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C2C re-commerce platform Global Bunjang brings secondhand K-pop merch to the worldwide masses

Published: 29 Mar. 2025, 07:00 Updated: 29 Mar. 2025, 17:06

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

Fans take pictures of the K-pop goods of girl group NewJeans before a meet and greet event held on June 27 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. [YONHAP]

In a K-pop concert, the audiences don’t clap — they yell at the top of their lungs and wave their lightsticks that glow in sync with thousands of others connected through Bluetooth, all the while wearing shirts and accessories printed with the group’s logo and official colors.

A master never blames his tools, so as the Korean saying goes, but the ultimate K-pop experience isn’t quite the same without the merchandise — or the goods, as they’re known in Korea. Getting your hands on a star’s goods can be a hassle, if not downright impossible, for overseas fans, making online secondhand shops the sanctuary for global K-pop lovers.

For a Korean K-pop fan, ordering online is easy and offline stores are aplenty. However, for a typical overseas K-pop fan, it’s a different story altogether.

Fans can try online shopping malls, the rare offline store, or queuing up for hours to buy the goods offline when a K-pop star holds a tour in the local area, but they shouldn't get their hopes up. Official stores like Weverse Shop or Ktown4u are convenient but sell out quickly. Offline stores are exceedingly few, tours are rare and queuing up may prove futile due to the limited supply of products on sale.

Consumer-to-consumer secondhand markets are the perfect in-between, allowing fans to find goods no longer available in official stores with the obvious advantage that transactions can be made between people living worldwide, not just in nearby neighborhoods.

Global Bunjang service page [GLOBAL BUNJANG]

Bunjang, one of Korea's largest secondhand trading platforms, discovered that niche market and saw an opportunity.

Launched in 2011, Bunjang became the most sought-after secondhand market app for global K-pop fans thanks to its mobile-friendly service suited for the younger generation, as well as the fact that it did not limit transactions depending on the region. Seeing the abundance of K-pop goods traded on the service and the ever-rising popularity of K-pop worldwide, Bunjang established its international service, Global Bunjang, in July 2023.

The idea is simple: Bunjang offers overseas residents the chance to buy K-pop merchandise sold in Korea.

Global Bunjang, available on PC, works with overseas shipment service Delivered Korea to allow purchases from 120 countries worldwide. The goods on Global Bunjang are also displayed on the Delivered Korea website.

Fans line up outside the BTS goods sales booth on Oct. 14, 2022 [JOONGANG ILBO]

Goods can be searched in Korean and English through auto-translation based on large language model technology, allowing foreigners access to various posts without having to translate themselves. The service also has a verification process that pre-inspects all items shipped internationally to verify the quantity, quality and value of the goods traded.

K-pop goods ranging from lightsticks and albums to dolls, key rings and stickers are on offer. Other items, such as the so-called “kidult” figurines, books and dolls, are also available.

In addition to accessibility, Global Bunjang also offers fans affordability. K-pop goods are usually sold at higher prices overseas due to logistics, making secondhand, local prices a much more appealing option.

“I’m an avid Bunjang shopper and it's one of my favorite and least favorite places to shop (least favorite solely because I spend so much money),” wrote a Reddit user.

Pictures of K-pop goods sold on Global Bunjang [GLOBAL BUNJANG]

“Not having to bother with a separate proxy and the peace of mind with international shipping make buying from Bunjang super chill — even if there's a bit of a fee. It's just so convenient and stress-free,” read another comment.

According to Bunjang, its user count rose by 131 percent in a year since its launch in July 2023, while the total value of transactions on Global Bunjang increased by 63 percent last year. The number of transactions also rose by 46 percent in the same year. Around 70 percent of all transactions on Global Bunjang were related to K-pop, according to the platform.

The most popular artist by search in 2024 was — to no one’s surprise — boy band BTS, followed by boy band Seventeen. The No. 3 group comes as a bit of a surprise: virtual boy band Plave. BTS fans also took up the highest percentage of transactions, twice as much as fans of the No. 2 group, Stray Kids, according to Bunjang.

“With the rise of global fans’ interest in K-culture, the demand by consumers for goods that are only available in Korea is also increasing,” Lee Sae-mi, lead of outbound business at Global Bunjang, told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Olympic supporters take selfies with a lightstick made by HYBE on July 27, 2024, in Paris, France. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Olympic supporters take selfies with a lightstick made by HYBE and the Korean national flag Taegukgi on July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. [NEWS1]

“We were able to catch this trend at an early stage as we saw the global demand get higher for stars’ goods such as limited-edition albums, photo cards, concert souvenirs and more, thanks to the continued success of K-pop.”

In addition to Delivered Korea, Bunjang signed a partnership with Japanese secondhand marketplace Mercari in June 2024, allowing Bunjang customers to search and purchase products listed on Mercari, providing international delivery services as well, with the perk reciprocal for shoppers in Japan.

The platform collaborated with a proxy service that allows Bunjang sellers to list their items on eBay through the service and also partnered with Latvian e-commerce company Joom and Japanese proxy shopping service Doorzo. The company aims to keep up the global expansion and lead the international secondhand trading market in the long run.

“The domestic reverse direct purchase market is growing quickly, yet it remains in its early stages compared to the global landscape,” Lee said. “With Chinese e-commerce giants like Temu and AliExpress aggressively expanding their reach, K-commerce — when combined with K-content— stands out as a distinct competitive edge. As Hallyu continues to spread worldwide, Bunjang is positioning itself as a leading re-commerce platform that champions K-culture through strategic global expansion and continuous service innovation.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]