Carnations and Artificial Flowers Appear at Less Than Half Price
Nintendo Switch 2 and Character Merchandise Command Premiums
With the arrival of Family Month in May, the secondhand trading market is becoming increasingly active. However, the trading trends for gift items ahead of Children's Day and Parents' Day show a clear distinction. Popular Children's Day gifts are being sold at a "premium" above their original retail prices, while typical Parents' Day gifts are being traded at prices much lower than the market rate.
In particular, as Parents' Day approaches, the secondhand trade of carnations at prices below market value has become especially active. Flower baskets made with ten fresh carnations are sold at retail stores for between 30,000 and 50,000 won, but numerous posts on secondhand trading platforms are offering them for around 15,000 won.
Some flower shop owners post products they have made themselves under the pretext of clearing out inventory, but there are also many posts from consumers openly stating, "Selling for less than I bought it for," making it clear that the items are secondhand.
There are even listings for artificial flowers that were used last year. One seller in Mapo-gu put up a heart-shaped box of artificial flowers purchased last year for 33,500 won, offering it for 10,000 won two days ago.
This trend is also connected to the overall decline in demand for carnations in recent years. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the volume of domestically grown cut carnations traded between April 28 and May 4 last year was 35,528 bunches, a 37% decrease compared to 56,366 bunches a year earlier. Compared to 2022, when 75,937 bunches were traded, the volume has dropped to less than half.
In contrast, popular Children's Day gifts are commanding a premium on secondhand platforms due to their rarity and high demand.
Nintendo's next-generation console, the "Nintendo Switch 2," has already seen its price soar well above the official retail price ahead of Children's Day, even before its official release. While the official price is set at around 680,000 won, there have been multiple cases of people who secured pre-order units reselling them on secondhand platforms at even higher prices.
The "Catch! TinyTing" collaboration uniform released by the KIA Tigers professional baseball team to commemorate Children's Day also experienced a shortage. The online store was overwhelmed to the point of server outages, and at offline stores, lines of people camped out in tents from the night before, wrapping around Champions Field. This uniform, too, is being resold on secondhand platforms at marked-up prices.
Popular character merchandise such as Pokemon cards are also being traded at high prices in the secondhand market. Rare grades like CSR (Character Super Rare) and SAR (Special Art Rare) are fetching prices in the hundreds of thousands of won, driven by collector demand. In fact, SAR-grade cards have been listed for 150,000 won on Danggeun Market.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
