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Guide to Living and Teaching English in Korea

 

Daily Cost of Goods in South Korea

Go to: » Clothing » Toiletries » Electronic Goods » Misc. Goods
Shopping in Korea - ESL Abroad A shopping market in South Korea

In general, Korea is not an expensive place to live. It is easy to save money here and still enjoy a good lifestyle. Listed below are the prices you can expect to pay for goods while living in Korea.

Clothing

A wide range of makes, both local and imported are available with prices often relative to quality and/or brand name. As with everywhere, prices vary widely with where you buy!

  • Work shirt: 10,000 - 50,000 won
  • Work trousers: 15,000 - 60,000 won
  • Skirts: 10,000 - 70,000 won
  • T-shirts range from 8,000 won upwards

There are many outlet stores in Seoul with Dongdaemun being one of the largest and a great place to find cheap clothing.

A word to the wise, Asian fashion sense is quite unique and has become a part of their lifestyles that they take very seriously. You will notice a lot of bright shiny colors and more pockets that you will ever know what to do with. Western styles prevail as well, but may be a little harder to find and more expensive. Finding larger sizes is another difficult issue that you should be aware of.

Koreans will dress up for almost every occasion including just stepping out and seeing a movie. As a Westerner you will be judged a little more fairly, but the T-shirt, shorts and sandals look is not ‘in’ and may in fact hinder your entrance into some bars and clubs.

Toiletries

A wide range of local and imported brands are available in supermarkets and local pharmacy stores.

  • Soap: 1,000 won
  • Shampoo: 6,000 won for a pack of two
  • Toothpaste: 2,000 won
  • Toothbrushes: 1,800 won
  • Toilet paper: 2,500 won for ten rolls
  • Deodorant: 11,000 won (Warning! Koreans do not regularly use deodorant making it very expensive and hard to buy)

Electronic Goods

A lot of electronic goods are made right here in South Korea which make them quite cheap and available for easy purchase. You may also find certain high-end electronics that are not available yet back home.

  • TV (20 inch): 200,000 won
  • DVD players: 100,000 won
  • Videotape rentals are very cheap: 1,000 - 2,000 won

Misc. Goods

  • Haircut: 7,000 won for a man and about 60,000 won for a woman. Another word of warning, many hairdressers may not be accustomed to cutting Western hairstyles. It can be worth the extra effort to find one that does to avoid any mishaps.
  • Books: Imported English titles are relatively expensive and range from 10,000 to 20,000 won