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War Eagle
Joined: 15 Feb 2009
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 Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:15 am Post subject: |
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| orosee wrote: |
For non-essentials, I just got upset again about the price of electronics. If you've been hanging around COEX, you may have seen LG's new 84'' LCD TV (that's about the size of one twin sized bed)?
Local price just over Won 24 million, US price just under $15,000 incl. free shipping. So the local price of a local product is almost 50% higher than the competitive export price 
I wonder if it ships free from US to SK? |
K-brand Electronics are more expensive in Korea so that the K-companies are able to compete overseas. They make little to no profit from a lot of oversea markets because of the fact competition is so high, driving consumer prices to rock bottom. They make up for this by selling good at an inflated cost in their home country, where there is much less competition. When you go shopping for something new in Korea you have 2 options: LG or Samsung.
(Fortunately cheap Chinese manufactured goods are slowly making their way into K-online stores these days.) |
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nicwr2002
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:31 am Post subject: |
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| allovertheplace wrote: |
| No_hite_pls wrote: |
| My house phone was 5,500 won last month. In the states it would be close to $50 dollars. My cable bill 12,500, In the states it would close to $100 dollars. Granted the programming would be a little better but not $90 dollars better. |
Not true. I pay $85 for cable, internet, and home phone. And the programming is not 'a little better', it's a lot better. I split that with a roommate. 42.50 a month aint so bad.
You can share a house in a big city and live cheap. You can live without a car. Your job can pay for your transit. You can bring lunch to work. You can make your own coffee. You can go out for happy hours and get $3 beers. Lots of ways to save money. The only reason Korea is viewed as cheaper is because people chose to live cheaper whilst in Korea. |
Where in America can you live without a car other than cities like New York, San Fran, Chicago? What job pays for your transit in the USA? |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
One thing - does cost of living change with swings in exchange rate?
If 1000 won = $1 today, but drops to 700 won to the dollar tomorrow, is your cost of living now different? what about if it goes to 1500, is your purchasing power that drastically changed?
Comparing cost of living at today's exchange rate seems odd to me. I'm paid in Korean won, but it's fluctuated lots over the years I've been here. |
A stronger won would affect the cost of oil which is priced in dollars. So oil and all its byproducts would be less. Imported goods would be less. Overseas travel would be less.
The government's weak won policy has definitely contributed to the inflation over the last five years and has driven the cost of living up. |
While over time I have no doubt that it makes an impact - it wouldn't really make things "cheaper" or "more expensive" on the day of the fluctuation.
If it's 7000 won for a bowl of soup today, it'll probably be 7000 won for a bowl of soup next week - regardless of whether the won is 600 to the dollar, or 1500.
Thus, a direct comparison, without factoring in purchasing power parity and the like, seems off to me - unless you're a tourist and exchanging money to shop. |
So because different countries use different currencies, you can't compare the cost of living between them? Currencies don't usually fluctuate that much. When was the last time the won was 700 to the dollar or even 1000 to the dollar?
One place where I've seen fluctuations is Costco. Some of the Kirkland items seem to go up and down with the won. |
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allovertheplace
Joined: 02 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| nicwr2002 wrote: |
| allovertheplace wrote: |
| No_hite_pls wrote: |
| My house phone was 5,500 won last month. In the states it would be close to $50 dollars. My cable bill 12,500, In the states it would close to $100 dollars. Granted the programming would be a little better but not $90 dollars better. |
Not true. I pay $85 for cable, internet, and home phone. And the programming is not 'a little better', it's a lot better. I split that with a roommate. 42.50 a month aint so bad.
You can share a house in a big city and live cheap. You can live without a car. Your job can pay for your transit. You can bring lunch to work. You can make your own coffee. You can go out for happy hours and get $3 beers. Lots of ways to save money. The only reason Korea is viewed as cheaper is because people chose to live cheaper whilst in Korea. |
Where in America can you live without a car other than cities like New York, San Fran, Chicago? What job pays for your transit in the USA? |
Currently Washington DC. Car shares are popping up in tons of cities though. You can get by in most big cities without a car. There are also bike shares popping up in tons of locations.
Most companies pay for metro benefits here for differing reasons. Local and Fed Gov'ts do as well. Life here is super expensive, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone on this thread makes it out to be. I lived cheaper in college too, but Korea was pretty much college plus 1 and 2 for me. |
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KimchiNinja
Joined: 01 May 2012
Location: Gangnam
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| Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| atwood wrote: |
| So because different countries use different currencies, you can't compare the cost of living between them? |
You want to eliminate any FX movement and see the true cost of living differences. You could look at purchasing power parity and such. So the FX today is 1,110 KRW to 1 USD. But it only costs 943,000 KRW to buy an equivalent basket of goods in KR, compared to the US where those goods would cost $100.
One could theorize (although I wouldn't necessarily) there is purchasing power arbitrage here, that the won is undervalued, and thus it should strengthen (decline) from 1,110 to 943.
I don't know, I didn't even drink my coffee yet, but I think that just proved KR is cheaper relative to the US. Basically though nobody should ever think about this crap without 1) espresso, 2) being paid.
OECD (2013), "Country statistical profile: Korea", Country statistical profiles: Key tables from OECD.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/csp-kor-table-2013-1-en |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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| atwood wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
One thing - does cost of living change with swings in exchange rate?
If 1000 won = $1 today, but drops to 700 won to the dollar tomorrow, is your cost of living now different? what about if it goes to 1500, is your purchasing power that drastically changed?
Comparing cost of living at today's exchange rate seems odd to me. I'm paid in Korean won, but it's fluctuated lots over the years I've been here. |
A stronger won would affect the cost of oil which is priced in dollars. So oil and all its byproducts would be less. Imported goods would be less. Overseas travel would be less.
The government's weak won policy has definitely contributed to the inflation over the last five years and has driven the cost of living up. |
While over time I have no doubt that it makes an impact - it wouldn't really make things "cheaper" or "more expensive" on the day of the fluctuation.
If it's 7000 won for a bowl of soup today, it'll probably be 7000 won for a bowl of soup next week - regardless of whether the won is 600 to the dollar, or 1500.
Thus, a direct comparison, without factoring in purchasing power parity and the like, seems off to me - unless you're a tourist and exchanging money to shop. |
So because different countries use different currencies, you can't compare the cost of living between them? Currencies don't usually fluctuate that much. When was the last time the won was 700 to the dollar or even 1000 to the dollar?
One place where I've seen fluctuations is Costco. Some of the Kirkland items seem to go up and down with the won. |
You can compare all you want - but it's like comparing things being a tourist.
I'm not sure how long you've been here, but in the years I've been here I've seen the won/$$ fluctuate quite a bit. Some times going up and down... but it's funny - didn't ever feel like things were getting cheaper here.
As the poster above noted, there are other ways to compare cost of living.
I like to think of it this way - what's the average income? Now, how long does one have to work to purchase XYZ? |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| atwood wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
One thing - does cost of living change with swings in exchange rate?
If 1000 won = $1 today, but drops to 700 won to the dollar tomorrow, is your cost of living now different? what about if it goes to 1500, is your purchasing power that drastically changed?
Comparing cost of living at today's exchange rate seems odd to me. I'm paid in Korean won, but it's fluctuated lots over the years I've been here. |
A stronger won would affect the cost of oil which is priced in dollars. So oil and all its byproducts would be less. Imported goods would be less. Overseas travel would be less.
The government's weak won policy has definitely contributed to the inflation over the last five years and has driven the cost of living up. |
While over time I have no doubt that it makes an impact - it wouldn't really make things "cheaper" or "more expensive" on the day of the fluctuation.
If it's 7000 won for a bowl of soup today, it'll probably be 7000 won for a bowl of soup next week - regardless of whether the won is 600 to the dollar, or 1500.
Thus, a direct comparison, without factoring in purchasing power parity and the like, seems off to me - unless you're a tourist and exchanging money to shop. |
So because different countries use different currencies, you can't compare the cost of living between them? Currencies don't usually fluctuate that much. When was the last time the won was 700 to the dollar or even 1000 to the dollar?
One place where I've seen fluctuations is Costco. Some of the Kirkland items seem to go up and down with the won. |
You can compare all you want - but it's like comparing things being a tourist.
I'm not sure how long you've been here, but in the years I've been here I've seen the won/$$ fluctuate quite a bit. Some times going up and down... but it's funny - didn't ever feel like things were getting cheaper here.
As the poster above noted, there are other ways to compare cost of living.
I like to think of it this way - what's the average income? Now, how long does one have to work to purchase XYZ? |
Well, from your last statement, since the average household income is $50,000 in the U.S., it's going to take less time working to buy most anything there than in Korea.
As for inflation, prices seemed to be pretty stable in Korea until maybe three years ago or so. Things that I bought regularly at most inched up a little and infrequently. But now the prices seem to rise substantially and frequently. And salaries have not.
How much government price controls have to do with the cost of things here is another factor to consider. |
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