Secondhand safety: Bunjang to protect buyers with transaction system

Secondhand marketplace Bunjang will require transactions to be processed through its "safe transaction" system in a bid to quash scams.

Secondhand marketplace Bunjang will now mandate the use of its “safe transaction” system in all deals made on the platform from Thursday. [BUNJANG]

Secondhand marketplace Bunjang will now mandate the use of its “safe transaction” system in all deals made on the platform from Thursday.

Previously, sellers and users were allowed to pay through bank transfers or with cash outside the platform, increasing vulnerability to various scams.

With Bunjang’s safe transaction system, dubbed Bunjang Pay, a third-party financial institution will temporarily hold the money paid by the buyer before transferring it to the seller. The payment will be remitted once the buyer confirms the completion of the purchase.

“Through the safe transaction system, both sellers and shoppers are able to complete a transaction without worrying about getting scammed or their personal information getting leaked,” The platform said in a recent notice.

There will be no transaction fee applied to users purchasing items on the marketplace, but sellers are required to pay a 3.5 percent transaction fee for all listings, with the fee deducted automatically.

Shoppers will be able to pay through bank transfers, credit cards, payment through the phone and other payment services that will be routed through the safe transaction system.

Bunjang will also impose penalties on sellers avoiding its system, including a 30-day restriction on the platform.

“The adoption of safe transaction on all items [sold on Bunjang] will increase the credibility of secondhand purchases and provide an opportunity to vitalize the secondhand market,” said the company's co-CEO, Choi Jae-wha.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]