Massively Inflated Prices At Central Festival

[gorillagrower]

Went with the tgf this evening to get her some new work shoes, an hour tops I think to myself, was planning to get her some standard all black converse. So hit up the sports shop in Carrefour and then sports shop at south big C. no joy no plain/all black in her size or that she likes (800 in both shops). So I thought of the large sports shop in central festival checked it out but the same issues, price of the same shoes 900 “no discount”, pair of similar style lacoste 2800 jog on! , Rip curl shop very basic Vans 2400 no discount, next Puma shop the most basic lightweight black puma shoes/daps 2900 the sort of shoes you would see at Marko for a tenner. Central store for a bubble truly insulting prices to be found basic slightly chic all black shoes forget the brand 5550 down from 8000 something! So then to Top man/women 1790 by this time have had enough she really likes them and I want to exit this Mecca for consumer deadheads, so give them the once over and find stuck on the sole Uk 25 pounds Euro 30 something (made in Vietnam) quick math’s 25 quid = about 1200, so naturally asked for a discount no joy persisted talked with the store manager asked why they were priced at over 500b more than the uk retail price, no answer just disinterest. Now I not talking about the high end and designer fashion shops just the run of the mill standard shops you find worldwide, but this highlights central festival Pattaya is minefield of rip offs.

[FarangBuddha]

Do you normally go around department stores and high-end brand botiques in the UK and ask for discounts on the label prices...sounds a bit daft to me. So why would one do this at Central Department Store or the other stores at the Central Beach Mall. I mean were not talking about the Bua Khow or Thepressit Market now are we.

As to prices at Central, they may not be the cheapest in town but you are usually assured of getting a genuine article and not some cheap knock-off. In addition, like-for-like products are pretty much the same in any authorized seller's store in town. And as for sales, there are plenty of bargains to be had if you shop the great sales Central Department Store is always having.

Edited November 11, 2010 by FarangBuddha

[Thailaw]

"so give them the once over and find stuck on the sole Uk 25 pounds Euro 30 something (made in Vietnam) quick math's 25 quid = about 1200, so naturally asked for a discount no joy persisted talked with the store manager asked why they were priced at over 500b more than the uk retail price...."

You didn't understand the pricing of the shoes. You were paying only B1000 for the shoes (actually, a real bargain) and contributing B790 to the store's monthly rent in what certainly must be the most expensive property in Pattaya.

Edited November 11, 2010 by Thailaw

[bubba1]

nobody cares what the UK price is just like they don't care about the price in Russia.

[xen]

It is different courses for different horses. The rent there would dictate the higher prices. Being a cheap charlie myself i would not dream of buying shoes or other similar items there but there are other stores in Central that have prices the same as elsewhere. Go to the markets and give the market stall owners some business.

[Tolley]

The fact is that Thailand in general is not much cheaper for many clothing items and accessories than western countries.

In fact my lady who is with me in Australia and goes shopping a lot reckons she can get many things in Australia cheaper and better quality than she can get in Thailand.

It seems that only the items that are poorer quality are really cheap in Thailand these days.

[PattayaParent]

nobody cares what the UK price is just like they don't care about the price in Russia.

But they do.

Why buy something when you're on holiday that is more expensive than you can buy back home?

And if you live here the same applies, just get a friend to post it out or purchase online.

OP should have tried Outlet Mall or Mikes.

[TheWalkingMan]

nobody cares what the UK price is just like they don't care about the price in Russia.

But they do.

Why buy something when you're on holiday that is more expensive than you can buy back home?

And if you live here the same applies, just get a friend to post it out or purchase online.

OP should have tried Outlet Mall or Mikes.

That is correct. Why buy for more while on holiday?

Lots of items in Thailand are more expensive than Tokyo. And the last time I heard... rent, salary, taxes were all higher than Thailand. My guess is that the mark-ups are through the roof operating on the principle that if I can sell a few, I can make a profit.

TheWalkingMan

[powderpuff]

Licensed branded luxury items are always gonna be breath takingly expensive.

Head over to Discovery Center or Paragon. Find the Gucci Coach D&G & all those high end French retailers.

See what they are asking for a bag "purse in my terminology"

US $2000 just like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills Aspen or Monte Carlo.

High end shit costs money.

I heard a rumor that knock off stuff is available in Hong Kong & other 3rd world places. hel_l go buy shoes at Carrefour if price is an issue.

I applaud you for checking prices.

Now you are able to make an informed decision.

I would like to have a Ferrari but I can't afford it.

Doesn't justify me saying that the Ferrari dealer is a "rip-off".

There are some really stupidly rich people here. Let them burn their dosh how they like. Gold taps in the bathrooms? Perfectly fine with me.

[powderpuff]

btw. When I walk into a department store in USA & a plain jane pair of Nike shoes cost $150.00 does it make me happy to know those shoes were made in Indonesia or Viet Nam at a cost of $6 (you do the math)?

No it does not.

BUT

Nike have to find Tiger Woods Lebron James & Kobe's salary from somewhere.

All the gang members in the hood need to be wearing these shoes.

So fine by me if they want to pony up & buy them.

I surely will not.

[FarangBuddha]

Lots of items in Thailand are more expensive than Tokyo.

Care to enlighten us with a few examples...or is this just a Thailand urban myth you heard somewhere

[gorillagrower]

Do you normally go around department stores and high-end brand botiques in the UK and ask for discounts on the label prices...sounds a bit daft to me. So why would one do this at Central Department Store or the other stores at the Central Beach Mall. I mean were not talking about the Bua Khow or Thepressit Market now are we.

As to prices at Central, they may not be the cheapest in town but you are usually assured of getting a genuine article and not some cheap knock-off. In addition, like-for-like products are pretty much the same in any authorized seller's store in town. And as for sales, there are plenty of bargains to be had if you shop the great sales Central Department Store is always having.

Hold on, so in your warped view, you only ask small independent merchants for discounts not massive multinational companies,and yes of course I ask and frankly I get discounts in the likes of these stores in the UK Hong Kong ect. Clearly the prices are not pretty much the same in the clone stores world wide as I stated. Also Converse Puma Rip-curl Topman are not by any means high end botique brands.

[toenail]

I find the prices of brand name clothing/ shoes a bit higher in Thailand's shopping centers than in the States (I am confused why a new brand of Nike shoes in Thailand would cost ??20% more here than in the US- they're both imported items) but there are enough sales with shoes and clothing all the time in BKK and Pattaya that one can get good reduced prices if they are patient. What I fine insulting in some of these name brand stores is how they will advertise 20% off an item but they have inflated the orignal price to begin with.

I don't understand why people go for the pirated hand bags, T shirts, and such..????.The quality is certainly inferior and it looks fake if you truly know the brand. And in Thailand, why spend hundeds of dollars for the "real thing" - Dolce&Gabanna, Guci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and ...and... when people will assume it is a copied version anyway?

Edited November 11, 2010 by toenail

[Phil Conners]

Who cares about brand names anyway. You can get good quality without having to buy a brand name. Brand names are in fact just guidelines for those who don't have any other way to know quality.

[DMC1]

Do you normally go around department stores and high-end brand botiques in the UK and ask for discounts on the label prices...sounds a bit daft to me. So why would one do this at Central Department Store or the other stores at the Central Beach Mall. I mean were not talking about the Bua Khow or Thepressit Market now are we.

As to prices at Central, they may not be the cheapest in town but you are usually assured of getting a genuine article and not some cheap knock-off. In addition, like-for-like products are pretty much the same in any authorized seller's store in town. And as for sales, there are plenty of bargains to be had if you shop the great sales Central Department Store is always having.

Hold on, so in your warped view, you only ask small independent merchants for discounts not massive multinational companies,and yes of course I ask and frankly I get discounts in the likes of these stores in the UK Hong Kong ect. Clearly the prices are not pretty much the same in the clone stores world wide as I stated. Also Converse Puma Rip-curl Topman are not by any means high end botique brands.

I remember there was a show on UK TV about 10 or so years ago when the presenter went into all these 'high end' shops with a hidden camera and he demanded discounts on items and more often than not he got some great deals. You can ask for discounts anywhere if you are feeling a bit cheeky.

[moo9]

More worrying than the prices for clothes are the food prices, for important cheese etc....despite the increase of the Baht, those seem to be up and up every month. I simply are not willed to pay 480 Baht for a box of delicious French Camembert. It's a total rip off.

Less customers, less imports = higher freight costs, just a simple calculation, but the constant increase turn those things into hyper luxury here. Amazing that local produced cheese is quite expensive as well. Everybody is trying to empty your pocket.

I can hear people, eat Thai where the locals eat. Good idea, but I am not into Thai food every day and somehow the uncontroled usage of pesticides, medicine etc, scares me as well.

[gorillagrower]

@Powderpuff "I applaud you for checking prices.

Now you are able to make an informed decision.

I would like to have a Ferrari but I can't afford it.

Doesn't justify me saying that the Ferrari dealer is a "rip-off"."

To be honest I was not really doing a price compare vist to save a few baht, the shoe's from topman/women were bought, but knowing that I could have had them sent from the UK by DHS and for less is a clear sign that the stores in Central are quite blantly a rip off. I used to be very into wearing brands and think nothing of paying 60 quid for a polo tee 100+ for a pair of jeans, airmax 80 quid and so on. But now I only buy brand jeans moslty levi (but not from the Thai-levi store as far better value can be found in hong-kong levi-stores) and the odd designer shirt, seldom in fact do I buy cloths in patts bar I like 5cm and a t-shirt shop upstairs at royal garden and a lad at the monday friday market who has lots of decent element shorts.bar that I shop at siam square,also the tgf does most of her shopping in bkk platinum ect

[gorillagrower]

I meant to say tuesday/friday market

[tropo]

Do you normally go around department stores and high-end brand botiques in the UK and ask for discounts on the label prices...sounds a bit daft to me. So why would one do this at Central Department Store or the other stores at the Central Beach Mall. I mean were not talking about the Bua Khow or Thepressit Market now are we.

As to prices at Central, they may not be the cheapest in town but you are usually assured of getting a genuine article and not some cheap knock-off. In addition, like-for-like products are pretty much the same in any authorized seller's store in town. And as for sales, there are plenty of bargains to be had if you shop the great sales Central Department Store is always having.

I got a better deal on a Sony computer and camera than anywhere else. If you're after jewelry, there's some good bargains. The gold shop on the ground floor has a 50% discount on commision.

Outside Central Department Store you can find good quality goods on sale and pick up some pretty good bargains on genuine items.

Central is not quite a grim as the OP presents it.

Edited November 12, 2010 by tropo

[tropo]

I don't understand why people go for the pirated hand bags, T shirts, and such..????.The quality is certainly inferior and it looks fake if you truly know the brand. And in Thailand, why spend hundeds of dollars for the "real thing" - Dolce&Gabanna, Guci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and ...and... when people will assume it is a copied version anyway?

I'll explain it for you. A lot of people are brand conscious, especially Asian women. Those fake handbags are a fraction of the cost of the original items but they still look good. The girls lap them up and I've even seen them fighting over the last one in stock.

[toenail]

I don't understand why people go for the pirated hand bags, T shirts, and such..????.The quality is certainly inferior and it looks fake if you truly know the brand. And in Thailand, why spend hundeds of dollars for the "real thing" - Dolce&Gabanna, Guci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and ...and... when people will assume it is a copied version anyway?

I'll explain it for you. A lot of people are brand conscious, especially Asian women. Those fake handbags are a fraction of the cost of the original items but they still look good. The girls lap them up and I've even seen them fighting over the last one in stock.

***************************************************************************

But when a Asian (or farang) woman walks around with one of the fake designer bags with her "Ching Chang Wang jeans", faded T shirt, and half torn sandals, the bag just doesn't fit.

[tropo]

***************************************************************************

But when a Asian (or farang) woman walks around with one of the fake designer bags with her "Ching Chang Wang jeans", faded T shirt, and half torn sandals, the bag just doesn't fit.

The point is that these copy bags are nice looking bags with famous labels. Whether you think they fit or not is irrelevant - the girls like and appreciate them.

To understand marketing you have to stretch your mind and not always loook at things from your own point of view. Take Russians for example. A lot of them dress the way we used to dress 30 years ago, but they like dressing like that and think it's fashionable. What people like and dislike is very individual and people in Pattaya come from all over the globe.

LIke you, I'm not into fake labels, but I understand the attraction for others.

[FarangBuddha]

Do you normally go around department stores and high-end brand botiques in the UK and ask for discounts on the label prices...sounds a bit daft to me. So why would one do this at Central Department Store or the other stores at the Central Beach Mall. I mean were not talking about the Bua Khow or Thepressit Market now are we.

As to prices at Central, they may not be the cheapest in town but you are usually assured of getting a genuine article and not some cheap knock-off. In addition, like-for-like products are pretty much the same in any authorized seller's store in town. And as for sales, there are plenty of bargains to be had if you shop the great sales Central Department Store is always having.

I got a better deal on a Sony computer and camera than anywhere else. If you're after jewelry, there's some good bargains. The gold shop on the ground floor has a 50% discount on commision.

Outside Central Department Store you can find good quality goods on sale and pick up some pretty good bargains on genuine items.

Central is not quite a grim as the OP presents it.

Exactly, I picked-up a genuine Oris watch at Central Department Store, and with the sale they were running, the Expat-card promotion coupons and points for future discount on purchases throughout the store, and the VAT refund, I saved 20% (about US$ 250) on buying the same watch Stateside

They run lots of other sales and promotions all the time too...like the extra 5% off one weekend a month if you bring your own bag (save the environment or something). Just being an expat or tourist gets you up to 12% discount (5% expat and 7% VAT refund [on larger purchases]).

Nope, I got no problem with Central!

As to all the price comparisons between LOS and various Faranglands, as I have posted before on other threads, for the long-term expat or retiree, it doesn't really matter anymore what anything costs "back home" as we're not there anymore. The only relevant price is what something costs in Thailand and the amount of our salary or retirement pension/investments produces for us in BAHTS.

Then you make the decision if one can afford the item or not.

Edited November 13, 2010 by FarangBuddha

[tropo]

As to all the price comparisons between LOS and various Faranglands, as I have posted before on other threads, for the long-term expat or retiree, it doesn't really matter anymore what anything costs "back home" as we're not there anymore. The only relevant price is what something costs in Thailand and the amount of our salary or retirement pension/investments produces for us in BAHTS.

That's a very good point. I'm certainly not going to fly back to farangland to find a better deal.

[PattayaParent]

^no need for you to fly, let your purchases do the flying at a fraction of the cost.

[FarangBuddha]

^no need for you to fly, let your purchases do the flying at a fraction of the cost.

Most expats do that for the first year or so, especially for missed food items, but soon our friends start to tire of being pack-mules for us. Eventually, we realize that we live in Thailand and stop making useless price comparisons with what we paid "back home." And of course, it's impracticable for larger electronic items and household goods.

Edited November 13, 2010 by FarangBuddha

[Tokay]

Just steal it. Works for the locals.

[contemplating]

How do you collect the vat? Leave the country, or?