Korean Job Discussion Forums

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

18 months ago, video card prices in Korea were pretty much on par with th eUS (outside of the enthusiast, high end models).

I'm looking at budget/mid range video cards, and Korean prices are 2 times more expensive than in the US.

A $90 video card in the US is going for over 200,000w here in Korea.

What gives? I know the won is weak to the dollar right now, but over a 100% increase in price seem a little extreme.

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

I think your math is a little off.

$90 = 130,000 KRW and change.

130,000 -> 200,000 = 54% price "increase" which isn't really an increase. That's more of a premium you pay in Korea b/c of taxes, shipping, etc.

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

I bought a Sapphire Radeon ATI 4850 card in Yongsan last summer for 200,000.
Now they're about 250,000 on Gmarket, so prices have definitely gone up in the last few months.

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

I've been comparing the prices of GPU's in Korea and the US for years. Even when currency rates are favorable, Korea is always more expensive. Usually, 10-20%.

It's gets worse the higher-end you go. Only the biggest selling mainstream models are a reasonable price in Korea. It can be heartbreaking putting together a decent gaming PC in Korea when you compare to US prices.

For example, I'd like to upgrade my RAM to 2x2GB of Patriot 1066mhz DDR2. I've just checked www.newegg.com and it's $54 there. On Danawa it's 138,000. That goes way past currency rate differences. That's just because it's 1066mhz RAM. Enthusiast gear. 800mhz RAM is much closer to the USA price.

So, point is, the Korean market is fine for building a mediocre PC, but will gouge you into the ground if you want to aim a little higher.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

The wife and I were looking at vacuums yesterday. One had a sticker price of 155,000 on it. The sign says 225,000 now. Of course, E-mart refused to give me the lower price. It was an LG.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

Radeon HD 4830
$90 - US
180,000w to 209,000w - Korea (Gmarket)

Radeon HD 4850
$150 - US
255,000w - Korea

Radeon HD 4870
$190 - US
370,000w - Korea

Even with the exchange rate, the prices are a little ridiculous. On top of that, you don't have many popular US brands in Korea.

Also, I'd say 90% of these video cards are coming from Taiwan/Hong Kong. So the Dollar - Korean Won exchange rate is moot since the vendors are buying these cards in Asia in the first place.

In the past, the graphic card prices have been pretty reasonable in Korea with respect to exchange rate. Now, its pretty outrageous.

TekkaManBladeX · Joined: 09 Jun 2007

Tech goods are in general more expensive in Korea. At least that's what I've noticed.

Jeff's Cigarettes · Joined: 27 Mar 2007

Some things are like top end stuff. Now I see many things have gone up in price due to the exchange rate. The Q6600 was down to 204,000 some months back but has since risen to about 260,000. There are a lot of other instances as well. Glad my rig can hack it a while longer.