Good quality vs price brands?

Taiwan Where Can I Find...?
1

Hello, my stuff is wearing out quickly (i attribute it to the hot humid weather and a top loading washer). I am window shopping and find the brands i am used to (canadian/american) are more expensive than if i bought them in canada.
Im looking for stuff which is good quality while reasonable in price. For example, from my research i found uniqlo to have quality clothes. I bought shorts for 390nt so ill find out soon if they are good or not.
I bought atta sandles from poya for 235 nt which are really comfortable.
Suggestions for any products are welcome, as i foresee more of my stuff wearing out over the next months.
Iā€™m looking forā€¦

  1. Childrenā€™s toys 2 and 4 year old
  2. Menā€™s sport and dress shoes
  3. Womens sport shoes
  4. Washer (probably front loading)
  5. Shoes for 2 and 4 year old
    6.womens Face cream
  6. Womens uv face cream
  7. Uv umbrella

Please advise if i should have posted each item individually
Thanks in advance!

2

Iā€™m going to assume youā€™re in Taipei and have my response geared towards Taipei locations and stores, but next time donā€™t forget to add the city youā€™re in. Taiwan is more than Taipei!

Secondly, thereā€™s some things that you pay a premium here for convenience. A lot of name brand things are going to have a nice hefty price tag on there and sometimes, you canā€™t do a price comparison to Canada or the US. Just think of it as, youā€™re paying extra for the convenience of having itā€¦right now.

I personally stick to the name brands such as Gap, H&M and Uniqlo. They have a multinational corporation quality assurance and control behind them. Iā€™ve yet to have any major issues with the clothes Iā€™ve bought from them.

1 - Search FB for second hand childrenā€™s toys groups. Some parents just want to get rid of things and you can get good prices for them. Kids will outgrow them so, no point in buying something too nice! Let me know if you prefer brand new, I know a few stores.

2/3 - Sport? As in running? Cross training? Golf? Badminton? You can head over to the Neihu area near Costco, thereā€™s a building with Nike, Adidas and Puma outlet stores. Usually a good 30-40% off store prices. Dress shoes really depends on what your budget is. If yours or the husbandā€™s feet are foreigner sized, youā€™re better off buying them from home since itā€™s tough finding sizes above 11US or 43-44EU.

4 - I have never owned a front loading washer, but I have been using a Japanese name brand one for awhile and as long as you clean it with the right cleaning detergents, it shouldnā€™t really die on you. Hermana @Icon can elaborate on this, she knows the ins and outs.

If itā€™s a no name brand, I suggest you buy a new one. You can take a gamble and buy second hand from the FB group, ā€œTaipei Buy,Sell,Tradeā€ some of those being sold are from expats that have been here for a very short time and thus, the units are barely used.

5 - Shoes for 2 and 4 year old, I would definitely buy from the night market or from Canada. No point in buying anything name brand here since theyā€™ll just grow out of them in half a year.

6/7 - I canā€™t really comment on this, but I assume thereā€™s a lot of different kinds of face cream. I wouldnā€™t go any farther than the first floor of some department stores or some of those Korean make up shops in the Sogo area (if youā€™re in Taipei)

8 - If youā€™re in Taipei, the underground malls of Taipei Main Station, Zhongshan, and also the East Metro Mall (underground mall under Sogo) all have stores that only sell umbrellas. They should range in and around 200-600NT depending on the size you want.

3

One word: Costco

For appliances: http://www.elifemall.com.tw/allnewweb/index.php?linkfrom=

Mine: http://www.elifemall.com.tw/newweb/lg/index.php
Though I am terrified of the little ones getting in the front loader.
BTW, we do not use hot water here.

I recommend you use Japanese brand detergent or the local softer one -the one for hand washing. The local detergent is way too strong, as well as US brands.

Uniqlo is OK. I usually buy ā€œsample exportsā€ at certain outlets or local markets -many international brands are nmade in taiwan, many samples fall off the truck and are sold here at ridiculous prices, like 100 ntd tops. I also buy lots of clothes at local markets, cheap and good quality and the fabric is more suitable. For example, the special fabrics that take sweat away from the skin.

UV umbrella? Best umbrella brand is Rainstory, look for its stores in Q Square or Misukoshi Departrment store.

UV face cream I recommend La Roche-Posay tinted with BB action. BB is necessary in this humidity. Body Anessa from Japan.

Children stuff I think you can trade with other parents. Can anyone help here? My children have fur.

4

Thanks for your speedy reply, Iā€™m in kiaosiung.
As for sports shoes, im looking for basketball shoes for my husband.

5

Ok, thanks for clarifying. In that case, not sure if thereā€™s any outlet stores for Nike/Adidas in Kaohsiung, but you can try Momentum or Harlem shoes. They are usually located at night markets or busy shopping areas.

As for brand, I would stick to Nike/Adidas unless your husband has a preference for Under Armour or some other brand.

The store is a chain, so thereā€™s a brand behind it, donā€™t have to worry about buying fakes. Iā€™ve bought running shoes from them and havenā€™t had any issues.

6

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Address of the store in Kaohsiung

Arenā€™t there outlets in E-Da?

7

Thanks for the address, ill check it out.
There are outlets in eda but i was more curious about brands, for example are la new, aso, scona, walking zone and hawkins good shoe brands? Is abc mart good (for shoes).
Im used to reading reviews for everything but now i cant find reviews of these brands in English

8

Scona is awesome. Like walking on butter.

I personally do not like La New or the rest. ABC dunno.

I try to buy good reliable shoes at outlets or sports stores. Teva, Rockport, Keen, Timberland and keds survive Taiwanā€™s weather fine.

9

A good place for kids stuff is the core pacific mall,.check it out.

10

Thanks so much! I have been weary of night market clothes since my shorts ripped when i was in public but i gotta say i bought socks 5 years ago and wore them daily and they are in real good shape (they have a drawing of a dead person on the bottom of the sock plus 小äŗŗ, i dont know the brand though). My husband bought an airwalk shoulder bag that is good quality for the price we paid.
Where would i find local clothing shops that have good quality clothes in kaosiung?

11

I say traditional day time wet markets. Not night market.

Lemme ask some Kaohsiung pals for reference.

12

You might want to try:
http://www.lativ.com.tw
They are very good clothes @ a very fair price. Delivery in Taipei is often less than one day.

13

Thanks! The prices are very good on lative. Do they have a physical store? Are returns free?

14

Hereā€™s an updateā€¦ i bought a raincoat from lativ, it is super light and only 390nt. The quality, cut and color is great. Shipping was free if you buy 588 nt or more, returns are free within 2 days.

Uniqlo has good quality for price. Sales can be very good (and crazy! Expect lineups om a weekend).

I just discovered net. Cheap prices, i just bought 2 shirts for 399nt so ill see how they hold up.

I think these 3 stores will satisfy my taiwanese clothing needs.

15

I do not fit in lativ, I do not fit in Uniqlo, and Net mmm styles are nice but in the past my experience was not that good.

I preferred Bossini and G2000ā€¦ when I could find my size.

Once again, seriously: Costco clothing is not bad at all, Especially kidsā€™ stuff.

16

OP is in Kaohsiung :wink:

I know youā€™ve already updated on your purchases above, but ASOS and La New, are Taiwanese brand leather shoes and are just as expensive as a mid-level western brand that mostly sells leather shoes. I would only buy from them if they were having a major sale.

ABC Martā€™s brands are all name brand, but come at a pretty premium price. You canā€™t go wrong buying anything in that store, but expect to pay more than in Canada.

Overall, if youā€™ve heard of the brand from home, no matter footwear or apparel, itā€™s a pretty safe purchase, youā€™re just paying a premium price for it. Of course, thereā€™s the risk of running into fakes, but all you have to do is look at the store and price of the item you want to purchase. If youā€™re at the night market and youā€™re buying a pair of Adidas Ultra Boosts for 900NT, you know itā€™s 110% fake. Those shoes retail for nothing less than 4000NT.

17

I loved Costco when i was in canada, but here i dont drive, and my house gets infested with ants so easily everything perishable needs to be in the fridge. (Ants got into my baking soda ans sealed packages of cereal)
I also find the deals arenā€™t as good, maybe because a lot are foreign brands? Their cheese is much cheaper than Carrefour though.
I may get a membership if their washers are less expensive , but good to know their clothes are of good quality

18

They have front loader washing machines. Costco is a must for cleaning stuff and non perishables. Another good one is PX Mart. But for foreign stuff -cheese, canned goods, books, clothes- definetively Costco. But not all is foreign stuff, a lot is locally produced/adjusted. that is why I like to visit Costo abroad. Great deals and cool stuff.

Oh, and triple ply toilet paper from Costco is a must.

I got me abunch of Lock n Lock containers. My problem is over eager pets, not ants, but anyways stuff is sealed good.

19

I noticed that I was accumulating worn out looking clothes, despite continually buying new clothes. Itā€™s like stuff doesnā€™t survive first contact with the machine. Then you are walking around looking faded and ragged in the clothes you bought last week. I was tempted to attribute it to the top loading but I have recently become convinced that its the quality of the clothes. The small number of expensive brand item stuff that I have survives the top loading fine. Everything else is like instant clothes bank candidate.

20

  1. Buy Japanese clothes - while expensive, the markup is typically less than that of American and European brands.

  2. Carhartt WIP, while expensive, is not hugely expensive for some of their more basic items. Some items are ridiculous, though.

  3. While Uniqlo is fast fashion, their products tend to be well enough made. I donā€™t know anything about H&M, so I canā€™t comment.