the price of their competitors, and it’ll help you a lot if you jump from one store to another and use your bargaining skills to compare and lower prices, and get that sweet gizmo deal.

3. Hidalgo Street, Manila

Photo by cesarcentroncambay of Panoramio

Hidalgo in Quapo is a haven for photography enthusiasts, as the street is famously known for its camera stores that are priced significantly lower than the ones at the malls, partly due to cheaper rental rates and the provision of a local store warranty than the standard one given at mall points of sales. When I was deciding for my DSLR purchase a few months ago, a few of my friends recommended that I visit this area to check out prices.

Here’s a tip: Have someone accompany you here in Hidalgo. Quiapo is not that much of a safe place to roam around, and it is with our utmost recommendation that you wear plain clothes and avoid bringing too much valuables on your trip.

4. V-Mall at Greenhills Shopping Center

There is no denying that Greenhills Shopping Center is an electronics Mecca for some due to a wide assortment of tech stores and repair shops to boast, claiming its own spot in this list. Stores in this mall can give you the best deals from computer parts to smartphones.

Here’s a tip: Going with your ride? Expect difficulty in parking. Get your haggling abilities ready as well.

5. CD-R King

This is a special place. We can’t point to a specific location/branch because almost all of the 300+ CDR-King shops in the country are equally impressive (much like any of the Iglesia ni Cristo structures).

Rounding up our list is actually a shop infamous for its reputation of selling an assortment of products ranging from ultraportable laptops, e-bikes, smartphones, LED television sets, to even a 3D printer worth a hundred thousand pesos, this store has so many products to offer that even convinced us to list down ten cool gadgets you can buy from them. CD-R King truly lives up to its name as a one-stop place for cheap tech devices. Don’t expect top-notch high quality gadgets though, you may encounter a few defective ones on your purchases. Affordability comes at a price, they say.

Here’s a tip: While we may all agree that we get lemon CD-R King-branded devices once in awhile, I always go to them to purchase a few peripherals from other brands they carry. I find it cheaper to get it here than the other establishments.

How was your last offline purchase? What was the last gadget you bought offline and where? We’d love to have your reactions at the comments section below.