Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

This is a heads up for newbies and others who may not know what is going on. There are many stores reselling Costco items for much higher prices. That's Kirkland brand and other things, especially snacks. Even High Street Market does this-how disappointing. Why would anyone pay 2X or more for things that are sold at Costco? If you want things that are sold at Costco, be smart. Just shop at Costco. You can get a membership with your ARC and you'll save money.

[highstreet]

heads up guys, restaurants use ingredients from costco and charge you more for it. why bother eating out, just shop at costco and make everything at home.

[transmogrifier]

Heads up guys, Costco buys its ingredients from farmers and repackages them with a huge mark up. Rather than encourage this dishonest practice, go straight to the farmer. You'll save money and he might have a hot son/daughter.

(Actually, it's good that newbies are made aware of shopping options in Korea, as it can be a pain finding stuff, but the reasoning behind the OP is quite amusing. The idea behind paying more for things from a closer store is that you don't have to cart your arse all the way to Costco in the first place)

[matthews_world]

A lot of these grey market and online shops will lose business as more and more Korean supermarkets will add post-FTA items to their shelves.

Using online shopping sites is quite beneficial to those living outside of big cities here in Korea.

I haven't had a Costco membership for two years as I've adjusted my diet to more healthy meats and vegetables. Fresh produce is quite delicous and decent quality here compared to China which is sketchy.

Basically, I order only a handful of items from these grey market sites, adapt my diet to what's available in my local supermarket, or do without. The grey market sites are an unnecessary evil but the convenience of not having to travel to find these hard-to-find items and having them shop for you.

[crisdean]

As "matthews_world" stated the trade off is convenience for an added price. Which would be fine if the markup was 10% or maybe even 20%, but the reality is that it's usually more than 50%
Take this for example: Red Raspberries is 16,990 (plus shipping) on G-market, at Costco it's 10,690 (I know this because I bought some yesterday) that's right around 60% which to me seems too high, but I buy this type of item fairly often (once every 6 weeks or so)

[ttompatz]

And lets not forget that Costco got its start as a cash-n-carry wholesale to small businesses and corner stores and it still has 2 levels of membership: business members (red card) and general public (gold star) members..

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[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I went to Costco in Korea for the first time today. Some items were far cheaper (the 40-pack of large tortillas was under 10k, and is usually 14k in Itaewon or online, and the cheeses were anywhere from 4k to 10k cheaper than Itaewon or online) and some cost more (the large jug of honey is usually between 38 and 40k at the Foreign Food shop, and it was 43k at Costco today.)

Many things cost about the same or 1 or 2k less at Costco. It's a convenience thing, for me, though. When I order the tortillas online or pick them up in Itaewon, I know that I'm paying more, but I don't have to go out of my way to go to Costco. I'm already in Itaewon having dinner with friends, or I'm getting it delivered to my door, which is even easier, as I don't have to lug them home. I only went to Costco today because friends with a car were going and I just moved, so needed to stock up on a few staples.

I did get to see the onion/mustard/ketchup madness of which I'd heard so much. Nasty.

[littlelisa]

I went once to high street market to check out what they had. I do not plan to make another trip. Almost everything was also available at the Foreign Food Market at much cheaper prices, and it's not even that far away.

Ex. High street market: 2 limes for 9,000 won (I was speechless). Foreign Food Market had 3 for 5,500. Still expensive, but it's Korea. Elle et Vire butter was 2-3000 won more at high street market, Sharp cheddar was around 10,000 won at high street market and about 5 or 6,000 won at the foreign food market (and a couple of months ago I got two packets of the same cheddar at Lotte for 10,000won, so they are even twice the price of Lotte) ??? I laughed when I saw butter sticks that said on the wrapping that it was part of a package and not to be sold separately. Of course they were being sold separately at quite high prices.

I don't get it. Why would people shop there?

I don't go to Costco because there's not much there I'd buy and it's nowhere near me. So I do pay a bit more for some things at other places, but I rarely buy them and there's not much that fits in that category. So I suppose it all boils down to your own priorities. It's cost vs. convenience.

[cdninkorea]

For people wondering why people shop at High Street Market, I go there for the wine, beer, and bread. Not often because I don't live that close to Itaewon, but I do go sometimes.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

The best deal that I've seen at High Street Market was on sour cream. I rarely need the large tub sold elsewhere, and they sell smaller ones for under 3k. Otherwise, it's not really worth it for me to shop there. They do occasionally have Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, though, for those interested.

[ajosshi]