If you are someone who does group buys or purchases K-pop albums and merch overseas, then you’ll likely have heard of Delivered Korea or the names of other forwarders/personal shopping sites as well. These companies will help you purchase items overseas, repackage them if requested (for a fee) and then ship them to your door. Here’s my year-long experience trying out Delivered Korea.
*This post was originally written in Nov/2024*
Some links included here are affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to sign up or make a purchase. See the disclosure policy here.
I first heard about Delivered Korea through Reddit, when I was looking for a way to purchase some stuff from South Korea. If you’ve tried buying stuff directly from Korea before, you’ll notice some things very quickly. Some sites:
- Do not take Paypal
- Do not take foreign cards (or they don’t work at all)
- Do not ship outside Korea
- Have expensive shipping options
If you know someone in Korea who can help you buy those, then you probably won’t need to use these services. But for anyone else, it’s a good albeit slightly pricier option, especially if what you’re trying to get your hands on isn’t sold through Jolse or Olive Young Global. If you’re looking to get a better deal compared to the global sites, it’s usually just a small percentage shaved off, but you can get some pretty good freebies and gifts with the order sometimes.
The reason why I chose to use DK instead of another site was that it gave you the option to buy it yourself and ship it to the address they provide you (with a suite number so they know it’s yours), or you can have them (DK) buy it for you.
Most of my orders were made through their “We Buy” service, where I submit a form to DK (Delivered Korea) with what I would like to get (including a URL), the colour, size and quantity. There’s a $1 USD handling fee for each “form” submitted, and then the staff at DK will order it and have it shipped to their warehouse.
If you’re just ordering from one site, you can get that forwarded to your home right away after it gets to their warehouse in Busan (I believe you can also set up some sort of auto-forwarding, but I didn’t do that). If you’re ordering from multiple sites, you can request to pack the orders together (consolidate – there’s usually a $1 fee) to save on shipping. And for any fragile items you’re worried about being shipped, you can request their repacking service and add extra bubble wrap and whatnot for a fee.
Of course, if you order a lot, those fees will tend to add up, but that’s a given. Then there’s the shipping to contend with. For the most part, it’s reasonable based on the final weight and size of the package. However, if you order something that has certain restrictions or carrier restrictions, then that will cost more. My second shipment/order had items that were made with essential oils and were considered perfumes, despite not being in a perfume or aerosol can. It also came with a cleanser as a free gift, which was kind of heavy. The only carrier option for this order was FedEx, so the shipping was about $10 more than normal.
That being said, I do recommend going with Delivered Korea if you choose to buy anything online from Korea. However, do keep in mind that this probably isn’t something you can do often, but more of an “occasional” or special occasion thing, due to the costs adding up. Additionally, they charge in USD, so you’ll have to deal with conversion and credit card fees, if applicable.
The Haul
The first item I ordered was this very nice wool bolero from a brand called Common-Unique. This company does have an English website that can ship overseas, but at that time, their shipping was expensive when compared to the item I was getting. I got this in the colour Oatmeal, you can find this item here. I’ve personally worn this item more than a few times since getting it, and I love the quality, it’s thick but soft and also pretty warm. I pair this with tops and dresses with thin straps to keep me warm in the early fall when the night begins to get cooler.
My second item was from BBia, a brand I’ve known since the early days of my blog, when I was mainly shopping on YesStyle. I had been seeing posts across Instagram about BBia’s L’eau tints, and the bottle was so cute! I looked everywhere to buy one, but I couldn’t seem to find it apart from the brand’s Korean website. I’ll talk more about this lip tint in a proper review, but if you’re interested, here is a link to the product page here.
Finally, the last item from this order was from a brand called Alternative Stereo. Alternative Stereo is now being sold at Olive Young Global, however, at the time I made my purchase Olive Young only had their Aqua Glow Tints available. The item I was hoping to get was their new (at the time) Balmy Rose Lip Potions, which hadn’t been added to Olive Young Global yet. I’ll do a full review of the lippies I got from Alternative Stereo because they’re one of my favourites of late, but here is the product page.
*As a side note, if you’re trying to compare the prices of beauty products in their online brand store, use Olive Young Korea’s website prices to compare where you should get them. Don’t use the global site for comparisons because the prices have usually been put through conversion, so it’s not that accurate.
**Additionally, check both Olive Young Korea and the brand’s site(s) for promotions, gift sets or bundles before you order! Sometimes brands will announce launches or sales on their socials too, so consider all of these before you order. I’ve gotten deluxe samples, travel sizes and even a full-sized gift with the order by doing this.
If you’re looking to give Delivered Korea a try, feel free to use my referral link (affiliate)! You should receive $2-3 DK points to use on DK upon signing up. https://service.delivered.co.kr/referrals/signupwith/K1987
