![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/content-manager\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/familymart_fuku.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\n\r\nFirst off, it turns out the Taiwanese have caught on to the Japanese Fortune Bag<\/a> concept. Even Family Mart sells fukubukuro bags. My guess is the entire exercise is quite profitable… for the merchant. You would think for publicity purposes they might try to ensure a few very lucky winners – like a year long supply of free coffee from Family Mart, for example. But today’s discussion is about price drops and discounts in Taiwan.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In Taiwan, you will see prices quoted as the remaining percentage price. In other words, instead of saying 20% off, you would say “discounted to 80%”. Is that a more intuitive way to quote a percentage drop? Here are some examples:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
For the new year, 7-11 has some delicious new sweet and savory custard buns and pastries, on sale for 88% of normal price. Unfortunately, that’s not 88% off, it’s only 12% off. But they get to quote it as an auspicious 88% sale!<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/content-manager\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/discount_711.jpg\")
Here is another – when you buy one of any combination of lays poppables, choco pie, Fit’s, and some strawberry wafer thing, you can buy a second one for only 60% of the regular price (40% off).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/content-manager\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/choco_pie_discount.jpg\")
\u00a0At this cafe, buy a coffee or latte to go and pay only 80%. You get the idea.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/content-manager\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/coffee_discount.jpg\")
\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Which one is more intuitive to the consumer when it comes to real estate? Would net effective pricing<\/a> be easier for everyday consumers? Instead of “no fee and 1 month free” we would say, “No fee, pay only 11 months of your annual lease.” It also forces the landlord to reveal the duration of the incentive – “pay 12 out of 14 months of your lease” instead of “2 months free rent” without immediately revealing the minimum lease required.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
How about broker rebating? In the case of a flat price cut, such as a renter rebate,<\/a> both languages actually quote the same way. You can only say “$10 off” in both languages. But how about a percentage cut? ZipRealty, now a zombie company of sorts<\/a>, used to quote that you get 0.6% of the agent’s commission back as a rebate. But it would be more transparent to know they are only talking about the you get a commission discounted to 2.4% (instead of the usual 3.0%).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Lastly, the most important discount of all – what was the sales price of a listing relative to the asking price? On sister site RealtyHop<\/a>, we have price discount records<\/a> for thousands of NYC condos and co-ops. That is, what was the listing agent’s initial asking price, were there any price drops along the way, and where did the buyer finally buy?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Even if you aren’t convinced one way or another about which way to quote discounts, hopefully you realize January is a great time of year to find housing. It’s not as great as November<\/a>, but you should see more selection. Why not take the time to browse some “pay 11 months a year” New York City\u00a0apartments<\/a>?<\/p>\r\n