On Valentine’s day, a new report shows that foreign brand chocolates are significantly cheaper when bought directly from sellers abroad instead of at Korean stores. (Image : Pixabay)
SEOUL, Feb.14 (Korea Bizwire) – On Valentine’s day, a new report shows that foreign brand chocolates are significantly cheaper when bought directly from sellers abroad instead of at Korean stores.
The Korea Consumer Agency revealed that if one buys many chocolates within the customs-exempt limit for overseas direct purchases, the total price will be cheaper than buying the chocolates in the domestic market.
The chocolate prices were based on data from online shipping sites, and overseas prices included the average shipping costs.
Since consumers tend to buy many items when making overseas direct purchases due to the shipping costs and delivery period, the prices were compared under the assumption of a purchase of multiple units of a product within the customs-exempt limit.
A Godiva Signature Truffles Collection box (24p), which sells for 98,000 won in Korea, was cheaper even for a single box purchased overseas with the shipping costs included. The truffles box goes for 33 pounds (58,000 won) in England, and even when the shipping costs (24,311 won) are included, the total is around 82,000 won, which is 10,000 won cheaper than the price in the domestic market.
See’s Candy Toffee-Ettes (454g) are sold for 49,000 won locally. However, they only cost $19 (23,129 won) in the U.S. When shipping costs are added, the total comes to around 45,000 won, which is already cheaper than the Korean price. Customers can save even more by purchasing more than one box.
Royce’s Nama Chocolates (20p) are sold for 18,000 won per box in Korea, but can be had for only ¥778 (7830 won) in Japan. If only one box is bought through an overseas direct purchase, the cost goes up as shipping costs (25,584 won) are added. However, if 21 boxes are purchased, which is the most allowed under the customs-exempt limit, the cost will be 232,883 won since the product price is 164,431 won and 68,452 won is added for shipping costs, compared to a local price of 378,000 won for the same quantity of chocolates. Making an overseas purchase turns out to be 150,000 won cheaper.
The Korea Consumer Agency advises consumers to check if the total costs including shipping costs are within the customs limit, and also consider the delivery period.
The agency also recommends that consumers check guidelines on ways to prevent losses when making overseas purchases at the Cross Border Transaction consumer portal site (http://crossborder.kca.go.kr).
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
