Korean baggage vendors see demand from weak Japanese yen

2023. 7. 7. 11:42
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Japanese department stores are full of South Korean merchants, also known as baggage vendors who buy tax-free goods in Japan to sell them back in South Korea, as they are rushing to get fashion items and luxury watches at cheaper prices amid a record weaker value of the Japanese yen.

According to multiple sources from the tourism industry on Thursday, the merchants travel by air for shopping, unlike when they used to travel by ship, such as ferries, to minimize the expenses. That has been attributed to a plunge in the prices of flights between South Korea and Japan as the current weak yen led to explosive growth in travel to Japan.

The vendors are said to have used low-cost carriers (LCC), particularly Jeju Air Co., which offers a bunch of cash-back benefits.

JeJu Air outnumbered the country‘s two largest airlines, Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., in passengers making a trip to Japan in the first quarter of this year. According to the data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 1.74 million passengers used the local LCC to Japan during the first quarter of this year. The number is more than Korean Air Lines with 1,055,260, and Asiana Airlines with 1,085,637.

“Though it’s unknown that the increase was attributed to the vendors, we have seen a surge in VIP passengers who have earned enormous cash-back points on frequent round trips,” said an unnamed official from Jeju Air. “It’s a similar trend observed eight years ago when the yen plummeted.”

The items the merchants look for have changed. In the previous weak yen period of 2015, baggage traders used to buy electronic devices and maniac items with small demand. However, today’s merchants are showing interest in luxury goods and liquor.

Their favorite fashion brands are Comme des Garçons and Maison Kitsune. The brands are at least 1.5 times cheaper in Japan than in South Korea. Considering the weak yen, the profit margin for the vendors approaches around 50 percent. In addition, the vendors benefit from an additional 15 percent of discounts, such as guest cards and tax-free discounts.

Global luxury watch Rolex is one of the preferred brands among the vendors. They mostly look for used Rolex watches by sharing information on reliable second-hand shops, such as Komehyo and Brandoff.Co in the Dotonbori area. Then the vendors bring the products in by agents called couriers without being caught at customs.

Whiskey is also popular among the vendors, as South Korea and Japan have different tax codes on liquor. While South Korea uses the price as the standard, Japan uses the volume. In the current weaker value of the yen, vendors can buy liquor at a discount of up to 100,000 won ($76.25).

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