Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pkang0202]

Korea's internet shopping environment is rather unique.

There are 3 types of internet shopping "markets".

Open Market: Similar to Amazon or Ebay, it has many different sellers that sell many different products. You can have multiple sellers sell the same item. Here you use the Internet shopping company as a "middle man" between you and the seller.

Examples - GMarket.co.kr, Auction.co.kr, Interpark, 11st.
Currently, GMarket is the #1 online shopping site. Gmarket and Auction are both owned by Ebay. Interpark and 11st are also very good sites to use.


Closed Market: This internet shopping is restricted to 1 seller per item. Meaning, if you are selling Pantene Shampoo then no one else is allowed to sell Pantene Shampoo. This is also the Internet company acting as a middle man between you and the seller, however, the internet company has more control over things like customer service, item listings, etc..

Examples - GSshop, CJ Mall, Etc...



3rd Party Webistes: This is where the store, itself, has an internet shopping site. This is the most common one in the West, but least used in Korea. This type of internet shopping is getting more popular with the LFR (Large Format Retailers) pushing their online sites.

Examples - Homeplus online, Emart online, Dominos Pizza delivery, etc...



If you want to compare prices you can use Price Comparison engines like:
Danawa
Enuri
Naver Shopping
Daum

[Caffeinated]

I've used Gmarket and Interpark but the English interface on the former makes it my default Korean online shopping site.

[12ax7]

Very complete information. I'd like to add a few things to this:

1) 11st is often cheaper than Gmarket (most probably because they have lower listing and service charges for sellers). Always check both if that's how you want to do your purchase.

2) Some items listed at these sites are being sold by large stores and importers. If they don't mention their website in the listing, you can call them to ask for the address. Often, the prices are lower there.

In fact, if you're looking for specialty products that aren't carried by large retailers (and so the retailers who do carry them are likely to have a small number of the items in stock), I strongly recommend you contact the importer. I look at the manufacturer's website and find the importer's phone number. Since they are accustomed to selling small amounts of their products to retailers all the time, some accept to sell me the items at wholesale prices. Others just direct you to an online shop.

3) Check for websites like ticketmonster.co.kr, groupon.kr, etc for great deals on pretty much anything you can think of (tickets, restaurants, clothes, sports equipment,...). For example, we were looking for a snowboarding helmet for our son. We checked one of these sites and it just happened that the exact model we were looking for was available there at 40% off the lowest price we could find through shopping.naver.com. It turns out the seller was the importer.

[Yaya]

I primarily use interpark.com or 11st.co.kr. At the same time, since I like shopping, I try to avoid browing through the sites because it makes me buy stuff I don't need.

I personally prefer interpark.com.