Buying and selling secondhand in Korea: where to look, and how not to get scammed
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Furnishing a room here almost always means buying used. The market moves fast, prices
are good, and most trades go fine. The ones that don't follow a small number of patterns
that are easy to recognise once someone has named them.
This page is those patterns, plus the two websites that let you check a stranger before
you send money.
WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY TRADE
Three places carry most of it:
당근 (Karrot) Neighbourhood-based. You see items near you and meet in person.
Requires location verification, so it is tied to where you live.
번개장터 (Bunjang) Nationwide, shipping-oriented, strong for electronics and fashion.
중고나라 The oldest and largest, historically forum-based.
There is also a steady flow of furniture and appliances in expat groups at the end of
each month, when leases turn over and people leave the country. If you are furnishing a
room, that timing matters more than any app.
One practical barrier first: these platforms generally require a Korean phone number in
your own name and identity verification. That is the same wall described in the phone
guide on this site, and it is worth clearing before you need it.
THE ONE RULE THAT PREVENTS MOST LOSSES
Meet in person and pay when you have the item in your hands.
Almost every scam requires you to send money to someone you will never meet. Remove that
step and the whole category disappears. 당근 is built around this, which is part of why
it is the easiest place to start.
When you do meet:
- Daytime, public place. Subway station exits and convenience stores are the norm here
and nobody finds it odd to suggest one.
- Actually test the thing. Plug it in, turn it on, check the screen, open the zip.
A seller with nothing to hide expects this.
- Pay after testing, not before.
WHEN YOU MUST SEND MONEY FIRST
Sometimes the item is in another city and shipping is the only option. Then:
**Use the platform's protected payment.** Each major platform has one — an escrow-style
service that holds your money until the item arrives. The fee is small and it is the
entire difference between a dispute and a loss. A seller who insists on a direct bank
transfer "because the fee is wasteful" is telling you something.
**Check the person before you pay.** Two free tools, both worth doing:
더치트 (TheCheat): https://thecheat.co.kr
Search a bank account number or phone number against a database of reported fraud.
If it comes back with reports, stop there.
사이버캅 (Cyber Cop)
The Korean National Police app does the same check. Same idea, official source.
It takes thirty seconds and it is the single highest-value habit in this whole page.
**Warning signs that have cost people money:**
- Price far below everything else for the same item
- Pressure to decide now, or "someone else is coming"
- Refusing a video call or refusing to send a photo with today's date written on paper
- Wanting to move the conversation off the platform immediately
- A bank account in a different name than the seller's
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN SCAMMED
Speed matters. Reporting within about a day gives the best chance of the account being
frozen before the money moves on.
1. Screenshot everything — the listing, the chat, the transfer record. Do it before
the seller deletes the account.
2. Report to the police. The cyber crime report system takes online reports:
https://ecrm.police.go.kr
In an urgent situation, or if you are unsure, call 112.
3. Tell your bank. Ask about their procedure for suspected fraud transfers.
4. Register it on 더치트 so the next person gets a warning.
You do not need perfect Korean for any of this. 112 has interpretation, and many
district offices have foreign resident support with interpreters.
Being scammed is not a sign you were careless. This is a large and organised problem —
reported losses in Korea run into the hundreds of billions of won a year.
SELLING: A FEW THINGS THAT SAVE ARGUMENTS
- Photograph actual condition, including the scratches. Hiding them is what turns a
sale into a dispute.
- Say plainly what is wrong with it. "Battery lasts about half a day" sells faster
than silence does.
- Agree the meeting place and time in the chat, in writing.
- For shipping, keep the receipt and the tracking number until the buyer confirms.
When you leave Korea, remember that unwanted furniture is somebody else's first room.
Giving it away in a local group is often faster than selling it.
WHERE TO CHECK
Fraud history lookup: https://thecheat.co.kr
Cyber crime reporting: https://ecrm.police.go.kr
Police (emergency): 112
Government services portal: https://www.gov.kr
Plain-language legal guide (Korean): https://easylaw.go.kr
Written by the Go Korea team, accurate to the best of our knowledge as of September 2026.
Platform policies and fees change — check the current terms in the app before relying on
them. This is general information, not legal advice.
If you were scammed and went through the reporting process, please reply and tell us how
it actually went. Almost nobody writes about that part afterwards, and the next person is
searching for exactly that.