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rabidcake
Joined: 10 Aug 2009
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 Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:46 pm Post subject: What technology is cheaper in Korean than in the USA? |
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I want to make a purchase of a very cheap laptop computer or maybe one of those tablets (like the Galaxy or Andriod).
I wanted to set my budget for around 300,000 WON or so. I'm not sure if maybe I can get something that's pretty decent for 200,000 WON? I saw on Costco online (in the USA) that they were selling some sort of Samsung Galaxy tablet for about 250 USD. Surely they must have it cheaper in Korea?
I'm not very well informed in buying laptops or tablets, any advice and suggestions is much appreciated. |
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comm
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:53 pm Post subject: Re: What technology is cheaper in Korean than in the USA? |
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| rabidcake wrote: |
| I saw on Costco online (in the USA) that they were selling some sort of Samsung Galaxy tablet for about 250 USD. Surely they must have it cheaper in Korea? |
Traditionally, protectionist legislation has made tech imports more expensive... which has allowed Samsung to raise their prices in Korea without losing market share. So even though the won is weaker than the dollar, Samsung products have still cost more to buy in Korea than anywhere else.
Not 100% sure if that's still the case since the FTA signing though. |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:33 am Post subject: |
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| Second hand, refurbished and end of line smartphones are sometimes cheaper here than back in the states. |
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tideout
Joined: 12 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:45 am Post subject: |
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Kimchi is still cheaper here than in the US.
Outside of that, I've given up and just had family send stuff to me after I've had Amazon orders sent to them.
Everything from electronics, backpacks, guitar strings, shoes to over the counter medicine has been cheaper if combined right in one order from the States. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:51 am Post subject: |
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| tideout wrote: |
Kimchi is still cheaper here than in the US.
Outside of that, I've given up and just had family send stuff to me after I've had Amazon orders sent to them.
Everything from electronics, backpacks, guitar strings, shoes to over the counter medicine has been cheaper if combined right in one order from the States. |
This is where I roll my eyes at Korea's cost of living being much lower than that of the States, as so few items are actually cheaper in Korea. |
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tideout
Joined: 12 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:56 am Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| tideout wrote: |
Kimchi is still cheaper here than in the US.
Outside of that, I've given up and just had family send stuff to me after I've had Amazon orders sent to them.
Everything from electronics, backpacks, guitar strings, shoes to over the counter medicine has been cheaper if combined right in one order from the States. |
This is where I roll my eyes at Korea's cost of living being much lower than that of the States, as so few items are actually cheaper in Korea. |
Yeah, it has been one of those scratch-your-head-one-more-time experiences when you get that package from the States with a $45-60 postage charge on it - recalculate it to confirm that you've saved $25 or something...crazy.
I remember some guy stopping me in Itaewon asking where the best deal was on something. I suggested "Cleveland" I think and he was a bit surprised until he took a second look at the $ to Won ratio.
When I was searching for a particular kind of bag and I let some of the shop keepers know I'd looked at prices in the States. One of the guys smiled and said "60% less right?" We both laughed as they weren't coming down that much - end of story.
Last edited by tideout on Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| tideout wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| tideout wrote: |
Kimchi is still cheaper here than in the US.
Outside of that, I've given up and just had family send stuff to me after I've had Amazon orders sent to them.
Everything from electronics, backpacks, guitar strings, shoes to over the counter medicine has been cheaper if combined right in one order from the States. |
This is where I roll my eyes at Korea's cost of living being much lower than that of the States, as so few items are actually cheaper in Korea. |
Yeah, it has been one of those scratch-your-head-one-more-time experiences when you get that package from the States with a $45-60 postage charge on it - recalculate it to confirm that you've saved $25 or something...crazy. |
I feel like most people who repeat this myth either never lived on their own back home or have been in Korea since it was cheap and haven't realized that Korean prices have actually outpaced North American ones (I can really only speak to North America, here). |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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Most Koreans I speak to about Samsung prices being higher in Korea than elsewhere know about it and are actually quite outraged. Then they go out and immediately buy the latest Samsung product.  |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Underwaterbob wrote: |
| Most Koreans I speak to about Samsung prices being higher in Korea than elsewhere know about it and are actually quite outraged. Then they go out and immediately buy the latest Samsung product. |
Ditto with LG, and it's not like the price difference is negligible, either; it's usually around 30%. |
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singerdude
Joined: 18 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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I guess it depends on what you buy. I bought a bunch of playstation games and PS Move accessories and had my family ship them here. The games were marked down to $15-20 but were still full price here. I figured I saved around $150, even with the $60 shipping and duty charge factored in.
Other stuff isn't worth the trouble, though. I just bought a logitech C920 webcam here for 120,000. On Amazon, it's $75. With the exchange rate, it's about 90,000. When you factor the cost of getting it to Korea with the duty charge, that markup isn't so bad.
A/V equipment is hit or miss. Some are outrageously overpriced, but I found one receiver here that was 25% less than the US. Most receivers here are almost double the price, so I was surprised with that one. |
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tideout
Joined: 12 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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| singerdude wrote: |
I guess it depends on what you buy. I bought a bunch of playstation games and PS Move accessories and had my family ship them here. The games were marked down to $15-20 but were still full price here. I figured I saved around $150, even with the $60 shipping and duty charge factored in.
Other stuff isn't worth the trouble, though. I just bought a logitech C920 webcam here for 120,000. On Amazon, it's $75. With the exchange rate, it's about 90,000. When you factor the cost of getting it to Korea with the duty charge, that markup isn't so bad.
A/V equipment is hit or miss. Some are outrageously overpriced, but I found one receiver here that was 25% less than the US. Most receivers here are almost double the price, so I was surprised with that one. |
Similar experiences to you but I'd add that I rarely ship just one thing at a time. I'm patient and a cheap bastard. If you have one thing that you "break even" on and 4 things where you're saving $15-30 bucks on the other items - mailing from the other side of the globe seems bizarre but cost effective.  |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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| computer monitors are the only thing i can think of that are cheaper here. you can get a quad hd 27' panel that they use in the imacs for 300k compared to 700k in the usa. |
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DIsbell
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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I'm going to somewhat disagree with another poster about PS3 games. While it's true that some games might get marked down in the US before other regions, I've found very often that new games in Korea are much cheaper. New titles range between 50k and 60k, INCLUDING tax. Run whatever the current exchange rate is, and compare that against a $59.99 new title with (generally, depends on state) an 8% sales tax. Ends up being $42-$52 in Korea versus about $65 in the states. Significantly cheaper.
You also get pretty good value on trade ins, and don't have to mess with in-store credit vs cash. I've found that with titles less than 6 or 7 months old you often get 50% or more of the current retail price on trade.
This is all at the Yongsan video game alley, for reference. |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Internet and cable are technology, right? The same type of package that I paid 35,000 a month for in Seoul is $125-150 back home. |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:57 am Post subject: |
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| If we're getting off the topic of computers and tablets, then I'll chime in with "dentistry". Way cheaper here than back home. |
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