Korean Job Discussion Forums

hack · Joined: 24 Jan 2003

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=33774

Now this is bad news but was bound to happen sooner or later.

mishlert · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: On the 3rd rock from the sun

Bad news? Not really, just a little hic-up in the black market.
The people who sell to the black market will find ways of shopping on base without making their purchases look suspicious

gypsyfish · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

The real bad news is that there is technology that can track your purchases like that. Someone who buys hot dogs but no buns? Yikes!

I used to be an MP and investigated blackmarketing in Germany, but I think this is too intrusive.

Big Brother Wants You!

bourquetheman · Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Location: Suwon

I've always thought the infamous "black market" store in Itaewon must have been run by an Army guy and just fronted by the old Korean woman who sells the stuff. In the 8 years I've been here she has never been closed and I'm glad as that's the place I do most of my shopping for hard to get stuff. Heck the other day she even packed my stuff in bags from the commissary, how blatant is that?

BigBlackEquus · Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:03 am Post subject:

People can just tear off the UPC after they buy it.

They have to prove that the product entered into the wrong hands. That is easy in the case of people buying in mass quantities, but a lot harder if they never find the product that was supposedly black-marketed. A guy buys three bottles of JD once a month. Big deal. That is legal, and will be difficult to view as black marketing.

'Liquor, wine, beer, furniture, electronic equipment and other nonperishable items come from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores. USFK policy limits purchases of liquor (defined as anything with 20 percent or more alcohol) to three units per month for a single person, five for a family. Beer sales are limited to two cases per day, or eight per month.'

The bragging about tracking the item from the base to Dongdaemun is not possible if the UPC is removed. They aren't going to know who purchased and illegally sold the bottle, anyway. Sure, they can tell by the other markings if it came from the base, but if the UPC is removed, they are SOL on other information.

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

I really dont understand why they just dont import themselves!
least that way we will see better products here..
its really not that much expensive compared to what they charge now anyway!!
ive thought about opening a foreign product store often in itaewon and I mean a real store!! bringing like a supermarket from NZ, OZ, CAN, US< BRIT and some european stores.. and selling the goods we really miss!
the taxes are not that high! what someone wouldnt pay 5000won for vegemite? of course they would!

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Microsoft lets full time employees buy software at huge discounts. Although you're supposed to buy only for immediate family and personal use, buying for close friends isn't frowned upon. I got Office 2000 for $35 from a guy I'd work out with in the gym. His name was actually Bob. Microsoft Bob. Ha.

The one thing you can't do, no no no no never, is sell it at a profit.

One guy would buy huge quantities of discount software and then sell it. I'm not sure how he got away with it for so long. Like, didn't Microsoft keep track of this stuff? But anyway, he was clearing about $500K a year. He started to put up a web page boasting of all the things he was buying with the money. Pictures of him with his boat, his cars, etc. Eventually Microsoft swooped in, had him arrested. The end. I think he later killed himself (reportedly swallowed antifreeze) or died. Anyway, it was funny because if he didn't boast about it so much online, no one would have smoked him out.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=27558&DisplayTab=Article

Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

One reason they haven't just imported stuff themselves is that Customs used to play fast and loose with the rules. (If that is a surprise to you, then you haven't been paying attention to Korean law enforcement methods.) For example, if someone imported cheese, the Customs officials would keep it sitting on the docks or in a warehouse for months while 'checking' it.