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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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 Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:27 pm Post subject: GREED |
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The greed of Korean merchants never ceases to amaze me. They just started selling Burt's Bees products in Korea. A $9.99 bottle of body lotion is going for 33,000won.
All these FTAs in the works are probably going to have little to no effect on prices of imported goods in Korea. Wine from Chile is still over-priced. Of course almost any price would be too much for those tasteless Chilean oranges they sell.
It's a saver's paradise--almost nothing worth buying at these prices. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:46 pm Post subject: Re: GREED |
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| atwood wrote: |
The greed of Korean merchants never ceases to amaze me. They just started selling Burt's Bees products in Korea. A $9.99 bottle of body lotion is going for 33,000won.
All these FTAs in the works are probably going to have little to no effect on prices of imported goods in Korea. Wine from Chile is still over-priced. Of course almost any price would be too much for those tasteless Chilean oranges they sell.
It's a saver's paradise--almost nothing worth buying at these prices. |
As opposed to what? You who'd sell your products at a penny above cost?
Why don't you take a pay cut so we can save tax dollars/so that struggling families can afford tuition at your hagwon.
If people are willing to pay 3X markup, who am I to tell them no?
That should read- The gullibility of local consumers. |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, the better half and I just went to a 'huge sale' on eyeglass frames held by a few vendors. It was up at some hotel in Kangnam. We were in and out in 5 minutes; all outdated frames and all over 100,000 won. Total rip off, but there were none-the-less shoppers in there.
On the flip side, I just picked up a pair of 300.00 Nike Flexor glasses for 40 bucks on EBay. Maybe I should sell stuff here! |
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AsiaESLbound
Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri
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| Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Middle man costs (sales commissions) are what drive up the prices to be so high. In a small business oriented economy, you have a glut of dealers, delivery drivers, and distributors unlike in the Walmart economy where it directly comes from Asia to the corporate retail store cutting out the middle men other than the trans-ocean shipping company which only takes a tiny cut per item. Small business oriented economies offer much more expensive retail prices, but also support most of the population through offering plenty of work. Despite large companies like LG, Lotte, and Samsung, Korea is very small business oriented on a local level. |
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Koreadays
Joined: 20 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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middle men is what kills things in Korea. there are to many of them.
Korea, some things are cheap, some things are a rip off! |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:56 pm Post subject: Re: GREED |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
The greed of Korean merchants never ceases to amaze me. They just started selling Burt's Bees products in Korea. A $9.99 bottle of body lotion is going for 33,000won.
All these FTAs in the works are probably going to have little to no effect on prices of imported goods in Korea. Wine from Chile is still over-priced. Of course almost any price would be too much for those tasteless Chilean oranges they sell.
It's a saver's paradise--almost nothing worth buying at these prices. |
As opposed to what? You who'd sell your products at a penny above cost?
Why don't you take a pay cut so we can save tax dollars/so that struggling families can afford tuition at your hagwon.
If people are willing to pay 3X markup, who am I to tell them no?
That should read- The gullibility of local consumers. |
As opposed to the U.S., as I posted. Or Hong Kong. Or Singapore. That's where.
They can all make a healthy profit without marking things up that high. "A penny above cost" is a very, very flimsy straw man.
I don't work at a hagwon. How would my taking a pay cut save tax dollars? Besides, I'm already doing triple the work the for half the pay of most of the Koreans on staff.
No, it shouldn't read the gullibility of consumers. It takes two to tango and not every Korean has been overseas to find out how they're getting ripped off. Merchants can make plenty of money without overcharging.
Stick to what you know about, or at least claim to know about--making pizzas. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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| AsiaESLbound wrote: |
| Middle man costs (sales commissions) are what drive up the prices to be so high. In a small business oriented economy, you have a glut of dealers, delivery drivers, and distributors unlike in the Walmart economy where it directly comes from Asia to the corporate retail store cutting out the middle men other than the trans-ocean shipping company which only takes a tiny cut per item. Small business oriented economies offer much more expensive retail prices, but also support most of the population through offering plenty of work. Despite large companies like LG, Lotte, and Samsung, Korea is very small business oriented on a local level. |
Which has absolutely nothing to do with a product being sold all over Korea at places such as Lotte Department store or directly over the Internet.
Certainly, however, it's one reason why milk is so expensive in Korea. |
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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:51 am Post subject: |
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| im always suspicious that theyre marking stuff up more cos Im waygookin/bottomless money pit. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:54 am Post subject: Re: GREED |
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| As opposed to the U.S., as I posted. Or Hong Kong. Or Singapore. That's where. |
Yes because in all of those places all the laws and the costs and the consumer markets are exactly the same.
There are a million factors.
I do however think they do have one thing in common- Merchants will charge the most they think people will pay.
Or are you claiming that all of the American and European designer brands that are made in the same Malaysian factory as something from Target aren't "greedy merchants"?
| Quote: |
| I don't work at a hagwon. How would my taking a pay cut save tax dollars? |
The comment was phrased so taht if you either A)Worked at a Hagwon or B)Worked at a public you were still a "rip off".
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| I'm already doing triple the work the for half the pay of most of the Koreans on staff. |
Well guess what, if you came to me with that attitude and I was your boss I would can you and get a Filipino who would work for 1/3rd of the pay, work twice as hard as you, and have a 10th of the sense of entitlement and "the world revolves around me" attitude.
Now is that really what you and I want? Of course not. It's not best either. But if you want a cheaper price, well there are ways to make that happen, and guess what you can be a rip-off yourself.
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| Merchants can make plenty of money without overcharging. |
Actually with certain products if you charge too little people will think they are "cheap" and perhaps avoid them. This is especially true of hygiene products and cosmetics like, ahem, Burt's Beeswax Body Lotion.
Look I feel your pain. To get the conditioner I used to use costs $60 a bottle including shipping because I can't find it here. But I also understand that no one has ever heard of that brand here and that there is no demand for it. Hence, the price.
It's international trade in a new market. If Burt's Bees becomes a trendy item and sales boom the price will go down. If it stays a luxury specialty import item then the price will stay high.
Try a domestic lotion.
Can you believe a bottle of soju costs $7.99 in the States?!? OMG, those greedy American merchants. A thing of Shin Ramyun costs $2.99 Dunhills cost 8 bucks a pack. Greedy merchants and politicians!!!!!
Or its just part of life when it comes to imported goods. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:23 am Post subject: Re: GREED |
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| atwood wrote: |
| The greed of Korean merchants never ceases to amaze me. They just started selling Burt's Bees products in Korea. A $9.99 bottle of body lotion is going for 33,000won. |
Almond Roca is marketed as a luxury item in China complete with classical musicans, Roca Angels, and government officials at sales. Does that make American merchants GREEDY as well? If you don't want to pay that much for body lotion, then no one is forcing you to. It's called capitalism, comrade. |
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Vagabundo
Joined: 26 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:50 am Post subject: |
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the solution is simple.
buy almost nothing in Korea.
I don't. |
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milspecs
Joined: 19 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:56 am Post subject: |
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| Who would have ever guessed imported products would cost more??! |
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Vagabundo
Joined: 26 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:07 am Post subject: |
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| milspecs wrote: |
| Who would have ever guessed imported products would cost more??! |
especially so in Korea.
because their currency is the crap of Asia (actually its crappiness is very global now)
add to that the incessant needless middlemen (this is how Koreans explained to me why their fruits/veggies cost so much)
and add a sheep populace conditioned to pay high prices for consumer items/goods and it adds up to "consumer's paradise" - Korea (NOT!) |
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tatertot
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:11 am Post subject: |
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According to my Economics 101 class in college (required, didn't get much out of it), the purpose of any business is to "maximize total profit." You can draw a curve showing demand versus price. Finding the point on the curve where ( unit profit ) x ( quantity sold ) is maximum is the target price at which to sell. Now, I don't expect that Burt's Bees is likely to sell as many products in Korea as it does in the US (at any given price), so in order to be profitable they have to charge more per unit. Additionally, there are other costs including (but not limited to) tariffs, shipping, and Korean management employees. As a result, things cost more.
I agree with you that things cost too much in Korea. You can't attribute the higher prices to greed, however. |
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coralreefer_1
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:20 am Post subject: |
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One thing we have to keep in mind about FTA's is that tariffs are not instantly reduced upon agreement. Typically they are reduced a percent or 2 each year for several years before they are actually eliminated.
Aside from that...most imported products are considered "luxury" items by many Koreans. Not only do they cost more because they are imported, but there is a certain "prestige pricing" markup because merchants know people will pay more to have an imported product because it gives them a sense of higher status among their peers. |
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