Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Consumer Goods in Korea Most Expensive in the World

Speak Korean Now!

Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!

Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"

FAQ

Memberlist

Usergroups

Profile

Consumer Goods in Korea Most Expensive in the World
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Next

Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum

View previous topic :: View next topic

Author

Message

uklathemock

Joined: 26 Dec 2009

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:08 am Post subject:

Reggie wrote:

One item that is at least 500% more expensive than anywhere else is vitamins. I really wanted some the other night and shopped for a couple of hours. Aside from a free sample, I went home with no vitamins. There was no way I was going to pay those prices.

You don't want to pay 40,000 won for a U.S. $13 bottle of Centrum?

Things I've found cheaper in S. Korea than the U.S.: lighters and cigs, bottled water, tangerines, tofu (any way you want it), yogurt drinks, soju, seaweed, and certain kinds of fish.

uklathemock

Joined: 26 Dec 2009

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:18 am Post subject:

Mr. BlackCat wrote:

myenglishisno wrote:

Eating in general here is a fraction of the cost if you don't mean the local food. If you're one of those mouth breathers that NEEDS 'authentic' foreign food on a regular basis then yes, it's going to be a lot more expensive as it would be anywhere in Asia.

Wow, so you're a barbarian jerk if you occassionally want food that isn't Korean? Funny, if someone wants Indian, Cuban, Bulgarain, etc., in Canada/US they are cultured. If they want those foods in Korea they are "mouth-breathers". Only on dave's....

I don't understand the "Korean Food Nazi" way of thinking at all. There is no way in hell I could eat only Korean food. The tastes are too limited. If I was raised here and I only knew those few flavors then "yes." The spicy food here isn't even a complex spicy like you would find in Indian, Cajun, Szechuan, etc.

cdninkorea

Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:20 am Post subject:

It always cracks me up when foreigners hate on other foreigners for eating non-Korean food; look inside a burger place or Italian restaurant and you'll see Koreans not eating Korean food too. Why not yell at them too?

PatrickGHBusan

Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:50 am Post subject:

uklathemock wrote:

Mr. BlackCat wrote:

myenglishisno wrote:

Agreed on the greatness of variety to your diet, gotta eat foods from all over, its worth it.

Disagree on your simplification of Korean spicy foods. Seriously, you must have limited yourself to the same foods and decided it was limited as far as tastes are concerned. I find Korean dishes vary greatly in taste, flavor and yes spicy taste depending on whats in them, whats used, how its cooked and heck even regional variations.

Still, by all means, get out there and try foods from as many countries as possible, I find that well worth it!

Unposter

Joined: 04 Jun 2006

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:02 am Post subject:

I'm not going to completely defend prices in Korea as some of them are certainly outrageous but I do feel I need to say one thing: Samsung and LG electronics that are sold in the U.S. are made in China and Samsung and LG electronics sold in Korea are generally made in Korea - this must be one of the reasons why Samsung and LG electronic goods sold in the U.S. are cheaper. I strongly recommend comparison shopping and definitely take advantage of travel to purchase goods that are over-priced in Korea.

myenglishisno

Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:31 pm Post subject:

uklathemock wrote:

Mr. BlackCat wrote:

myenglishisno wrote:

I said "on a regular basis." I eat foreign food sometimes but I don't live on it, it's too expensive. I'm railing against people who try to save money while *mainly* eating foreign food and then complaining about how expensive it is.

uklathemock wrote:

Are you talking vegetarian meals? (I don't like tofu.) If I want to eat a steamed chicken breast, some broccoli and carrots, it'll cost at least double at a supermarket here.

Actually yes, I am. I haven't eat meat in more than a decade so I have no idea how much it costs. If it is overpriced, I apologize for not taking that into consideration.

Captain Corea

Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:21 pm Post subject:

myenglishisno wrote:

uklathemock wrote:

Mr. BlackCat wrote:

myenglishisno wrote:

uklathemock wrote:

Are you talking vegetarian meals? (I don't like tofu.) If I want to eat a steamed chicken breast, some broccoli and carrots, it'll cost at least double at a supermarket here.

Actually yes, I am. I haven't eat meat in more than a decade so I have no idea how much it costs. If it is overpriced, I apologize for not taking that into consideration.

So then your experiences/costs are not the 'norm'. Most people on here are NOT vegetarians. And it's hard as heck to find a decent meal (with meat) at 'cheap' prices like you're insisting.

As well, I work in Gangnam. Other than kimbap, most lunch meals start at around 7000won (not including a drink). So when I have lunch, my choices are usually like this...

Seoulung-Tang 7,000
Bibimbap 7,000
Kalbi-Tang 8,000
Sushi - 12,000+
Burger King 6,000
Fried Rice 8,000
Subway sandwich 6,000
Indian 10,000

And most of those do not include a drink. Add a drink on there, and the prices would average over 10,000 easy. Add any major meat dish, and it would climb pretty quickly too.

I wouldn't really call that a cheap lunch. I'd call it quite average.

Also, note how the 'foreign' food prices are not really all that different than the Korean ones.

myenglishisno

Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:45 pm Post subject:

Captain Corea wrote:

As well, I work in Gangnam. Other than kimbap, most lunch meals start at around 7000won (not including a drink). So when I have lunch, my choices are usually like this...

Seoulung-Tang 7,000
Bibimbap 7,000
Kalbi-Tang 8,000
Sushi - 12,000+
Burger King 6,000
Fried Rice 8,000
Subway sandwich 6,000
Indian 10,000

And most of those do not include a drink. Add a drink on there, and the prices would average over 10,000 easy. Add any major meat dish, and it would climb pretty quickly too.

I wouldn't really call that a cheap lunch. I'd call it quite average.

Also, note how the 'foreign' food prices are not really all that different than the Korean ones.

It's because you work in Gangnam. The prices are better pretty much everywhere else in the country.

Out here in Gyeonggi-do, you'd pay not much more than half of that for most of that stuff. I go to Indian here all the time and get curry, naan, samosas and a drink for under $10 (and the meat curry prices are the same).

Even at 본죽 비빔밥 (expensive bibimbap only restaurant) I pay less than 6000 for a bibimbap. I pay less than 5000 at Subway.

You're judging all of Korea by one of it's most expensive areas Laughing

That's like saying that eating out in downtown Toronto is expensive, therefore eating out in Canada is expensive.

atwood

Joined: 26 Dec 2009

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:54 pm Post subject:

myenglishisno wrote:

Captain Corea wrote:

That's like saying that eating out in downtown Toronto is expensive, therefore eating out in Canada is expensive.

I'd like to find an Indian restaurant that cheap and I'm in Suwon. Seven thousand for good kalbi-tong, 9000 if you want the special. Bon juk is 7000 won and up. Even the little places are asking 5500 usually for a plate of rice.

What are you getting at Subway--the six inch sandwich?

It's not expensive per se, but, considering what you're getting, it's not all that cheap.

Modernist

Joined: 23 Mar 2011
Location: The 90s

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:27 pm Post subject:

Quote:

It's not expensive per se, but, considering what you're getting, it's not all that cheap.

And let's not forget, for your hard-earned won you are actually, BY CHOICE, REGULARLY consuming disgusting Korean food. Disgusting Korean food without any meat!

I didn't think it could get worse than what I had spent two months trying to choke down every day, but by God you've done it. The only vaguely tolerable thing about the non-fish disgusting food was at least there was some pork, chicken, beef, something. Now, no meat, it's like 4 times as bad!

I can't believe you would rather eat bibimbap [without meat!] than a regular sub or sandwich. And you call me a 'mouth-breather'? Hah, better that than a Korean food apologist Surprised

myenglishisno

Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:06 pm Post subject:

Modernist wrote:

Quote:

It's not expensive per se, but, considering what you're getting, it's not all that cheap.

Know why there are so much fewer morbidly obese people here than back home?

Korean food is great. I'm not in love with all of it but it is definitely one of my favourite foods, up there with Indian and above Japanese. I'm glad to be able to live here so I can eat in on the cheap almost every day.

You've obviously never had a decent, homemade serving of 쌈밥 or 된장찌개 Razz

uklathemock

Joined: 26 Dec 2009

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:46 pm Post subject:

Captain Corea wrote:

Seoulung-Tang 7,000
Bibimbap 7,000
Kalbi-Tang 8,000
Sushi - 12,000+
Burger King 6,000
Fried Rice 8,000
Subway sandwich 6,000
Indian 10,000

And most of those do not include a drink. Add a drink on there, and the prices would average over 10,000 easy. Add any major meat dish, and it would climb pretty quickly too.

I wouldn't really call that a cheap lunch. I'd call it quite average.

Also, note how the 'foreign' food prices are not really all that different than the Korean ones.

The prices for BK, Subway (what's up with the weird smell), and Indian are the same pretty much every place I've lived around Seoul. The Korean dishes above I've had for as little as 5,000 won, but they have about 0-50 grams of meat.

As to Americans/Canadians/Brits being overweight, part of it is diet but the other part is exercise. I think Koreans on average walk a sh*%load more than people back home. I lost 10-15lbs. my first year here, even though I was downing a ton of beer and eating KFC. My bodyfat's around 12-15%.

Captain Corea

Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:57 pm Post subject:

myenglishisno wrote:

Captain Corea wrote:

It's because you work in Gangnam. The prices are better pretty much everywhere else in the country.

No, I worked the last 10 years in Gangbok and they were comparable there too. You may be right about things being cheaper in Gyyonggi, but who the F wants to live out there?? Wink

Seriously though, if you live further out, everything is cheaper. I know that. But lets be honest about something, Seoul is the center, and for better or worse, Seoul is the standard of which Korea is often judged.

My point was that 'foreign foods' are not that out of line with Korean dishes (as some have claimed on here). There's Korean fast food, and foreign fast food. Likewise, middle and costlier restaurants are represented by both.

My other point is that Korea is not a cheap place for food. If you want to eat every meal at Kimbap Jungshik/Nara, then yeah, it's a bargain. But anyone who's been here for a while realizes that that is pretty crap food.

And that's not even mentioning the grocery store prices. Bananas, mangoes, melons, meat... it's almost all double that prices I've seen in the US/Canada.

How much is litre of milk here? Now, how much is it back home?

Swampfox10mm

Joined: 24 Mar 2011

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:05 pm Post subject:

Unposter wrote:

Samsung and LG electronics that are sold in the U.S. are made in China and Samsung and LG electronics sold in Korea are generally made in Korea - this must be one of the reasons why Samsung and LG electronic goods sold in the U.S. are cheaper.

This is not entirely true.

ssuprnova

Joined: 17 Dec 2010
Location: Saigon

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:07 pm Post subject:

myenglishisno wrote:

Does not compute.

Display posts from previous:

	Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum	All times are GMT - 8 Hours Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Next
Page 3 of 5

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe