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Ask HN: What is a product you wish was sold in your country but isnt?
Bonus points for non-food answers.
- westmeal 6y agoYaris GR
- dkobia 6y agoI'll second this as a rally fan.
- torstenvl 6y ago1. European-style folders with elastic bands at the open corners (http://www.ldapapeterie.fr/chemise-elast-24x32-cl-5-10e-assorti--gp24681.aspx http://www.ldapapeterie.fr/chemise-elast-24x32-cl-5-10e-asso...) 2. 8oz Rip Its 3. Toyota Hilux 4. Small but rugged SUVs (RAV4 Adventure and maybe Jeep Cherokee are the only things even close in the U.S.) 5. Tim Tams. They haven't been available since COVID.
- somerandomqaguy 6y agoFord just released the new Bronco, and Jeep's got the new Gladiator depending on your definition of 'small'. The Jeep Renegade might count as well. Now sure if they are actually rugged or not, but the marketing certainly paints them that way.
- torstenvl 6y agoGladiator is a truck with a bed. Bronco is large. Renegade is in the right form factor but not particularly rugged. EDIT: I just checked and apparently they DO make a Trailhawk version of the Renegade, so that might fit the bill.
- davidbanham 6y agoThe Gladiator has a bizarrely small payload capacity making it a bit of a white elephant. The new Bronco looks _nice_. It’s built on the Australian developed Ford Ranger platform. The Ranger is so popular here it’s unseating the Hilux as the top selling vehicle. We don’t get the Bronco locally, though. A lot of people would love one. The Toyota FJ Cruiser would also fit your bill but it seems like they stopped selling it in the states.
- poulsbohemian 6y agoWhere are you located? Isn't the Toyota Hilux really just the same thing as the Tacoma?
- culopatin 6y agoNo, the Hilux is available with a 3L turbo Diesel engine that’s much more efficient and torquey than the Tacoma. Also the SW4 Hilux is much nicer overall than the Tacoma IMO.
- chrisma0 6y agoI had to google for "Rip Its". Wikipedia says "Rip It drinks average about 160 mg of caffeine from all sources per 16 oz. serving according to product packaging (purchase date: 2020-11-24)". So about 2 espresso shots worth of caffeine.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- torstenvl 6y agoToo much sugar in 16oz. The 8oz is just right. We had them in Iraq but apparently only the giant size is sold in the U.S.
- meowster 6y agoI've seen "1. European-style folders with elastic bands at the open corners" used once in the US before. Whether or not it was imported by an individual, a store, etc, I have no idea.
- Slix 6y agoSunscreen with Mexoryl (encamsule)
- culopatin 6y agoNot available in the US? I’m out of the country and I could get some what are the benefits?
- 7373737373 6y ago1. Japanese Toilets 2. American Chicken Tenders 3. Danish Chocolate (Pålægschokolade) 4. Japanese Ready-to-go Meals in Stores 5. Netherlandish Shrooms
- viraptor 6y agoJapanese toilet seats as well. There's a distributor for Australia, but they're hilariously expensive given that it's basically a small heater and a water pump with some trivial controller. (Starting at $1.4k ‽)
- themaninthedark 6y agoIf you are in the States, You can probably find a Toto distributor that will sell you a Japanese toilet. https://www.totousa.com/find-a-showroom https://www.totousa.com/find-a-showroom Also probably depending on region but the Costco by me has Toto washlet seat replacements for standard toilets. around $300.
- schoolornot 6y ago1. Sheridan's Coffee Liqueur 2. Vero Mango Lollipops 3. Kanelbullar
- koliber 6y agoIn Poland, I wish I could buy really soft toilet paper, that’s readily available in the United States.
- brtkdotse 6y agoAs an aside, last time I went to Poland (2014 maybe?) I couldn’t find _non_-perfumated anything, everything had a heavy scent to it. Including toilet paper.
- the_only_law 6y agointerestingly, here in the US, toilet paper is often explicitly marked "unscented", but I've never seen scented tp, although, admittedly, I've never purposely searched for it.
- knaq 6y ago1. new rifles with selective fire 2. lawn darts 3. scanners that can receive 824 to 849 MHz and 869 to 894 MHz 4. acetic anhydride 5. phosphorus 6. Moon rocks 7. good pesticides: DDT, diazinon, endosulfan, chlorpyrifos, etc. 8. gasoline cans that work properly (old-style ones)
- banach 6y agoYou forgot to mention lead- and radium beauty creams.
- systemvoltage 6y agoAre you ok?
- giantg2 6y agoLook at Eagle gas cans. They work well. You can also buy the old style spouts for the plastic cans (I guess they just can't sell them with the can). SDRs can recieve in those ranges.
- peterburkimsher 6y agoNew Zealand: 1. Jack Wolfskin Berkeley backpack 2. iFixit repair parts (especially MacBook Pro batteries; fake ones killed 3 logic boards last week) 3. Affordable bicycle lights (white lights cost $20 in NZ, 60€ in France, 100 NTD in Taiwan) 4. Apple laptops with keyboard engravings from other regions (there are many Chinese and Koreans in Auckland, not to mention Russian, Arabic, Thai, Japanese, etc).
- tsjq 6y agoGardening ?
- bobkrusty 6y agoStripe Indonesia
- bmsleight_ 6y ago1. Dutch liquorice 2. French baguette (fresh!)
- systemvoltage 6y agoWe will never buy bread ever again from a shop. Covid lockdowns has taught us to bake fresh baguettes at home that beats every bakery in the world.
- thiht 6y ago> bake fresh baguettes at home that beats every bakery in the world. No it doesn't, unless you have a bread oven and a lot of experience. A good recipe is not enough to make a great bread, let alone "beat every bakery in the world".
- systemvoltage 6y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXV8mayG3W0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXV8mayG3W0 There is absolutely nothing special you need. This is a professional chef teaching how to make bread, its not baguette but you get the point. Also, bread is way better when it is warm out of the oven. This you cannot if you purchase it at the bakery and bring it home.
- retrohomearcade 6y agoWhat recipe do you use? Never could get close to what a typical French baguette tastes like.
- dusted 6y agoAh, non-food... I just listed all the foods.. I wish I could not be restricted by geography, and freely and conveniently browse everything that's on offer from everywhere in the world, and have it delivered for only a small additional fee, in a weeks time or so.
- IAstra 6y ago1. A door that converts into table tennis
- tetris11 6y ago2. A door that doubles as an ironing board
- quickthrower2 6y ago3. A foldable door that doubles as a passageway.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- IAstra 6y agoIndia 1. Dual flush toilets
- akudha 6y agoBetter quality fruits in the US. A single Mango at whole foods costs around $2.50 in my city but has no smell and tastes like cardboard.
- quickthrower2 6y agoIf you live outside the tropics can you expect decent fresh mangos?
- giantg2 6y agoI've never had this problem. The better food stores have good quality fruits (Wegmans, etc). Even the places like Walmart have some decent fresh fruit and have good frozen stuff.
- Dragoman 6y agoMangos shipped from Mexico. Find them at ethnic latino, mexican, thai-laos, chinese or indian stores. Taste varies by season.
- noud 6y agoNetherlands: Proper (Chinese, Indian, Japanese) green tea. The green tea in our supermarket is almost undrinkable.
- Clampower 6y agoYou can get proper green tea at any toko which are plentiful.
- Clampower 6y agoPixel Phones in the Netherlands. Why does Google sell stadia here but not pixels? They could just allow shipping from the German store. I don't understand their strategy of limiting where you can buy a device. It's so incredibly frustrating.
- culopatin 6y agoYou’re not missing out much with the pixels. I’ve been using google phones since the Nexus 4 and everything after that one has had some weird bugs come up sooner or later. In most of them, the camera bugs that come up when you need the camera the most and you miss the moment because you just got a black screen, or “the device is not ready” because the flashlight was on, or slowness after an update, random reboots, etc. I got used to them and figured out the workarounds, but I realized that they were not normal after I convinced my aunt to get a pixel and I had to hear her complaints. I’ve jumped to iPhones and I don’t think I’m looking back. It’s not WOAH at all, it’s still just a phone, but I haven’t had to compromise or get used to any weirdness.
- futhey 6y agoApple M1. I get it, but they're all backordered & ship from Asia right now, so it's like insult to injury..
- miguelrochefort 6y agoCanada, Wyze products
- sleepyxuras91 6y agoOrdered them off American Amazon to the UK. Didn't take that long. Obviously the USB ones as anything with a American plug is a bit pointless here
- ThePhysicist 6y agoJapanese-style microvans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microvan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microvan Here in Germany cars are getting bigger and bigger, almost 50 % of newly registered cars are SUVs that weigh more than 2 tons. They clog up cities like Berlin and take more and more space. They're also completely useless as no one actually needs a 4x4 or extra-elevated car, it's pure marketing and ego stroking. Japanese cities and places like Okinawa use public space so much more efficiently, you see tiny cars and Microvans everywhere. For urban settings they're really the perfect choice of vehicle IMHO, so it's quite sad you can't buy them here.
- an_ko 6y agoI think the main reason those exist in Japan is the special tax category for small vehicles: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_size_class#Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_size_class#Japan In Germany such legislation would probably be opposed by the local automotive industry, who would be behind overseas competitors in this space.
- fomine3 6y agoMicrovan is great but the K-car restriction is too hard. (car manufacturers make effort to build great cars even the restriction) It restricts car width max to 1480mm, it's very hard and not very sense even in Japan. I wish it was expanded to around 1600mm and engine to 1000cc. It should also make it easier to export K-car to overseas.
- nocubicles 6y ago1. Macbooks Airs and Macbook Pro 13's with 16GB's of Ram(You can order them here but not buy on retail) 2. Souvlak's (Greek street food) 3. Firecrackers that have small explosive power(They used to sell them here like 20 years ago) 4. Amazon Prime 5. Electric bikes that go faster then 25km/h 6. More second hand old cheap Japanese pickup trucks
- nicbou 6y agoGermany: 1. Weed, to be honest. I'm not a heavy consumer, but I'd appreciate a safe, reliable source. 2. Old Dutch BBQ chips 3. Cheese curds
- chefkoch 6y ago3. https://www.q-regio.de/1658-Cheese-Curds-Schale.html https://www.q-regio.de/1658-Cheese-Curds-Schale.html
- nicbou 6y agoDon't bring that evil on me. I had poutine with those curds. Now I get why people get uppity about cultural appropriation. It's a pale imitation, and no amount of Canadian flags will nake it authentic.
- m0llusk 6y agoPackaged lifestyles: For a reasonable monthly fee I want a company to handle all the necessities like housing, food, clothing, laundry and other cleaning, vacations and so on. At some level there should be some choice, but my life could become like one big all expenses paid vacation or cruise. Insurance and accounting requirements would be open for my inspection and review but always be default handled up front by someone else who has a budget planned out with my priorities in mind.
- brtkdotse 6y agoEverything you listed is already available if you just strike out “reasonable” in you opening sentence.
- ckdarby 6y agoReasonable is subjective to the amount being earned and the extent of how hands off the service needs to be. This is very much achievable around $700 - $1.5k/month, does not include the cost of food itself and supplies. This is reasonable spending for a household making +$225k if this is the bulk of their "f you" spend kind of budget.
- mewpmewp2 6y agoDefinitely want the same.
- danielscrubs 6y agoMakes sense, nomads would rise again. :)
- codegladiator 6y agoindia self cleaning cat litter box
- openfuture 6y agoDrugs, free (as in freedom) devices, pawpaws ointment, hardware wallets / cryptographic identity tokens.
- paleogizmo 6y agoWestern USA, far from the coasts Asian vegetables. South Asian, southeast, Asian, east asian, whatever. Bitter gourd, drumsticks, curry leaves, kang kong. I really hate broccoli but it's hard to escape. Having a maid. While common for the middle class in SEA, US labor laws preclude this. This would also help the majority of needs for the commenter seeking a pre-packaged lifestyle for sale. Foreign programming. Sometimes I want to watch a shitty cop drama or the news in french without getting the super duper directv package. Public transportation that runs more frequently than every hour, and fare cards for buses. In Singapore, bus 851 has run every 12 minutes between the north and south of the island for the last 20 years at least. Try getting that level of consistency here.
- codingdave 6y ago> Having a maid. While common for the middle class in SEA, US labor laws preclude this. I'm curious what you mean by this - there are certainly maids in the USA, but if you are envisioning something that our labor laws preclude... you probably have something else in mind when you say that?
- paleogizmo 6y agoI'm referring to cost. A maid in Singapore will run on the order of $10-20k per year. Cost depends on standard of living and the maids country of origin, with discounts given if there is an elderly dependent in the household. This is an amount of money well within the ability of US dual income households to afford. I'd go so far as to say that economically it's a no brainer if such an option were available.
- f1b 6y agoYou're considering low-paid workers a product? It's not economically a no brainer to the worker. It also wouldn't be legal to pay someone less based off of their country of origin. You may have immigrated to the wrong country.
- 6y ago
- billfruit 6y ago-Japanese Furikake rice seasonings, also Nori seeweed wraps, Edamame -Seafood is very different in tropical countries from temperate countries.. Temperate fish like cod are not usually available in canned/dried form. -The russian non alcoholic drink "Mors", also birchwater. -Persimmons -Cashew Apples -Exotic citrous like Pomellos -Durians
- giantg2 6y agoThose seem like interesting combinations. Where are you?
- AnimalMuppet 6y agoTraubensaft. It's a non-alcoholic sparkling apple juice that they sell (or sold) in German-speaking Switzerland. In my opinion, it was better than the Martinelli's that you can get in the US.
- ThePhysicist 6y agoYou mean Apfelschorle? "Trauben" means grapes and I think that's probably not what you meant if you're writing about apples.
- AnimalMuppet 6y agoIt's been over 30 years. But yes, come to think of it, I think it was grape. And in reply to tetris11: Yes, there's grape juice everywhere, but not like this. This wasn't Welch's. If this stuff had been alcoholic, I would have been in trouble...
- thatguy0900 6y agoMy advice, find a local winery and see if they sell grape juice. My local wineries sell amazing grape juices that are nothing like welchs in wine bottles in Northern Ohio, I assume they're similar to the kind you're looking for. Edit: just noticed that you wanted sparkling, this may not apply
- giantg2 6y agoOr use a soda stream.
- itronitron 6y agoThe alcoholic version of this in Europe is Federweisser (or Sturm in Austria) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federweisser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federweisser https://www.kcblau.com/sturm/ https://www.kcblau.com/sturm/
- tetris11 6y ago
- d33lio 6y ago1) Turkish Kebab / street food like I could find in Melbourne OZ 2) "chips" or "wedges" like I could find in Melbourne OZ 3) Effective (real) chipper-shredders for lawn care. The number of times I've tried to rent one and had to hire someone for $200-300 to turn trees on my property into mulch is beyond frustrating. Heck, even if I needed to get training and take a test for a license I would do it. I think the US took a bit of a harsh stance on these devices for common consumers after it was widely publicized that Saddam Hussein used these devices to turn his political dissidents into "fodder".
- curryst 6y agoI'll second you on 3. I've been trying to find ways to turn Amazon boxes into either something more compostable or something that consumes less space in my recycling bin. I ended up with a paper shredder that will shred cardboard, but it's still a pain in the ass to tear up the boxes. I would kill for something like a mulcher than I can just chuck whole boxes into and let it deal with. I should probably order less stuff online, I know, but the recycling around here sucks. They only pick up recycling every 2 weeks, and the bin is smaller than my trash bin. Despite the fact that I generate a lot more recycleables than I do genuine trash.
- giantg2 6y agoMost places allow you to break the boxes down and put them out in 2'x3' stacks tied with twine.
- rapjr9 6y agoI've also been looking for a decent cardboard shredder that does not require tearing the boxes into smaller pieces and sells for a reasonable price. The only thing I've found is industrial shredders which start at $1500 and go up fast from there. https://www.amazon.com/HSM-Profipack-Single-Layer-Converter/dp/B002V4TOKA https://www.amazon.com/HSM-Profipack-Single-Layer-Converter/... They can't be much more than a motor and some heavy duty shearing cutting disks, but they are really expensive! There seems to be nothing in the price range between office paper shredders (which require tearing cardboard into small pieces) and industrial shredders (which are designed for extensive heavy duty use, much more than a home owner would need.)
- quickthrower2 6y agoWeetabix
- dkobia 6y agoSuzuki Jimny. What an awesome little SUV. Not available in the US.
- mod 6y agoLooks somewhat like the old Samurai. Pretty cool. Someday I hope to have a samurai for a while. There's a fair amount of them out there in my rural area.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- fomine3 6y agoAffordable reverse-osmosis water purifier like sold in the US. In Japan, it's around x4-x10 expensive (maybe due to lower demand thanks to water supply). I want to import the purifier with pump, but it seems that it's hard to find a product that supports 100V/50Hz power.
- dpeck 6y agoBuckfast, I really like it and so far I’ve found nothing quite the same in the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckfast_Tonic_Wine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckfast_Tonic_Wine
- cpach 6y agoEero (wifi mesh system). Sudafed.
- YaBa 6y agoBladeRF, it's a SDR and Nuand won't sell it to Europe.
- Havoc 6y agoMelatonin in the UK
- junon 6y agoCheetos. They're banned in Europe :(
- howerkraft 6y agoYou're not searching enough. I found Cheetos in two local stores in Europe.
- anotheryou 6y agoGood, cheap, takeway food. I imagine that e.g. vietnam has it, germany doesn't. edit: sorry, food...
- agent008t 6y agoJapanese vending machines everywhere selling hot beverages in winter, including hot soups.
- Jugurtha 6y agoStarLink. Algiers, Algeria.
- rapjr9 6y agoTiny EV cars that cost under $10,000.
- motyar 6y agoCovid-19 vaccine. ( India )
- antfarm 6y agoIn Europe: Japanese Fender guitars and basses.
- AlexHerbert 6y agoLong List lol
- bvcvbuiy 6y agoI have been learning Japanese for a while and I am at a level good enough to consume native content. You don't realize how hard it is to buy (mostly digital) Japanese content online. I believe it is due to 20th century pre internet zoning regulations. On several occasions I spent a lot of time trying to buy some stuff legally but it was so hard or impossible that I ended up consuming pirated content. Google apps store does not allow you to buy an app in Japanese from the UK, Amazon.jp requires a different account than amazon.co.uk (which is not the case for amazon.com), Netflix does not provide Japanese subtitles for animes, same for steam, some games are in many languages but not Japanese.
- diweirich 6y agoClassic rock from outside the US and UK. Really hard to buy music from bands that were popular in their countries but not in the US.