"I Don't Want to Go Empty-Handed, but New Gifts Are Too Expensive"... Even Holiday Gifts Enter the Secondhand Market Era

Active Trading on Secondhand Platforms

An office worker, identified as Park (33), will be bringing a tuna gift set purchased through a secondhand transaction to his family home for this Chuseok holiday. This time, he bought it for 35,000 won, which is about 40% cheaper than the regular price of around 60,000 won. Park said, "It doesn't feel right to visit my parents empty-handed, but with prices constantly rising, I've been feeling the burden," adding, "It feels like I made a reasonable purchase by buying a secondhand gift set from someone who didn't need it."

The scene of Chuseok gifts being traded on a secondhand transaction platform ahead of Chuseok. Danggeun

Recently, as high inflation persists, more people are trading Chuseok gifts secondhand.

According to the secondhand trading website Junggonara on October 2, there were about 620 posts containing the keyword "Chuseok gift" registered between September 23 and 30. On another secondhand platform, Danggeun, a post offering a household goods gift set with a regular price of 30,000 won for just 10,000 won-one third of the original price-was quickly marked as "reserved" after being uploaded.

Yoon Jungyeop (29) purchased a Chuseok ham gift set worth about 50,000 won through a secondhand transaction at half the price. He sent it to his parents' home in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, in time for Chuseok. Yoon said, "It seems that someone who didn't need the gift set received from their company sold it cheaply," adding, "I'm satisfied because I was able to reduce my spending even a little."

Some have raised concerns about quality. On one secondhand trading site, there were posts selling refrigerated and frozen food items such as rib sets. In the case of such perishable foods, buyers cannot accurately verify the storage conditions, which could lead to problems. Lee (30) said, "There's no way to check how the seller stored the gift set, so I tend to avoid foods where freshness is important, like meat or fruit."

Kim Siwol, a professor in the Department of Consumer Studies at Konkuk University, explained, "Trading Chuseok gift sets secondhand during times of high inflation should be seen as rational consumption based on individual needs and circumstances," adding, "Because the sincerity or meaning behind a gift can differ from person to person, it's hard to say that trading gifts secondhand is simply a breach of etiquette."