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The Gweilo Price

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  1. #1

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    The Gweilo Price

    I keep seeing people posting about the Gweilo Price and I felt it is largely untrue so I wanted to share a recent experience.

    I was going to park my car at a meter and there were locals there who would look after your car and ensure no "chow pie" (ticket) for unpaid meter. Since out all day not able to come back to pay every 2 hours.

    I bargained and paid $100. My local friend paid $140.

    So there you have it. Gweilo Price isn't always a bad thing and I actually think it doesn't actually exist.

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  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by MandM!:
    So there you have it. Gweilo Price isn't always a bad thing and I actually think it doesn't actually exist.
    So you think that 1) sometimes it's not a bad thing but 2) at the same time it doesn't exist? How does this logic work?

    And you're using as an example a dodgy interaction with randos hanging out on a street?
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  3. #3

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    Gweilo price sound like it's an ethnic thing, but it's really about the language you use and how fluently you use them.

    In a computer shop though, Gweilo price is merely your fluency in hardware, and knowing its price.

    In street booths, locals get gweilo price as well, but locals gather information in their everyday lives.

    For example, you purchase a wallet at a high price just to then ask the shop owner "how much does this really cost you?". Call it tuition fee. The next time when you're dealing with another shop owner selling the same thing, you can actually decrease that price to an amount where both of you will win.
    But if you already bargained at a price shop owner didn't earn an amount they feel they should gain off you, they won't tell you.
    And how do you do all that? You speak their language.

    Last edited by Creative83; 05-08-2017 at 03:13 AM.
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  4. #4
    Are prices in SoHo and LKF "Gweilo Prices"?
    These areas are not where most locals spend their money at.
    And the language there is mainly English intead of Cantonese.

    In this part of the world, locals with good English usually ask for more pay. Foreigners speaking English only need to hire them more expensively. For example in Japan or China, a local secretary with good English working for a Gweilo receives more pay than a normal local secretary working for a local boss.

    Know a girl working as a secretary in HK and she earns higher than her previous jobs working for local bosses.

    That's the reason behind people working hard to improve their English here. We think we will earn more if our English are better than the average.

    Phillippines, Malaysia and Singapore are different. Most people are good in English.

    Last edited by lighthse003; 05-08-2017 at 12:52 PM.
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  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Creative83:
    In a computer shop though .......
    Most of those 'Golden' or whatever area stores have price lists hanging around. You may get a $10 discount if you buy a lot.

    Wet markets have also prices displayed for choisam or whatever.

    But once I got stopped by police for some risky maneuvers. They came after me with flashing lights. That's a situation where you do not show off your canto skills. The offices gave me a stern look and a very dangerous and let me go. I doubt a local person would have had the same luck.
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  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by lighthse003:
    Are prices in SoHo and LKF "Gweilo Prices"?
    These areas are not where most locals spend their money at.
    And the language there is mainly English intead of Cantonese.
    That's face price. You get kudos for being rich enough to throw that kind of money around.
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  7. #7

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    What I mean by Gweilo Price is when a person goes into the same shop and the Gweilo needs to pay more than the Chinese.

    Again I don't see it but I hear people talking about it all the time.


  8. #8

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    Original Post Deleted
    Probably lol.
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  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by MandM!:
    What I mean by Gweilo Price is when a person goes into the same shop and the Gweilo needs to pay more than the Chinese.

    Again I don't see it but I hear people talking about it all the time.
    Isn't it just dumb rich persons price? Not dumb as in educationally sub-normal but there being an asymmetry in the information and impulse purchase cash available.
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  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by MandM!:
    What I mean by Gweilo Price is when a person goes into the same shop and the Gweilo needs to pay more than the Chinese.

    Again I don't see it but I hear people talking about it all the time.
    Most shops have prices listed...the ones that don't are mainly tourist traps!

    Gweilo Price = Price of walking into the wrong shop or having to find an English-speaking shop

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