Are the prices duty free, as they are in the U.S. V.I. or at least cheaper than the N.Y. discounters in St. Martin so there are good discounts on electronics - digital cameras?<BR>Thank you

When you compare NYC prices to the islands include the postage which is a controversial item, the &quot;throw-ins&quot; like carrying cases, batteries, cords, extra smart media cards, special batteries etc. etc. It's amazing the wheeling and dealing you can do in NYC.<BR><BR>Comparision price and if necessary take a price/research list with you and the wisest advice is to do research before you go. Several photography magazines within the last month have had comparisions of several models and brands.. Check to make sure it's a newer model, not rebuilt. Most likely it is considered the &quot;grey market&quot; and you will and should get it insured on your homeowners.

One reason from buying from NYC BEFORE you go is that you can read the manual (very important) and play around with it before your vacation and won't miss a thing on digital..

Buy in NY. NY is the heart of camera discounters, there are too many wholesalers in the area. Go to b&amp;h photo or adorama and buy from there. These are well known, honest stores and will have the best deal. Buy new, usa, with warranty. Grey market isn't worth the small discount.

I can't comment on prices in the Caribbean. However, I just bought a digital camera and, prior to doing so, thought that I could get a great deal by negotiating with the electronics dealers in NY. So I did some research and went to a few stores in the 'burbs (PC Richards, Best Buys, COMPUSA, etc.) and then headed to the City to make a deal. I went to about 10 places and, guess what?-- not one of them could beat the prices that I was getting in the chain stores. So, I bought at Best Buys. Check out the bestdeal.com website. It tells you what stores are carrying the camera that you want, what they are selling it for, and whether they have it in stock.

Buy before you go. You'll know your camera and if there are any bugs you'll be able to figure them out before you go.<BR>Buy before you go. You won't have to worry about returns if you get one on SXM and have to return it.<BR>Buy before you go. You don't have to worry as much about 'grey goods'.<BR>Buy before you go. The prices on SXM are just NOT as good as they used to be and generally you can do as well and often better at your local discount houses and not have to worry about any of the above.

The camera stores in St. Thomas are very reputable. Prices are good, and you can bargain sometimes with them. They too throw in camera cases, smartcards, batteries, whatever, anything to seal the deal. Both Boolchand's and Royal Caribbean sell thousands and thousands of cameras. All of the camera companies have repair houses all over the US. <BR>My decision to buy would be simple. If you care to take pictures on your trip, buy it early. If you will be in St. Thomas at the end of your trip, ie. a cruise, maybe you don't want to wait. <BR>In the case of Johno finding the best deal at Best Buy, was it really? Did you factor in the running around to all of those places in the city(10)? I don't know, my time is worth a whole lot more than that!<BR>I. personally have priced a Canon D30 digital on the net. Primarily on mysimon.com. Retail was $2995 and most places had it at that price, some at $2795. I was able to pick it up in St. Thomas for $2250! So it depends on what you are looking for!<BR>Ronnie

Ronnie --My office is within a few blocks of dozens of electronics stores. I visited about ten during one long lunch hour.

The Canon D30 Ronnie mentioned is an older discontinued model that can be had for a lot less than mentioned above. You can get the newer D60, which is still about a year old (and a year is a long time with technology), for under $2000. A good site for making sure you know what you're doing is dpreview.com. I would be very wary about what you are actually getting if you purchase in a place like St. Thomas (refurbished, etc etc etc)

That may well be. I was drawing a reference. Sorry you misunderstood. That was over a year and a half ago.<BR>I don't know of any camera stores in St. Thomas that sells refurbished cameras. Good website though.<BR>Ronnie

I have purchased several cameras on St. Thomas and the bargaining was as heated as the equip that I've bought in NYC. Not refurbished or used or anything else grey with lots of extras thrown in - just like NYC. You have to have shopped and be able to compare apples and apples and know what the heck you are doing to be able to deal. But that's true in NYC too which has many stores with not so great reputations.

I don't know about St Marteen but we bought a Canon digital camera complete with case, batteries, cords, software etc at Boolchands on St Thomas for 499.00. We also purchased a Boze wave radio/CD player at Boolchands for 300+. Personally, I would never consider buying camera or other small electronic items stateside - why would I do that when I can get duty free prices on high end merchandise in St Thomas?

Do any of these fanastic stores on St. Thomas have websites so we can see the duty free prices? Or are they a bit too shady to go online?

absolutely nothing shadey about the stores in STT (unlike NYC with bait and switch ads). They wouldn't have the prices on the website other than suggested retail because it boils down to how hard you bargin. Same is true for jewelry (but that I would be more careful with if it isn't a trade name or well-known store.

Pssst, trust me buddy.... there's nothing shady about stores on a Caribbean island where you bargain for your goods. No way are they clearinghouses for stolen merchandise! <BR><BR>I mean, if &quot;Ronnie&quot;, &quot;Jack&quot;, &quot;Val&quot;, and &quot;STT&quot; tell you they got the best deals there, then you know it HAS to be true!

&quot;Trust me&quot;, I guess you intended that last post to be dripping with sarcasm. All I can say is I have shopped at Boolchands, they have been around for ages, everything that I have bought there works, and works well, their store is located right in the heart of Havensight Mall where the cruise ships dock and not in a corner on some little side street in downtown Charlotte Amalie, as far as I am aware, they are a very reputable company. We looked at some cameras and Palm Pilots when we were in NYC last summer (in some of the stores around Time Square) and the prices were HORRENDOUS compared to what we have seen in STT. Quite frankly, I am inclined to think that you will come across more &quot;shady&quot; companies in places like NYC where underhanded wheeling and dealing and the passing on of stolen property is an everyday happening. Personally, there are certain things that I would never consider purchasing in a city such as NYC because as far as I am concerned, you never know what you might end up with.