The cost of goods/products in Malaysia - expensive?

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Hi All

In my opinion living in Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia is far more expensive than we imagined. When we first moved here we took the cost of things such as street food, petrol, market products and public transport and then came to the conclusion that 'WOW its cheap here!'. Our experience has shown that living here, although cheaper than the UK is not 'you can get three times more for your money here in Malaysia', maybe a more realistic figure in our opinion would be that its overall about 25% cheaper here. And when it comes to things like buying furniture, 'you get what you pay for!'
Goods in the UK are vastly cheaper including electrics, quality clothes, booze, cars, and with property rental and prices are falling, the cost of living gap between the UK and Malaysia has narrowed considerably, meaning that to maintain/increase the gap we have to be more prudent when spending.

Consumer goods
We thought about treating ourselves to a nice new TV, probably 42", LCD or Plasma, on the basis that consumer goods in Asia are supposed to be a lot cheaper (yeah right), however the cheapest I have found is 3500rm, is it worthwhile taking a trip to Singapore and buying one there? does anyone know roughly what we would expect to pay for a bog standard?

We also are finding it impossible to buy a potato masher, the only one we have found is in Isetan in KLCC and that was 79rm??! - FOR A POTATO MASHER GGGRrrrrrr  

Do other forum members have the same experience as we do - ie finding consumer goods ridiculously expensive?!? I know one close friend of mine and a forum member, is finding it the same as I do.
And if you come across any good places to shop, or any bargains would you let us know please!

Cheers

Paul

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Hi Paul,
I am a bit of a television nerd so I spend a lot of time comparing prices. The price of electronics and in particular televisions are higher than in Oz. It's not just that they are higher (say about 5%) but that the regular discounts offered by the big chain stores in Oz don't seem to be there. (I'm not talking here about the negotiation you do with the sales clerk, I'm just talking about the weekly advertised specials.)
Certainly computers, DVD hard disk recorders etc are no cheaper in Malaysia.
I don't know how it works in the UK but in Oz we have a 10% GST and no other tarrifs on electrical goods. (I asume the UK is the same but the VAT is higher.)
Since the GST was introduced some 10 plus years ago the price of electrical goods in Oz has always been as good if not better than in South east Asia. I put it down to the purchasing power of the bulk electrical retailers.
On the other hand you would think that given the number of televisions and computers that Malaysia manufactures that they would be cheaper in Malaysia.

On a positive note the cost of kitchen fit out (excluding the oven, fridge etc) seems to be lower. I assume this reflects the difference in labour costs.
Cheers

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Hi Donohue

I was doing some checking on the web back in the UK this morning and I found a Daewoo (not the most obvious brand) 42" LCD TV with all the bells and whistles for £360.00 (inc Vat/tax and delivery) at the current exchange rate thats about 1900rm, which seems to make TVs here quite expensive?

I agree with your comment about electronic good should be cheaper here given the manufacturing, the above example shows the difference in the cost here and the cost in the UK. I suppose it backs up my personal view that Malaysia is not as cheap as I thought it was!

Any idea of the cost of electrical goods in Singapore?

Cheers

Paul

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Hi
I just bought a Sony Bravia  46" LCD in the UK for £740 so that's about RM 3900.
thats a lot cheaper than Malaysia!!
Regards Martin

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Hi Paul

Yes I agree with you.  Most modern day consumer goods (non luxuries to the UK but maybe considered luxuries in Malaysia) are more expensive than in the UK.

I include in this cars ( like our CRVS which retail at 149K RM - 30 K Quid!!!), consumer electronics, PCs, mobile phones, insurances (our car insurance is double what it was in the UK ditto Home Contents) and Streamyx which is so blimmin expensive.  Our 32 inch Toshiba LCD was 1600RM, so 300 quid, about the same as the UK price.  And the choices are poor, often cheap Chinese rubbish, not so cheap local 'iffy' quality and if you are lucky a know worldwide brand at double the price.  The trouble we had looking for a decent well built food mixer.......................

But some things are a lot cheaper, like AXA Medical Insurance, air conditioning units

And buying stuff for our new build is again some stuff = dirt cheap and other stuff= UK prices or more.  For quality double glazing units with argon gas either I must go to Singapore and pay 30,000 quid (yes 30K) or as I am doing go to OZ and get the lot including shipping for 12,000 quid.  I suspect if I was in the UK it would cost me nearer 7,500. 

Malaysia is not as cheap as we all envisioned but on the whole it is a good bit cheaper than the UK, even at 5RM to the Pound.  But again yes it is so difiicult to get those everyday little things like potato pealers:)

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hi,

Corporateangel requested the prices of electrical goods in Singapore, so here's a listing from Courts, 7th March 2009. I've picked Courts becasue it's comparable to Courts Malaysia. In Singapore you could probably get slightly better prices from various offers at Best Electric, Harvey Norman, or shopping around.

Japanese Brands Fridges 231 litres S$499
Branded 2-Door Fridges 510 litres S$899
Philips HR2000 Blender S$29
DeLonghi 1200W Vacuum Cleaner S$59
Sanyo Microwave Oven EMG3597 S$169
DeLonghi Electric Oven EO2150 S$179
Samsung LA46A610A 46 inch Full HD LCD TV S$4299
Samsung LA40A330J1 40 inch HD Ready LCD TV S$1999
Korean 22 inch TV S$399
Korean 37 inch TV S$791
JBL Home Theatre System S$899
Onkyo Home Theatre System S$599
Japanese Brand Automatic Washing Machine 7kg S$289
Electrolux EWF8555 Front Load Washer S$799
Sony DSCS950 Digital Still Camera S$279
Panasonic DMCFS7 Digitasl Still Camera S$349

What I find is that, compared to Malaysia, Singapore has the latest models on display and available. And yesterday's models are then on offer.

If there's anything specific let me know as I'm in Singapore for a couple of days.

regards, Scott

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Hi Scott

I have just worked out the cost on the Samsung 46" LCD on your list (S$4299/10307rm/£1997.77) the price really suprised me, as they say here ' so expensive lah?!?

I know that my example is not the exact same model, but it helps highlight the cost difference - prepare to be amazed!!

The example, I found is a Sharp LC46X20E 46" 1080 Dp LCD that retails at £599.99/3090rm/S$1289 inc vat in the UK

I know Malaysia was expensive for TVs, but I thought Singapore was the cheap place to buy!

Cheers for the information

Paul

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Paul

LCD and plasma TV's come in series - the older the series the cheaper it is  - for a up to dateSamsung 46 Inch LCD you are looking at £1500 plus in the UK

I think you need to compare like for like

Cheers

JJ

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=Samsung+46+inch+lcd&hl=en

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hi,

Although the prices are for Courts, usually these are very up-to-date models. Last year's models are much cheaper. The cost of living in Singapore rose 6.6% last year. Prices have risen across the board. When I bought this Toshiba computer (2 years ago) it was slightly cheaper in Malaysia but I bought it in Singapore as I didn't have to wait for delivery.

GST in Singapore is 7%. Many suppliers waive this. Having been in Portugal for most of last year and now in Singapore there aren't many budget differences, except for the 1/2 price of eating out here.

regards, Scott

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Hi,

I found an interesting website to compare prices of goods in Malaysia....

http://www.smartpengguna.my

Nice day to all of you 

Mary

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Good website Mary, Thanks.

cheers

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Indeed nice website, unfortunately Malaysia is not Kuala Lumpur............

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I agree with you Danny, KL is not the only place in Malaysia, but for people who are not yet in Malaysia it can give a small idea of the costs of daily goods and where to do their shopping when they move, wether it's in KL or elsewhere. :-)

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I wonder if prices are uniform for each company throughout the peninsula -...errr what I mean is would a whole chicken cost the same on Saturday in any Tesco.... in KL, Ipoh, Pg....?

BB

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Your comment about the potato masher made me chuckle because that was one thing I searched high and low for after I arrived. I did eventually find one, not sure where, it may have been in Carrefour or Tesco for something like RM10 or RM15. It looked like it had been made from a recycled tin can and was bent out of shape after first use.
However another good way to mash up your spuds is to use an electric hand blender. Just drain the water and do it in the saucepan. Smooths the mash to perfection in seconds and keeps it nice and hot. Again, had to hunt around for one of those. In the UK I had a basic one inc. jug, perfectly adequate, from Wilkinsons costing around a tenner.
The cheapest I could find here were imported & overpriced models from Europe, with umpteen unecessary attachments. In the end I bought a quality hand masher from Asda when I went back to the UK for a holiday.

So, in answer to your question, "are consumer goods ridiculously expensive?", yes, I would tend to agree. But of course these things may not necessarily be what your average Malaysian cook (or maid) is going to have in her kitchen. Furthmore is it not correct to say that a greater proportion of the population here like to eat out?

I think the answer is to either bring our favourite kitchen implements out here with us, buy them when going back home for a holiday or give a friend a shopping list before he/she comes here for a holiday!