#Buying Guide

[ugh-yoongi]

so, you wanna buy merch but you don't wanna give hybe money: a beginner's guide to the resale market

hi, friends! your friendly secondhand buyer/seller here to help anyone who may be participating in the hybe boycotts or just want some help navigating the merch resale markets.

(i am US-based, so hopefully people from other countries can reblog and chime in with where they buy from!)

as a general psa: none of these sites are foolproof. there is always a possibility of getting scammed and/or ripped off. i would recommend having a general baseline knowledge of what certain items are worth and what they look like, especially photocards. you do not want to pay any amount of money for a fake card. it's also helpful to get a general idea of pricing, because member pricing is absolutely a thing as well as listing items for 5x the cost just to see if someone will pay it. additionally, you do not have to and should not feel obligated to spend any amount of money on k-pop, which has a severe issue with overconsumption and is generally terrible for the environment. you are still a fan if you have no merch. you are still a fan if you don't stream. you are still a fan if you're participating in boycotts. i know it's easy to get caught up in the hype of a new merch release for your favorite group and feel like you need to buy it immediately, so this guide is here to show you there are options beyond giving hybe money the second items are announced.

mercari (us) — probably one of the most popular online marketplaces for k-pop merch. very easy to both buy and sell on here. pros: decent to good protections for both buyers and sellers, especially for items that get lost or damaged in transit (however, this depends on which shipping cost/label the seller chooses; free shipping generally comes with no insurance) and lots of options. you can also make offers on prices. cons: fees (these used to be paid for by the seller but are now paid for by the buyer) and sometimes ridiculous listing prices. see psa above.

social media (insta, reddit, facebook, etc.) — i don't buy from these places often, but they're generally popular for a reason. there are a ton of selling hashtags on insta you can look through (usually #membernamewts, #groupnamewts, etc.), and r/kpopforsale is one of the bigger communities on reddit. i do not go on facebook, so if anyone has any trusted recs pls share! pros: generally cheaper because no one has to pay any fees. lots of options. tons of GOs for overseas items to help on shipping costs. cons: check proofs for whoever you buy from! the above psa once again applies. there's no recourse if you get scammed, you're just sol.

overseas proxy sites (japan & korea) — these can seem intimidating at first, so if anyone's interested i can do a separate guide, but they're super easy to use once you get the hang of it. if you want to shop on japanese sites like mercari, rakuten, etc., there are a bunch of proxy sites that will buy and store the items for you then ship to the us: buyee & neokyo are the two i'm most familiar with. you can use delivered korea if you want to buy from a korean site like bunjang. pros: prices are generally cheaper and stuff that's rare in the us (i.e. country-exclusive merch, photocards, etc.) is easier to get your hands on. idk about the other sites, but buyee often has coupons you can apply to listing prices and/or fees. they also used to send out a free shipping coupon for first-time buyers, so hold out for that. cons: fees and shipping costs. because you're using a proxy, you will pay a service fee on top of the item cost (usually a few dollars). additionally, shipping costs are generally much higher and are based on weight and size, so what looks like an $8 photocard becomes $11 with fees and then costs $30 to ship. these sites are best used as part of group orders so shipping costs can be split, if you're ordering enough to justify higher shipping, or if the item price + shipping is still cheaper than you can find it domestically.

how do i get a general idea of price? it seems cliche to say, but just... time and experience. the more you peruse the resale markets, the better of an idea you'll get for what items are worth. if something seems high, it probably is! don't blind-buy the first listing you see, either! keep shopping around for different prices or be patient for a good deal. if you're shopping on mercari, favorite the item — if it isn't selling right away, sellers often send offers or drop the price.

just some general notes: you can truly find almost anything you're looking for out there: photocards, dvds, albums, plush toys, etc. albums are super easy to find secondhand for dirt cheap since most collectors are after the photocards. same with new-ish dvds. you're not gonna find memories of 2016 cheap, but i recently bought mems21 without the photocard for $15.

i have bought and sold a ton on mercari and buyee specifically, so please reach out if you have any questions! <3

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