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TldrDev t1_iqqlrvj wrote

Reply to comment by AnselmFox in Former Russian LEGO Stores Replaced by "World of Cubes" Shops by jerryleebee

I'm all for fuck Russia and whatever, but just to clarify, using US prices against other country salaries doesn't really work. The rest of the world has wildly cheaper prices. For example, I am an American but I live in Vietnam. The average college educated white collar salary is $300/mo.

That amount of money affords you an apartment in the city, food, gas, spending money, etc. Enough to squirrel some money away for big purchases. People here still buy iPhone and gaming computers and Legos, play expensive hobbies like Warhammer and whatever.

While the per month, and per year salary on paper look quite bad, the cost of living, and small quality of life adjustments, is proportionally lower, so it sort of all balances out.

We have to pay shitty CEO salaries and whatever all along the chain, from shipping and logistics, trucking companies, gas companies, internet and whatever, Walmart. That drives up the regional cost quite high in the US, and as a result, 40k is near poverty levels in much of the US where, if you had that amount in Russia or Vietnam, you're basically a millionaire.

There are still people who drive Ferraris and real estate is still in the hundreds of thousands for a small sliver of land here, so there are expensive items even by western standards.

That said, despite them making 24k, you can still extract value selling black market goods and have a very healthy margin. Once that money leaves though, you've extracted some value from the economy, which overall, isn't great for Russia.

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jish_werbles t1_iqrb0pb wrote

These expensive name brand goods are still the same price though but you’re saying that since all the essential goods and services are much cheaper you can save up for the expensive goods at the same rate as someone in America? Just trying to clarify for myself

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TldrDev t1_iqrj8x7 wrote

Yeah, that's correct. Luxury goods are the same price, but basically every other daily expense is pennies on the dollar. It takes a bit more saving to buy an iPhone but it's in reach for someone if they want it.

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kthnxbai123 t1_iquaer1 wrote

Hundreds of thousands is like prime location Hanoi levels and that’s for a pretty good apartment. Compare that to a major a city in the US where you’d be paying millions

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TldrDev t1_iqujsj0 wrote

>Hundreds of thousands is like prime location Hanoi levels

Our apartment in Saigon is a 2 bed 2 bath, and it cost $240k. Our apartment is tiny. Maybe 650 square feet.

We were looking at some land in Ba Ria, and it was 300k for a corner lot in a suburb without a house. The lot would need for 4 trees to be removed and the land leveled before we could even hope to start building.

Land in Saigon is millions. Apartments are affordable. Land in the suburbs is still obscenely expensive.

Its less expensive than the US relative to its equivelent location, but it's ridiculously expensive for Vietnamese. It's still also expensive for an average westerner.

You're not gonna come here on a 40k salary and snap up a bunch of land, I mean.

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