Dumaguete Goods Prices High

[simplymikee]

The prices here in Dumaguete are high, 30-50% higher than USA EXCEPT on native non imported goods which are limited to such things as bananas,pinneapple, coconut, fish, etc for foods. Any manufactured or processed goods are higher than the cheaper USA cities. Do not compare NYC or D.C. to Phil prices. Examples of higher priced goods: baby powder, razors, towels, linens, Even bottled water is higher than USA. I figure my non durable goods costs will be 50% higher here. On durable goods many things are higher priced: electronics, appliances. I have yet to find a true discount store here. It's almost as if they all got together to fix the prices. Anything involving strictly labor is cheaper-massage for one example. Rent is cheaper but not substancially so from cheaper USA cities. This is one thing my Filipina friends did not tell me about, I wonder why??? ;-)

[Call me bubba]

1st .

Welcome to the forum :woohoo: Simplymikee

and glad that you have posted what you felt like are

HIGH PRICES

indeed the prices of some if not a majority do seem they are higher than back there(home)

had wished that you could been able to preview some of the supermarket websites before you arrived so at least you knew HOW HIGH the PRICES ARE.

2nd .

Perhaps your friends didnt tell you about the HIGH PRICES as they didnt have anything to compared them to,

you mentioned "price fixxing". Most stores USE the Suggested RETAIL price as the ONLY price to sell the high $(peso) goods( TV. washers, air cons and other household goods) maybe you can find them a little lower but only by a few pesos. (100-500) not much more than that.

If you need certain electrical goods, Tv's,Air cons .Refrig.. LOOK for the CLASS B units

they are usually located at the main office of that brand,

Sony.Panasonic, Sharp doesnt sell any CLASS B units ,

the only firms that I know of (that sell CLASS B) and this is in Metro manila are

Samsung ,LG, GE. Whirlpool. the savings are GOOD

only drawback is that you usually will have to pay cash, & No delievery,

Maybe in your area you can find such a place, should you,

please share us(the forum) your results,

And again :tiphat: Welcome to the Philippines (-expat forum) :attention:

below is an another post that could assist you in the price understanding

http://www.philippin...rent-countries/

Edited July 5, 2012 by Call me Bubba

[phildiver]

Take a look at the Cost of Living article I placed on the forum. Spells out the costs of living in the PI pretty well if I do say so myself. If you are staying in Dumaguete a nice place to hang out and meet some of the guys is at the McDonalds from 6:30 to about 9:30am weekdays. Great town. For me the best in the Philippines. Too bad I will be moving to Manila next year but gotta think about my daughters education in a top of the line Non-Sectarian Private School only found in the bigger cities. Don't need any more brainwashing from the religious zealot institutions which are all you will find in smaller towns like Dumaguete. Nevertheless, a great place and I will miss it. Hope you enjoy it there

[i am bob]

One of the things I have noticed is that a lot of things are getting higher in price - regardless of where you are...

For example - here in Southern Ontario where we have an industrial / farming mix, I am finding fresh food prices have risen on average of 50 to 60 percent, canned goods are the same unless they are imported from a 3rd world country or China. Hard goods are about 40 % higher. Entertainment items (TV, computer, etc) are up as well unless it is a cheap no-name from China. I am comparing prices since last September to the present... At the same time I have compared prices with what I can find online for Cebu and, believe it or not, most things are about the same now. Fresh veggies and local meat in the grocery stores are a still cheaper than here and some household goods such as pillows and linens are still cheaper there as well. Appliances are outrageous in Cebu but other than that and electronics? Sure we can still buy a lot of things at discount stores but at the same time you are getting old stock, refurbs or slightly damaged.

I wish I had kept records of the prices since I started comparing but unfortunately.... nope! I can say that I do spend on average about 3 hours a week doing this though... What better way to prepare for moving for good to the Philippines and not have to worry about sticker shock!

[earthdome]

Yes, prices are rising for many goods in western nations. In the US the official government consumer price index is only going up 2-3%... but that excludes food, housing and energy... which is what middle class people spend the bulk of their money on. The unofficial CPI when you include everything, especially food, is much higher, more like 10%.

The monetary policy in western nations is also very inflationary (increasing the money supply)... that is one reason why the USD and EURO are dropping against most of the other worlds currencies, especially in asia.

There is so much malinvestment and debt in western nations it will take decades to work through the economic problems bad government and central bank policy created.

Asia is where the world economy is shifting, that is if asian nations don't make the same mistakes western nations have in recent generations.

[i am bob]

Asia is where the world economy is shifting, that is if asian nations don't make the same mistakes western nations have in recent generations.

Don't hold your breath for too long on this one... Over the last 6 months or so, not only has China been caught fudging the books (and the value of the RMB) but their economic outlook (as long as there is no external political interference) is quickly taking on a shade of communism... red. If Asia is to maintain that shift in their favour, countries such as the Philippines will have to pick up the slack.... Oh, wait! They're getting there!

Edited July 6, 2012 by i am bob

[Call me bubba]

Take a look at the Cost of Living article I placed on the forum. Spells out the costs of living in the PI pretty well if I do say so myself.

here is the URL link to that topic, so that its easier to review.read it

thanks Phildriver for the topic :thumbsup:

[Mike S]

I am amazed at how I constantly here that the prices back home are so much cheaper than here in the Phils ...... I wonder is it because foreigners are looking to buy the same products that they were comfortable with back there such as food ...... as to products we may be used to buying from back home consider this ..... TV's ..... US is # 1 in TV's per capita ...... the Phils is # 122 now this is countries in the world ........ computers .... the US is #4 ...... the Phils is # 100 ... now while I will admit that the computer survey was taken in 2004 the ratio's should remain fairly close ...... now cell phones are a different matter ..... US is # 72 (2007) and the Phils is # 51 (2010) .......... and I guess we could go on and on ..... but as you can see there are a lot more goods sold in the US than here in the Phils so naturally the cost will be more here ..... if you can sell 200 TV's you can afford to have the price go down as you will make up profit in volume ...... but if you sell only 10 TV's the price is going to be much higher ...... people try and compare a thrid world country with a first world country and you just can't do that ...... IMHO

Anyway I can't speak for how others may live BUT I can't live the way I do with the amount of income I have if I lived in the US instead of here in the Phils ..... I even had someone tell me that they could buy apple juice cheaper in the US than here ..... my answer "well it is all imported as they don't grow apples here" .... his answer "well they should" ..... one thing that I have learned in this old life is you can't change other people's minds and the way they think ..... so I don't bother any more I just tell it as I see it and continue on with my own views ..... :hystery: :hystery: :hystery: :hystery:

Edited July 7, 2012 by Jollygoodfellow

[i am bob]

I even had someone tell me that they could buy apple juice cheaper in the US than here ..... my answer "well it is all imported as they don't grow apples here" .... his answer "well they should" .....

Now Mike, they can grow apples there! In fact one of the things I was thinking of doing was starting an apple orchard - first as a hobby and maybe eventually going into it as a business... So as soon as I get my first apple juice...! :cheersty:

As for the rest of it? I totally agree! I watch people moving from the US to Canada (or Canada to the US) and complaining because something isn't exactly the same.... Often it's the same brand, the same product but the package may look different... Maybe it's the dual English / French labelling we use? Still, people want to have the exact same thing no matter where they are... How dumb is that? I guess the best example would be Brand Name vs Store Brand (food products)... Often it is made by the same people on the same lines but put into a different package with a different name and much cheaper - yet people have to have their Kellogg's Corn Flakes! (JGF -0h I is soooo bad!) Take it one step further and it's either American food or Filipino food but guess which one is cheaper and which one those who scream and complain want? (There is a difference between those who comment on as opposed to screamers and cryers - none of them here, right?) We have also heard on here many times of those who are living on a lot less than back home (Such as you are Mike) and living just as well if not better. I intend to be one of the same!

Now that I am running off-track (I blame it on this fever I've had for the last 2 weeks), time to come back on-track and ask this really dumb question of the OP... How do prices compare between Dumaguete and Cebu or Manila?

[Steve & Myrlita]

Prices between Cebu, Dumaguete, and Bacolod seem to be fairly close to the same. The one that seems to stand out is the fuel. Fuel is a few pesos cheaper in Cebu than Negros Island. Other than that, it's close.