Amazon Prime in Singapore.. Sort of and it's pretty confusing at best

You guys may have seen the Amazon prime now launch in Singapore, and as a Amazon Prime US customer for a while, I must say this is a big screw up by Amazon. First of all it's mobile strategy is not going to bring any good feedback from majority of the crowd unless Amazon expects people in the region only end up buying some small sub-$5 items on mobile phone/on road.

I don't see any benefit of Prime video (or for that matter netflix) in the region as the content is totally irrevalent here. So not very sure how Amazon is going to get any business from here except some westerners.

For the time, it's Lazada or Qoo10 stuff which are going to get the market share. 

Free Server to practice opensource apps or development works from Cloud - AWS Free Usage Tier

Source: Amazon

If you badly need a server to practice some development or some hobby programming, then this is probably the best one can get in Singapore.

The terms & conditions clearly states the details, and the pricing is pretty competitive if you choose to upgrade. For myself, I wanted to give a try to OpenFlow and wondering how best I can do it with RDO. I started with a Micro (Free) but soon upgraded to M3.Medium (Western US) at 0.157 per hour. After a month, my bill came ~ eight dollars. That's less than a meal at a foodcourt in Orchard :)

Amazon does offer services from Singapore, but as I tend to travel most of time I opted for US. Also, with Fiber from home the speed is not a big challenge even from home (I've a M1 200Mbps and my speed to AWS is ~25Mbps)

Overall this is a good deal if you want to start some 'hands-on' or practice some system stuff. Finally, I wish SingTel or a local company starting such 'time based' or 'pay-per-use' model for our local needs. I am sure this is a huge untapped market which our local telco's can profit from. 

Amazon conversion rates - Better to charge USD to your card

While purchasing an item from Amazon, realized that now a days Amazon gives an option to charge in local currency. For details look here

But is it worth letting Amazon does the conversion ? Or let your local credit card does the conversion?. Initially I thought Amazon could do a better job based on the volume and it's good for them to get wholesale customers. It's a delta income for them on top of sale so they should make it as competitive as possible to make it a norm.

But unfortunately, for SGD it's not the case. There is a quite a bit of difference between Amazon conversion rate vs your local bank conversion rate.

Here is a screen shot showing amazon conversion rate for SGD which is ~ 1.3059. My credit card company charged me 1.2644. So Amazon charges approx 3-4% higher. If the order is worth, 1,000 you'd be paying close to $ 30 extra to Amazon for doing the conversion.

Not sure what is the practice for other currencies like GBP or EUR. If you guys know plz share :)

Why some things are more expensive in Singapore - Even MAS got the doubt now

Source: CNA

If you ever wonder, why things in HongKong, or USA or even our neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Thailand are relatively cheaper compared to Singapore then you are not alone. MAS or the big uncles got the doubt as well.
For example, if I see a camcorder from Sony,

Singapore price from Sony, Singapore  is SGD 1,199.00
Amazon price from Amazon, USA is USD 499.00 or SGD 611. What the $$$$? Almost half the price. It is exactly the same box. If we're to compare the price in showroom price in USA, or Sony, Singapore is USD 599.99 (+100 credit) or SGD 732.

Another example is simple Vitamins, some lotions which I found half the price in HK. The list is endless. Why and what is the main reason?

If I look in to what's included in the cost of a item/product? I can think vaguely,

1. Manufacturing cost
2. Shipping cost
3. Taxes
4. Cost of business (rental, display, employee etc)
5. Profit margin

So if we see individual categories, I'd think manufacturing cost should be the same across for "similar" quality items. Almost all the items are manufactured in China anyways.

Shipping cost shouldn't be a big difference too as we're pretty close to the manufacturing places ;)

Taxes - Singapore is a low tax nation.

Cost of business - Rent is high but not as high as in HK or NY; Staff pay is damn low here..Interest rates, taxes are pretty low too.

Profit Margin - ???

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No comments then..

Culturelle probiotics - Singapore

If you are using Culturelle or similar probiotics for Kids, I guess the wait is over. Amazon started shipping to Singapore (though at hefty postage charges) and I am glad I don't have to wait for the shops to deliver.

I used to purchase it in Singapore from Telok Blangah (Back to Basics Alternative Diet) & NTUC Unity store some times.

Both charged me from SGD 38 to 55 depending on time & my luck I guess. The challenge is the availability of products and at times I couldn't get them when I visit the store to purchase.

Seems Amazon started offering it sometime early this year (my last order was through Globeshopper in late Jan' 12) and the charges for "Express delivery" is US 74 for 10 packs. So in total I paid $263. In Singapore $ terms it's SGD 33 to my home..Wish the delivery charges are less..