Variation in prices in the BLCU/Wudaokou area

[prateeksha]

While buying things [mostly food stuff like packed snacks, breads, water] around the BLCU campus and in the Wudaokou area, I often come across a very strange situation. A branded, packaged product - say the 5L Nestle bottle of water - at one place I would get it for 7 kuai, at another place for 8 kuai and at yet another for may be 9 kuai. And sometimes, when buying the same bottle from the same shop, it would be 7 one day and 8 on another. And the same goes for Lays chips, Kinder chocolates, even the Coke bottles. And I am talking only about branded, packaged products.

Is it just me or anyone else has noticed this too?

[heifeng]

To address the variation in the same store (b/c different stores can set their prices as they see fit), these would be my theories:

(1) Costs are going up up up! (no really, in China prices can really change quite rapidly, and maybe this could be applying to any foods that are imported as well not just the branded goodies. )

(2) Assuming we are talking small shops here, the different clerk(s) ~let's just suppose the 'pop' in a 'mom & pop shop' ~is a little clueless and innocently doesn't really know the going price and over (or potentially under) charges you one day. [it doesn't hurt to give the benefit of the doubt occasionally]

(2) They think you don't know the going price and just add a kuai or so. This might be because you are a foreigner, or b/c they just try this with anyone and everyone anyway (if you make a fuss then they might change their tune). But putting on my devil's advocate hat/(reciting the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition), if some foreigner is already buying pricey foreign stuff anyway, what's the harm in adding a 元 or two...

Anyway, I found this would happen the most with ice cream costs and cold drinks when temperatures skyrocketed, but then you ask how much it is, bargain if you want, or go elsewhere.

[skylee]

And sometimes, when buying the same bottle from the same shop, it would be 7 one day and 8 on another.

Why is this strange? I tried to book a hotel room in Istanbul for my trip later this month. One day the internet price was 63 euros per night. The next day the internet price became 59 euros per night. Same hotel, same room, same period, on the same website.

And I also don't understand why it is strange that the price for the same product is different in different shops. A CD sold in HMV can cost HKD20 more than the same one sold in say HK Records. And there are people who are willing to pay the higher price because it is convenient and easy to shop at HMV. And they don't want to shop around for lower prices. It is not strange. It is quite normal.

[edelweis]

@skylee: I am unsurprised by such price variation for hotel rooms and train or plane tickets. Perishable food prices also vary according to market price (produce, meat etc.). Having different prices for the same item in different shops is also understandable.

But, non-perishable or long-shelf-life items frequently changing price in the same shop does seem a little unusual to me, it typically does not happen in Europe except in exceptional circumstances such as a shortage.

I am curious, do bottled water prices change daily in the same shop in HK? What about dried foodstuff and canned food? What about bus fare?

@prateeksha: at the 7-11 just out of the zhichunlu underground station (not wudaokou but pretty close) I think I remember being surprised several times that the price the cashier asked of me was not the one I remembered seeing on the shelf. But the difference was extremely small, like 0.10 yuan, and I was buying water in the morning before going to work, so I was never sure I was awake enough to remember the correct price.

One time I did go buy a SIM card by myself, and the price was double the previous week's price (but the previous week I was accompanied by a Chinese man). Expressing surprise and saying the correct price was enough to make them err check the price.

[skylee]

But, non-perishable or long-shelf-life items frequently changing price in the same shop does seem a little unusual to me, it typically does not happen in Europe except in exceptional circumstances such as a shortage.

I am curious, do bottled water prices change daily in the same shop in HK? What about dried foodstuff and canned food? What about bus fare?

In Hong Kong transport fares are regulated.

I think I can only answer part of your questions. I don't usually buy stuff/foodstuff in small shops so I am not familiar with what happens in small shops. I usually shop at big chain stores. And yes, the price of the same product in the same shop changes quite frequently. Perhaps not daily, but so frequent that one would notice. One example, I was hooked to a type of Reisling wine a couple of months ago. When I first bought it, it cost HKD74. I bought like half a dozen of it. Then when I went back to the same shop for more, it was over HKD120. The price difference was ridiculous. So I didn't buy any and waited. Then one or two weeks later, the price dropped. It then fluctuated between HKD78 and HKD108. So one can either wait for a good price, or go buy it in other shops (but no luck, I couldn't find it in other wine shops), or pay whatever the shop charges (a kind of opportunity cost I guess), or drink something else. (Note - in HK wine is tax-free.) The same also applies to boxed cereal, instant noodles, "branded" chips like Lay's, pasta and pasta sauce, etc, though the price range may not be as big as the wine example. These are what I eat/drink, so I know about their prices. Which is why I think price fluctuation is not strange at all.

[edelweis]

Thanks for the answer Skylee. Is most of the stuff you buy imported? It might explain some higher level of supply-and-demand price variation. (On the other hand, perhaps I need to look more carefully at prices here heh).

[prateeksha]

heifeng, I think your reasoning makes the most sense to me. I think they really think the foreigner isn't well-equipped with his language skills to question or protest the absurd price.

edelweis: I know what you are talking about. The real matter of surprise to me is that I have never seen such a weird phenomena in India.The taxi drivers might try to fleece innocent foreigners, but all the packaged foods have a price tag on them. So unless a foreigner cannot read even the numerals, there is a very rare chance he could get fleeced while buying a bottle of coke or a pack of chips.

[The BLCU Blog]

@prateeksha I think it's probably a case of them trying to rip you off at street vendors or very small stores. You shouldn't have these problems at supermarkets such as the one under the U-Centre in Wudaokou. On campus, prices vary depending where you go but I never experienced prices changing at the same shop from one visit to the next. If this was your experience, it's probably a case of the worker making a mistake, or the price genuinely having gone up.