Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BoholDiver]

A spin-off thread from the Costco thread.

Rip-offs:

Meat: It's 1600 won for 100 g of low quality Aussie beef. Even ground pork is 1200 won. And those are the lowest prices or lowest quality cuts.

Bagles: Costco ones are much better.

Sandwich meats: 2000 won for 6 slices of low quality ham.

Fruit and vegetables: Yep. Just about all of them. 300 won for 100 g of bananas.

Sidedishes: They're more expensive than drugs. Most are 1500-3000 won for 100 g. Not even worth it.

Drinks: Homeplus has them beat on just about everything. Selection too.


Good Deals...........................???.....................???

[crsandus]

E-mart's Shin (large cup) Ramyeon is 10 won cheaper than Homeplus'. Both their 1A grade milk (1 liter) are the same price. That's all I've got.

[HalfJapanese]

For those of use who are still used to the Western system and haven't fully converted our minds to the metric system, do not see the significance of the rip-off prices per gram of food/meat/etc.

[blackjack]

[crossmr]

[BoholDiver]

I can translate for you.

1 pound of beef is about 6 bucks. Oh yeah, that's cheap, imported, low quality fatty chuck roll.

Ground pork is about 5 bucks a pound.

[HalfJapanese]

[nfld_chingu]

I never buy fruits or vegetables from E-Mart, the prices are astronomical. I buy all my produce from my little local grocery store, much better prices.

[coralreefer_1]

I happily let my costco membership expire years ago. Not much there that i would want or have the freezer space to store otherwise..

Concerning e-mart..i make it a point to visit at least twice a week for this or that. Many times I don't buy a thing, but honestly i enjoy that "happy happy" music they play, and since it is the largest discount retailer in the nation I make it a point to visit often and study the types of marketing that goes on.

As far as good deals - well this one depends on the location, but emart was running a special of the 5.0 wheat beer for 1,490 won per pint. Not a great beer, but for that price it sure as hell beats anything domestic. Normally it is close to 1,600 won per pint (still not a bad price if it is in stock)

Also frankly, i enjoy the fact that emart has staff all around that I can chat with. Yeah, i guess I'm a loser but I enjoy chatting with these people to practice my Korean, and you would be amazed at the kinds of "extras" and "discounts" you can get if you have a reasonable level of Korean and aren't shy about asking people for something extra. For example I have gone there to buy laundry detergent, the ajumma wants to sell it badly. I will chat with her a bit..use my Gyeongsan-do saturi to impress her a bit...say some aigo's and "ohh..its expensive"..and gone home with with the bag i bought and 4-5 small "sample" boxes taped to it...free of charge of course. Other times i have bought meat (this was before the swine flu scare when they had the tubs of marinated this or that you could buy by weight) and gotten 100-200 grams extra after the bag was weighed and price tag printed. Doesn't sound like much...but when i go and buy 400 grams of marinated chicken meat 닭갈비 and can get an additional 50% of my purchase weight added to the bag for free...well..i can make two meals of that instead of just one^^

I like emart because typically the same people work the same stations I visit . They see me often, and i can develop an association with them. Perhaps you can do the same at costco, but costco being a surplus outlet, most people don't visit there as often..and there didn't seem to be as many staff hanging around doing the marketing thing as in emart. Anyone who tells you that getting discounts at emart is impossible if full of it. I have even had occasions where i bought something marked for 14,000 won(족발) and had it reduced to 9,000 simple because i could speak the language well enough to ask.(this is the food section of course)

All of that said, if any of you are interested in saving money..I HIGHLY suggest you try to find the "restaurant wholesale" center in your city or area. I live in Daegu, and just down the street from my home is the 동대구 식품도매센터 )roughly translated to the East Daegu food product wholesale center)even though its actually in Gyeongsan, not Daegu. This is the kind of place that restaurants and other businesses in the area go to for buying things..the prices are awesome on most items are a substantial bit cheaper than any national chain you will see.

For example

10KG bag of laundry detergent - 8,000 won
Ground Beef- 1,000 won/100 grams
Ground pork - 600won/100 grams
Pizza crust pre-mix - about 2,900 won for a box containing two bags to make 2 pizza crusts
An assortment of canned veggies not to be found at emart

There are other deals to be had..but too numerous to mention. These kinds of places tend to carry items that are important to the local restaurants in your area...so if your area has a good deal of foreign restaurants, then that place will likely carry a decent selection of foreign products to supply those restaurants. Regardless of the types of restaurants, most items will be a 10% or more cheaper than Homeplus/Costco/E-mart)

[Wishmaster]

If you like limitations in terms of selection, then E-mart is king. If you like a few choices, Costco rocks. Costco is superior to E-mart in every way.

[BoholDiver]

Until I see chopped onions with mustard and ketchup at E-Mart, Costco is king!!

[crossmr]

[Caffeinated]

Anyone seen tubs of plain yogurt at Emart? They sell packages of individual cups, but none bigger at my local Emart.

The wine section has sales sometimes and you can pick up a cheap bottle of drinkable stuff. Around dinner time the sushi gets discount-stickered.

The fruit-veg section is a ripoff. I may start ordering boxes of chicken breasts from Gmarket for protein.

[madoka]

[red_devil]

Why don't you buy from outdoor markets? These large grocery chains are all ripoffs.