The global fascination with K-pop and Korean culture is now spreading into online resale platforms as international fans increasingly seek a wider array of goods associated with the Korean Wave, or Hallyu.
Bunjang Global, a Korean commerce platform catering to international customers, saw a whopping 260% on-year surge in monthly active users, surpassing one million in August.
This marked the first time the platform’s monthly user count has crossed the one million milestone, the company said on Sunday.
Transaction volume on the recommerce platform skyrocketed 333%, with the number of transactions jumping 345% compared to the same period last year.
Recommerce, short for reverse commerce, refers to the buying and selling of pre-owned products.
In August, the total number of Bunjang Global’s users quadrupled to 18,000 compared to the previous month. In the first half of this year, the platform recorded purchases from foreign users across about 60 countries.
Delivered Korea, a Korean e-commerce platform for international users, reported that used goods accounted for 40% of all transactions in the first half. It boasts 1 million monthly active users.
Carousell, the largest resale platform in Southeast Asia, has launched a dedicated a K-Wave category featuring over 1,000 Korean goods, including K-pop albums, photo cards of popular idols and other merchandise tied to Korean culture and entertainment.
Vinted, Europe’s largest retail platform for secondhand goods, has introduced a section titled “The Korean Fashion.” Skincare, fashion and makeups are among the most frequently searched Korea-related keywords on the site.
“People around the world are now interested in all things related to Korea,” said Lee Shin-ae, chairman of the Korea Used Goods Export Association.
“As long as proper support measures in place, Korean recommerce can be developed into a major export industry.”
MarkNtel Advisors, a research firm, forecast the global re-commerce market to grow at an annualized rate of 6.25% on average to $289.8 billion by 2030, compared to $201.4 billion in 2024.
“Not only in Korea, but across the globe, the MZ generation is accustomed to buying goods, reselling them as secondhand and using that money to purchase new items,” Yoo Byungjoon, a professor at the College of Business Administration at Seoul National University.
“The recommerce market will see explosive growth,” he added.
MZers is a term used to collectively refer to millennials born in the 1980s and Generation Z, who were born between the late 1990s and early 2000s.
To sustain the momentum for Korean commerce platforms for used goods, experts said tax reforms are essential.
Under the current tax framework in South Korea, exporters of secondhand products face double taxation, deterring larger companies from entering the recommerce market.
They are unable to claim tax deductions on the items they purchase from individuals. When exporting them, they are also required to pay value-added tax.
By comparison, Europe exempts exports of used goods from value-added taxes, while Japan waives consumption tax on secondhand exports.
By Claire Lee
claire@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.
