Are there any cheaper stores available in the area? I did some research when I came here and had some people tell me about PXmart and Carrefour, but are these really the only ones? I haven’t really been able to find other stores except convenience stores and those definitely aren’t cheaper… The only other store franchise I see nearby me is Mia C’bon and it doesn’t seem to be cheaper either 
but if anyone has experience with it let me know how it is in comparison
right now i’m thinking PXmart is the cheapest in most categories and Carrefour is the second cheapest but carries more stuff, then who knows what else can go on this list (let alone overtake Carrefour or PXmart as cheapest)
thanks in advance
For food?
Traditional market (wet market?)
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Definitely for fruit & veggies & other fresh food, go to the market esp. towards the end of market hours. You’ll find vendors selling the remainder at discounted prices. Morning markets probably sell out before lunch time. Afternoon markets probably close up before dinner time. Most market vendors go home by 6ish unless there is a big night time demand (unusual).
In PXmart, you’ll often find discounted baked goods and near Best Before dated items on sale towards 8pm or later. I don’t know what Carrefour does, though.
Convenience stores often discount meal packs at the end of the day or near Best Before dates, too. Our local Family does this. And I’ve bought sweet potatoes etc, after 9pm and been given a discounted price. I didn’t realize.
There are other market players, like Simple Mart in Taipei, there aren’t many supermarket competitors so PX and Carrefour are everywhere. Only local vendors.
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Thanks, I was hoping to get more of a supermarket because I can usually find denser more or more caloric items in supermarkets, and other than stuff that I would have to cook (or refridgerate), I don’t find that as much in those kinds of markets (I can’t cook and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to put my food on the sorry mistake for a cooking area where I live)
If it’s possible for it to be worth the money though, I’ll definitely start going to them more often, especially if I can find affordable fruit. I’m always deprived of that in Japan… I’ll have to check nanmen market again, just always closes so early.
So I’ve noticed 
Hm, had no idea about that but whenever I go to the one near me the baked goods section with the glass box thingy is always empty or close to it. Maybe people are getting to it before me 
The prices didn’t seem too cheap though so I don’t know…
I think I’ve seen this in Carrefour or something but I haven’t seen this happen in a convenience store yet 
I’ll have to look out for it and see, thanks
I’ll check out a Simple Mart near me in the coming days, thanks. It’s unfortunate to see that there’s essentially a duopoly, maybe even monopoly, on the supermarket industry here…
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Traditional markets are your only cheaper option. Or some auntie or uncle shop selling eggs and garlic and stuff. Simple mart is like a half sized more convenient super market. So its a little more expensive there.
Oh yea there are fruit shops too. They are cheaper than super markets.
Only really the 2 main supermarkets here now. Used to also be wellcome but they were bought out. The shittier carrefors used to be wellcomes. The nicer ones are carrefor originals.
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Then you will almost certainly pay more.
I think it is fair to say that Taiwan’s supermarkets are not an especially good deal especially compared to the traditional markets. For single people, they also suck donkey balls compared to what is available in Japan.
If you really want to get cheaper and insist on supermarkets, how about getting a Costco membership? It’ll require you heading out across the river to Zhonghe (I think) but this may be another option to consider.
Guy
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You think this situation is bad now. Wait until the Uni-President (that is the operators of 7-11 in Taiwan) takeover of Carrefour. 
Guy
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What kind of food are you looking for? You said you don’t want fresh food? Idk if Costco can be an option otherwise you can buy online too. Buying online from Korea is cheaper, coupang do free shipping after certain amount.
You can also go rt mart but its also owns by PX mart, 80% of the supermarket is snacks.
Big Carrefours have more stuff and better price than the normal Carrefours.
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It probably happens more in the suburban stores, not the city center stores. The suburban stores probably stock slightly differently from the city center stores… so the city center stores probably sell out most of their stock every day. This may also be true of the PX Marts.
Sad to say, none of the supermarkets are really comparable to a typical supermarket in the UK or Europe. Own brands are low-quality, import brands are expensive, product ranges are limited, shopping aisles are narrow, queues are long, and few innovative ideas other than pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap (well, as cheap as Taiwan will allow). There isn’t much competition here in groceries in price, service or quality.
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Reading this it occurred to me that the best branch for @uzumakiharuto might be the large Carrefour near Xiaonanmen / Ximen.
Guy
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I would say there is huge competition for fresh products—but not in the supermarkets which as noted above are controlled by basically two players.
Guy
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Yea i agree wirh this. Going to a big carrefour is the most similar experience to going to a supermarket back home.
The ‘local’ sized ones are convinent though. But thry differ in quality from store to store. Usually the newer and bigger the better. Px generally has better fruit than carrefour too.
I’ve never developed a habit of going to wet markets. The smell puts me off. And the filth. If they were cleaner, didnt stink and put the meat in fridges i would use them.
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Please note Nanmen market is a tourist/specialty market, selling some traditional goods. Prices are much higher in most goods. It is not a normal traditional market. Those are called the wet markets or morning markets. Closest in that area would be Guting or Shida markets, maybe Zhengzhong market in downtown Taipei or even Shuiyuan market in Gongguan.
Avoid the touristy only fruit stores. Look for fruit stands or a seller that has both veggies and fruits.
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Some Simple Marts are quite big and also have good discounts for the foods about to expire.
Probably far away from you, but I find RT-Mart more convenient than Carrefour and with a better produce selection.
I find the morning markets schedule a bit inconvenient and not compatible with my work schedule, so I sometimes buy from those 24-hour veggie/fruit stores (like this one) or order from this co-op.
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And don’t forget the joy of having to dodge A-Ma on her scooter as she slowly drives through the market from stand to stand, utterly oblivious that anyone else might want to be shopping there.
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For processed food there are supposed to be places like 五折天 which is basically store selling near expiry stuff at a slight discount. Sometimes it could be significant.
For produce, the traditional market.
Groceries are a bit expensive in Taiwan honestly, at least in proportion to eating out. For not much more you could eat out and not worry about cleaning up.
Zhongzheng district is a bit expensive honestly, try new taipei city or danshui or at least beitou district. At least for housing danshui or other parts of new taipei city is going to be much cheaper.
And for getting around, T Pass.
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Was just coming to post this. For people on a budget, Nanmen should be avoided like the plague. Nothing but extortionate prices.
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So . . . what you’re saying is that cows on a budget really should be grazing elsewhere?
Guy
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Precisely.
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I see, that makes sense then, and I’ll see if I can find any traditional markets near me selling stuff I can store and eat later, so far I’ve only found stuff to cook with and street food that you can’t really bring home and save for later
I’m only here until the end of August so I don’t think it would be worth it, and I also don’t have the means to travel that far, especially frequently (basically only spending money on food right now)
Thank you though 
That would be terrible 
we need to stop them from monopolizing and raising prices further 
so you know the fried breaded fish that’s commonly sold in japan?
Used to get those for 258円 from ライフ (LIFE)
Used to get something similar to this as well, for 301円 from 三徳 (Santoku), the one shown in the image is from LAWSON though
Other than that I’m just overall looking for things that weigh a lot for a low price if that makes sense, things that are dense and have a lot of calories for a low price, as well as sugary things for even more energy (delivers the energy to me fastest)
I’ve mainly just been eating the 7/11 egg and cheese sandwich once or twice a day and sometimes some chips
I’m experimenting every now and then, thoughI go to the big carrefour in xinmending(?) and I’ve gotten a large dense pastry sometimes, and I eat some of it regularly, usually lasts me 3-4 days I’d say, though I can’t say I enjoy them that much… they just seem to have the most energy packed into it for the price (and if I’m eating stuff from carrefour then i pretty much won’t get the egg-cheese sandwich, so it comes out to about the same daily cost of about NT$100-150). I also buy some “nutrition biscuits” which are also very cost effective, but I usually find them at PXmart which does not accept foreign cards, so I have to use my withdrawn NTD on them.
Alright makes sense then, I do live pretty close to the city center, Ningbo W St
I suppose I’ll have to live with it then… UK/Europe isn’t my standard anyway, never been there (in this life at least) so Japan is what I consider the gold standard of quality to price ratio (except fruit ), but I have to accept that this is never going to be Japan even if I occasionally run into a Japanese person
yeah I think that’s the one I go to, it has McDonald’s and some other shops/restaurants on the first floor and Carrefour on the upper floors
Indeed, when I first set foot in it, I felt like I was in walmart again, and hadn’t experienced such a feeling in an extremely long time, with the other countries I’d previously been in mainly featuring smaller shops and mini supermarkets
I see… this seems like it might be a little hard to navigate but I’ll try my best, maybe I’ll take pictures of everything I encounter first and then share with you guys what I find, including the prices, so that I can know I’m getting the best prices
I see, looks like there are at least 3 I could walk to so if I can find them I’ll check them out, RT-Mart is indeed far away though.
And yeah, I’m a person that is typically awake at night, so it’s hard for me to go to any markets or stores that close within a short timeframe.
The store you sent is about a 2 hour walk from me sadly, and all the shops in like a ~2 km radius from here close up pretty quickly except Carrefour
Thanks, found one near the Carrefour I go to, so I might check that out in the coming days and see what it’s like!
I agree, seems to be a common theme with countries that have a large vendor / street food base
but I’ve pretty much only seen meat and stuff being cooked, of course smells very delicious and all, but I don’t eat meat (except fish) so I can’t have any of that. If there’s someone out there making japanese style 白身フライ I’ll become a loyal customer for the rest of the month and the next 
Incredibly far 
and I can’t really afford to spend NT$1200 just for a month of transport… so it’s gotta stay within what I can walk and find without getting lost (since I don’t even have a reliably working phone to navigate anymore, so I have to view the map carefully beforehand)
Good thing I never bought anything from there at least, it did seem quite outrageous at first glance but I was hoping it was just me not knowing the value of NTD properly I guess I’ll only be “window shopping” there
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