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Q: What is the most over-priced import/foreign-style product you've seen in China?
I mean how much it costs here compared to how much it costs back home.
The price of imported potato chips and tortilla chips at foreign catering grocery stores always surprises me. Bag of Doritos for 35-45 RMB? no thanks
i saw a 700 gram box of raisin bran cereal for 70 rmb, havent been home for 3 years, hope to god cereal boxes are not 11 bucks.
cheap taylor red wine from california for 220 rmb that i paid six dollars in america for.
the edwards pecan pie for 60 rmb was worth every joule though.
Fake teachers. They wouldn't get paid for teaching in their home countries.
I have seen Ecco shoes that sell at home for around £55 to £60 here for 2,000rmb, that's about £200
ambivalentmace:
the sad thing is the expensive ecco was probably made in china also.
The thing that you must understand here is related to economies of scale. Take the example given by the OP. In China, the sale of tortilla chips is aimed at a very niche market. Generally speaking, the target group will be the ex pat community. Take up amongst the Chinese would be expected to be very low. Ideally, a company exporting tortilla chips would like to be sending container loads to soak up the cost of shipment. But that may not be possible because there is simply no market. They could be sent to an Asia based distribution hub but then there is an extra layer of distribution costs to factor in. Exporting relatively small quantities is expensive. Whilst in the west, tortilla chips would be a popular off the shelf item in supermarkets.
Think of a reverse example. If a Chinese company wanted to market typical mass produced frozen dumplings (sudong jiaozi) in the west, they would be faced with the same issue. The sales would be expected to be low with the greatest uptake probably Asian ethnic groups and specialist Chinese restaurants. They are a very cheap, out of the supermarket freezer food product in China. But given the shipping costs and various governmental duty and excise, the price would be high in the west and only a very niche market would be interested.
Shining_brow:
Except... there's a much larger Chinese expat community (almost anywhere) around the world, than there is foreign expat community almost anywhere in China...
However - yes!
The craziest prices to my mind are the cognacs and brandies (not sure what the difference is) that sell for 1000 odd yuan. That's more than a month's wages for many people.
I remember a businessman trying to spark up a friendship with me in Shenzhen (he must have thought i'd be useful) and pulling out one of those super expensive bottles. He kept at talking business (God alone knows why) and I kept pushing for a refill. Eventually he cut his losses and realized he'd picked the wrong horse and it was costing him money, which was at about the same time I realized I no longer cared about his brandy, he was about as much fun to be around as a turd in a swimming pool. Good booze though.
diverdude1:
I remember a saying from back when I tended bar...
'all cognac is brandy; but not all brandy is cognac'
that said, I'd say the difference is about $5 a snifter... 
HappyExPat:
An easier explanation would be that all are brandy, but those made in a region of France called Cognac can carry that name. Thje rest must be called brandy.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=6691969842&ali_refid=a3_430008_1006:1...
1980rmb,,, c'mon !!
well, still more affordable than my ex-gf.... 
* ya know I'm just kiddin' darling...
My sole expat indulgence are 'Sour patch kids.' They're small sour candies. I love them.. I mean I can't get through a week without going through one or two packages. In the states I can get a huge bag for $5, here however I have to buy small -child size- bags for 30-50rmb, that is insane! 
I always think it's funny how nice imported Cuban rum costs half as much as crappy old Bacardi. I assume it's cause of either production costs or Chinese vendors just assuming Bacardi is better cause it's a big brand.
Alcohol. Or rather, shit alcohol that's marked up and sold to the stupid Chinese who have absolutely no clue what it is, but buy it because it's expensive and therefore must be good.
