Furniture: Macau or Ap Lei Chau?

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  1. #1

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    Furniture: Macau or Ap Lei Chau?

    We need to buy some furniture and were originally going to shop at Horizons in Ap Lei Chau since people say the prices are good and all the stores are in one building.

    However, now that we need to leave HK and return to activate our work visas, we are thinking about Macau instead. Are the savings there that much better? More importantly, how's the selection and convenience (everything in 1 furniture district/building or spread out across the city)? We don't really need to have custom furniture made, so taking that into consideration, would you recommend Macau or Ap Lei Chau?


  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by Submariner:
    Are the savings there that much better? More importantly, how's the selection and convenience (everything in 1 furniture district/building or spread out across the city)?
    It is usually cheaper. That said Ap lei Chau Horizon Plaza is under huge sales nowadays

    Very convenient as 90% of the shops are in one street (near the San Paulo ruin's). They deliver to HK so no problem on that side too.

    Selection is mostly Chinese/Asian (while in Ap lei Chau you can find modern/western furnitures too)

  3. #3

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    No comparison : Ap Lei Chau to me is a total ripoff, whereas in Macau, great deals can be made. Unless you're into more modern stuff, of which there is not that much in Macau. Macau is great for antiques, mostly. And shipping to HK is free, which is great. You can really negociate, as well.


  4. #4

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    Ah, so Macau is more for Chinese antique styles. When it comes to antiques, we prefer Japanese and Indian so maybe we'll pass on Macau.

    Thanks for the input!


  5. #5

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    I've seen some indian-style antiques in Macau, but no japanese...


  6. #6

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    You can take photos of whatever you want to the stores in Macau and they'd make it for you. I took along drawings and they followed them fine.


  7. #7

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    >> I took along drawings and they followed them fine.

    Well, they also have copies of most major catalogs.. so you can pick and choose.

    We purchased a fair bit of stuff from Macau about 5 years ago, made to order and it was pretty decent. The sales person did a fair bit of followup with us via email / fax.


  8. #8

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    Ok, so we checked out Horizons and were mighty disappointed. I guess the layout and slow elevators were the main culprits, but the stores werent as cheap as we expected. Since we may only be here for 2 years, we dont want anything pricey (we left enough of those back home). But we don't want crapKea either. Priceline and DSC are a little better.

    So if we go Shenzhen or Macau, can we, say, get a decent bed frame made for $2000-3000? The Ap Lei Chau frames were all in the $10000+ range.


  9. #9

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    In Macau you can find for that price yes.
    Your cheapest bet would be Zhongshan (near Macau and Zhuhai). It is where the furnitures are actually built. Prices are even lower than Macau (for same quality) but it more difficult to reach. They do deliver to HK also.
    The place is called ANTIC CITY. it is 30 minutes by taxi for the Macau/Zhuhai Border.


  10. #10

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    Depending on the quality of furnitures/ bed frame you're after, really. If say, Pricerite/IKEA quality, i'm sure you can find that in HK for the budget you have. Just had bed frame made here in Macau, solid elm wood for $6,600 queen size. We have to wait 3-4 weeks though. We've looked in Ap Lei Chau although some stuff are nice, they're a rip off. Having said that, you have to take into consideration the ferry fare too, it's at least $600 for 2 pax, adding up, that might be the same price you'll be paying for a furniture in HK. Going to Antique City as suggested by Mat, you'll need China visa (another $$). Theirs are Chinese style -antique and reproduction.