Korean Job Discussion Forums

[charlieDD]

There's a kind of Chinese tea I enjoy called " Bo Eee Cha " in Korea. It comes from China only, comes in a "cake" about 1 inch thick and maybe 6 inches diameter. I can get it in Insa-dong, and have been paying about 100,000 for one "cake", with the price creeping up all along.

Went to get some more the other day and the shop owner explains to me that the tea dealers in Korea are holding onto the "bo ee cha" because they are expecting the prices to go up dramatically this year because of increased demand, but limited supply. So, while she has it, she isn't actually selling it right now; but, since I've been a good customer for the past few years, she'll sell me one more, but can't guarantee she'll be able to sell me one the next time, and if she does, it will likely cost twice as much !

I guess tea has become like apartments: hold them off the market to force the prices up !

Oh well . . . business is business, I suppose. I guess it's "Can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen" in a market economy. I'm cool with that, but not too cool with people making inflation a self-fulfilling prophecy by agreeing with each other to pent up demand by not selling it.

[thebum]

i love that stuff too, but i only get it when my friends bring it from china.