Good deals and bad deals in China. First Impression

[MartinF]

After a few months in Beijing, China I have started to figure out what products and services are good deals and vice-versa. I only get paid maybe one third what I received in the USA and maybe one fifth what I got in London, so it's important to know.

It seems like anything involving human services is a great deal but any imported goods cost a lot more. Also, name brand goods that are original versus the counterfeit versions are just as expensive as the USA/UK. So here's a list of good deals and bad deals that I've encountered so far.

Good Value

- foot massage. Because this is labour intensive and local labour is in strong supply here in China, you can get a great foot massage for about 50RMB for 70 minutes. That's about US$7 or 3.4 British pounds. It also usually includes a back, arm and leg massage (fully clothed) while your feet are soaking in salt water. Sometimes I'll take my girlfriend and one of her friends and we can sit in the same room and relax. It really is a great deal and affordable as a weekly treat.

- local beer. Tsingtao or Yanjing beer bought at the local stores used to be about 2.5 RMB or US$0.30 for a big 600ml (20 ounce) bottle. Now it's almost double perhaps because of winter, I don't know, but still a good price. The same thing in a bar is about 15 RMB or US$2.00 for a pint which is a bit less than America, but not such a good deal. Of course, imported beers are more and not really worth it because the local stuff is good. Just like every other country, the wise person will drink a few store-bought beers before they leave home, and go easy when they go out to a bar or club.

- chinese restaurant food, and to a lesser extent, Korean food. The food is cheap, good quality, and tea and service are included. So the price on the menu is what you pay, unlike the USA where the extras are tax and tipping which can easily add 30% to the total. So eating out is affordable and most people will do it fairly regularly. Even those with modest income.

Bad Value

- imported medicine. I used to take protein powder because I'm a vegetarian and do weight training. Without it I would never gain muscle. The stuff is quite cheap in the USA, but here it probably costs double or triple because it is made in the USA or Germany. So I haven't bought any so far. I'm trying to rely on natural dairy, tofu, and egg products but my cholesterol levels may skyrocket, so we'll have to see how that goes. Other imported meds cost the same as the USA and that makes them a poor deal for ex-pats getting paid local rates.

- name brand / designer clothes. Again the same price as in the USA and Britain. That should not be the case because rent is lower here. But it is the case, so personally, I'm happy with counterfeit / knock-offs or even no-name goods. Some stores like the American giant Walmart actually have name brands at reasonable prices so that's always worth looking into.

- international airplane travel. Same price as other countries, so sticking to train travel and travelling within Eastern Asia where a soft sleeper is a comfortable, affordable compromise, makes good sense. Unfortunately, most trains are still very slow here but more and more high speed bullet trains are being added to inter-city routes. I took the Hong Kong / Beijing slow sleeper train for about US$90 one way. I also tried the Beijing / Qingdao bullet train for about US$30 one way.

I'd love to hear anybody else's impressions.

[heifeng]

Good Deal:

Books in general.

Bad Deal:

Cosmetics.

concrete examples: maybelline mascara: 50 yuan + eye makeup remover 20 yuan (+/- 5-10 yuan b/c of my failing memory), whereas at the US at Costo, 3 tubes of SAME mascara plus same exact remover only 7.95!!! (even if you want to pretend the USD is still 1:8 conversion rate, that's still a huge difference)

clinique moisturizer: whatever the girls said was over 200 or 300 yuan (can't remember exactly but it wasn't a good number)....in the US (or even duty free) should be about 18USD.

[cdn_in_bj]

As you've already noted, anything with a high service/labour component is cheap here, though sometimes you get what you pay for in the quality of the service. Some other examples include haircuts, shoe repairs, to maintaining/repairing your car.

Personal electronics are fairly cheap here. From the local MP3/MP4 players to brand-name digital cameras (including high-end SLRs).

I've found household appliances to be reasonably priced too. In fact many have better features (more "high-tech") than the appliances sold back home, yet they cost the same or less. I'm guessing that the appliances sold here are probably similar to the ones sold in Japan.

name brand / designer clothes. Again the same price as in the USA and Britain. That should not be the case because rent is lower here.

This is one of my biggest peeves as well. The problem is that western brands are perceived to be superior; that they use better materials and have better quality, so they should cost more. The irony is that I've noticed more than a few name brand clothing and footwear sold here that have been adapted to the local markets, ie - lower quality to the stuff sold overseas. But the price is the same or even higher than back home! But that's ok, because the high prices just goes to reinforce the local consumers' impressions of the brand. Have you noticed how infrequently the name brand stuff goes on sale here?

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten into this debate about more expensive != better (and have given up). But on the other hand, over here these brands are considered luxury items, so with that in mind the pricing is understandable - they are not trying to sell to us ex-pats.

I believe that import duties also apply to western-branded goods, even if the article was originally manufactured on the mainland.

So my advice to you is to try to avoid western brands. Get to know the local brands; find out which ones are of better quality and value. And then you will notice your precious RMB going a lot further. As for imported drugs, you could get a friend back home to mail you a parcel.

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PS - Regarding cosmetics/perfumes - yes, I agree! Every time I make a trip home I'll get asked to bring something back. Of course, HK isn't too far away and there are good deals on this stuff over there. There are also good deals "on the web", but I'm beginning to wonder how many of these are actually fake. I'd advise against buying cosmetics/perfumes at the flea-market type places. I believe that most of the products sold there are fake. I recently had an experience when looking at perfumes at a flea-market stall. They had a certain perfume which I was very familiar with, and I knew for a fact that with this particular perfume the bottle is clear and the perfume is coloured. But what they were selling was the other way around - the bottle was coloured and the perfume was clear. Of course, it didn't smell the same either, but the bottle colouring was objective proof. When I pointed this out to the girl managing the stall, of course she got mad and told me if I wasn't going to believe her (about it being real) then there was nothing she could do about it.

The thing that got me was that they were only selling the fake stuff for maybe only 6% less than what the real thing would cost in a department store. I suppose if they were to sell it for any cheaper, people would know it was fake (and wouldn't buy it). In any case, the perfume counterfeiters are sure making a killing!

Back home there are imitations of expensive perfumes that are clearly labeled as imitations, and sold at a cheap price compared to the real thing. While I haven't tried these, I assume they must do a good job at imitating the real thing and selling well, otherwise how would these companies stay in business? Would this work over here? People are eager to buy fake LV purses, so why not perfumes? Or is this analogy flawed? Maybe people would buy imitation perfumes, but the vendors know they can get away with passing them off as the real thing and that's why they do?

[MartinF]

yes, I've been able to receive internet/mail-order western medicines a couple of times. I just get generics to save money.

I may try to order the protein powder online, but shipping is expensive because it's bulky and heavy. Tablet type meds are much lighter and shipping cost is fairly small.

One thing I haven't been able to find locally yet, at any price, is hair removal wax. My girlfriend used to buy it in London where it's widely available, but apparently there's no demand in China. Watson's and Carrefour are supposedly retailers for "Veet" but we haven't found one that stocks it yet.

[gougou]

Obvious, but important: taxis.

I felt very deprived when I had to find my own way home in Europe.

[cdn_in_bj]

Obvious, but important: taxis

True! Better yet, take public transport. That is, if you can put up with the occasinal rude passenger, crowds/violation of personal space, etc.

Though I have also had my share of rude taxi drivers lately.

[heifeng]

oh yeah, and shoes. I think payless shoes beats anything: big, walkable, and cheap!

Example: boots from payless, on sale 13USD plus tax vs. crappier (still too small) boots in China 200yuan and plus there are too much bedazzler type shiny crap stuck all over them! [edit all china shoes and clothing looks like it has been 'bedazzled' by someone on crack...maybe all those rhinestones are what jack up the prices so much out here:mrgreen:]

hmm, oh yeah transportation...yeah, I'll add that to the pro-China list since whenever I visit home I'm basically under house arrest..thats never any fun..

Oh yeah, Chinchillas in China and the US are about the same~200USD vs RMB1500...

[Luobot]

Best deals that are of importance to me:

- DVD’s – Need I say more?

- Traditional Chinese Massage – Always a good in deal in China. Quality can vary widely. Best (and cheap) is in Shenzhen. Quality is almost the same as Hong Kong (which generally has the best) but is much cheaper.

Worst deals that are of importance to me:

- Coffee – China has the worst coffee. Even Starbucks in China tastes like stale mud, and it’s not cheap. When I go to China, I bring my own coffee supply. It’s that bad.

- Anything bought in an expat supermarket, but that’s to be expected.

... Regarding getting enough protein versus cholesterol, since eggs are cheap enough, try eating just the egg whites.

[cdn_in_bj]

Oh yeah, Chinchillas in China and the US are about the same~200USD vs RMB1500...

I recall you brought up the topic of Chinchillas in another thread (was it the "word of the day" thread?) - do you own one?

And yes, how could I forget - tropical fish and aquarium supplies are dirt cheap here! You can get a nice tank for 1/5-1/10 the cost back home. And I think there are a lot of tropical fish farms in the southern provinces, which makes them so cheap here. For example, discus fish which would cost $30-50 each back home can be had for the same price in RMB here, and not only that but it's for a pair!

I'm not sure if the same price advantage applies to dogs - I do know that a Siberian Husky puppy will cost you 3000-4000 RMB over here. Dogs to consume are much, much cheaper however...

[heifeng]

I recall you brought up the topic of Chinchillas in another thread (was it the "word of the day" thread?) - do you own one?

No, I just really like furry animals and I often pass by a pet store that has (or had~only saw 1 of them the other day...) 2 of them. I was convinced they must be cheaper here and even made friends go in and ask to see if the the staff was bumping up the price..but nope....1500 yuan! Too expensive in the US and too expensive here too!

Oh yeah, turtles are cheap here too. You can even go to the market and buy a big one that is meant for cooking and raise it instead..hehehe

[cdn_in_bj]

You can even go to the market and buy a big one that is meant for cooking and raise it instead..hehehe

Haha yeah I've thought about that too!

[simonlaing]

DVDs here are quite cheap. 6 yuan for dao ban fake movies and 10 yuan for zhen ban , copywright paid on Chinese movies.

some by the universities here are HDVD with 6 movies on one disc though the subtitles are harder to change.

Tailor made clothes here are much cheap, which is good because the trousers usually don't leave enough butt room if you know what I mean.

It's nice living in China,

have fun,

SimoN:)

[MartinF]

good point about taxis and public transport. Both good deals in China. I tend to use both. Taxis more at night and buses/underground when I have the time or in the day time. Taxis are cheap but can get expensive at rush hour or crushing large swaths of Beijing. Often because of wait time, which can add 50% to the fare.

I absolutely hate paying to sit in slow/stopped traffic.