中英双语能力让我省了一半的钱 How the languages actually save me tons of money

最近刚换台式电脑，CPU，显示器，键盘滑鼠一应俱全，还就差了个音箱。平时我在房间听歌的时间较多，偶尔也看看戏打打游戏，想找个性能强劲价格又不会太夸张的电脑音箱。由于音箱是体积较大而且敏感脆弱的电子产品，可以的话我想尽量在本地购买，运货还是售后什么都会比较方便。几番研究之下，发现新加坡的网友们几乎一直大力推荐惠威（HiVi)这个牌子，其中 M200MKIII 更是中价位神器一般的存在。再去看看中外论坛网友们评测心得，确实是个不可多得的好音箱，性能强劲，外形讨好，价格也还不算太贵，应该就是这个了。

Recently I upgraded from laptop to desktop PC. Acquired all the peripherals except speakers. The PC is mainly for workstation works and I will spend more time playing music on it. The initial plan was to get a pair of speaker from local retailer due to the heavyweight and fragility. After some researches on Singapore forums, HiVi M200MKIII turned out to be the most recommended model.

多年的购物经验养成了“货比三家”的好习惯。二话不说，我开始浏览各大本地销售商的网站，发现价格都是居高不下，599 新币（440美金）是标准价格。这对我当初设定的预算来说是高了不少。

I’d normally comparing prices before any purchases. Started from the main local sites, the standard prices is $440 which I think there is still rooms for discounts.

那就去美国Amazon看看吧，结果还可以，355美金，比新加坡便宜了近一百块。但是看一看不是很能确定那主要卖家是否靠谱，而且这货本身重达15公斤，从美国运过来那运费会相当可观。

Amazon has it for $355, and $100 cheaper than local deals. Not bad. The problem is the unbearable shipping fee will make the deal unworthy, as the speaker is 15 kg in weight.

接下来终于要使出我最爱的某宝大法了。搜一搜，发现京东居然自营的惠威旗舰店居然只卖1199人民币（182美金）！

And you know what, proceeded to China sites and I found the same thing sales for $182!

新加坡Lazada：440 USD
美国Amazon：355 USD (比新加坡便宜85)
中国京东：182 USD (比新加坡便宜258)

凑巧该货物从中国运来新加坡有大优惠，只需再付不到5新币的费用，毫不犹豫就下单了。虽然这样就失去了售后保修的服务，考虑到巨大的价格优势，还有多年来海外购买电子商品绝少出过什么问题，这样的决定还是物超所值的。下一篇会介绍该音箱的开箱文。

上期分享了掌握多语言的好处，这次购物的经历就从份体现了中英双语带来的实际利益。身边有不少的ABC朋友(泛指不会阅读中文，以英文为母语的华人)，网购只能去Amazon，Lazada，eBay等英文网站获取咨询。如果我也不会中文，很可能就会在本土的销售商花两倍的钱买音箱了！

当然不是每次中国方的价格都是最低的，有时候Amazon类的网站也有更好的优惠。所以说，多会一个语言，多一个市场。

Singapore Lazada：440 USD
Amazon：355 USD ($85 cheaper than S'pore)
China JingDong：182 USD ($258 cheaper than S'pore)

I somehow managed to find a local shopping agent to make the shipping fee $3 flat for any item from China to my place. The huge price advantage makes the loss of warranty worthy and I shall share the unboxing article on my next post.

I've shared the benefits of knowing multiple languages on my last post. This example demonstrates how knowing both English and Chinese can actually save you tons of money. I would pay for more than twice the price if I'm not able to read in Chinese. Of course, there are times too for English sites like Amazon and eBay to have the best deals. You gain an extra market by gaining one more language!