Koreans Find Overseas Bargains a Click Away

Shoppers get better prices online, bypassing local department stores

Workers in the shipping department at the Amazon Logistics Center in Pforzheim, Germany, in December 2012Photograph by Jan-Philipp Strobel/Corbis

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By Cynthia Kim

May 19, 2014 at 7:31 PM UTC

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This article is part of the May 19, 2014 issue of businessweek.

When Lim Ji-han, an office worker in Seoul, decided to buy a television last year, he ordered it from Amazon.com. The Samsung model he wanted was available at a department store, but buying it locally would have cost at least $600 more than the $1,243 he ended up spending. “Why should I pay more for the same, or a very similar, product?” he asks.

Lim is what South Koreans call a jicgoojok, a buyer who is challenging local merchants by shopping from overseas online retailers. “Word is spreading online fast that products can be bought much cheaper abroad,” says Gene Park, a retail analyst at Woori Investment & Securities. The savings from shopping online more than make up for international shipping fees, added import duties, and long delivery times, he says.