K-Poppin' - My Top 3 Online Shopping Sites for K-POP

Hey there everyone~!
It has definitely been a while since I last made a post. I've recently been immersing myself into studying as well as spending the weekends with my family so it's not easy to get a little me-time.

Anyhow~ I am going to write about a certain topic that I have quite a bit of an experience with and it has also been a while since I did something regarding to the topic which is;

SHOPPING K-POP GOODIES ONLINE

Now, I know that many other K-Pop fans around the world may have a whole lot more experience than I do on this topic but it is something that I enjoy doing and feel happy as well as satisfied about despite being super broke afterwards. (Oh the joys of a broke K-Pop fan~) I'll elaborate on this particular point later and now I will just explain on what ordering K-Pop stuff internationally is all about.

As a K-Pop fan there may be times that we wish to directly support our idols and groups buying their official goodies such as albums, light sticks, photobooks and many more or maybe we just have a sudden urge to at least own something that was officially released by the idols and their companies. However, the majority of K-Pop fans nowadays resides in locations hundreds and thousands of miles away from Korea and be honest...it may feel a little sucky at times, right? 

But now, thanks to the high-tech world and the Internet, we are given the chance to buy the albums and goodies via sites or merchants online that will deliver the stuff directly to your doorstep~! As cool as this sounds, there may be a little twinge of uncertainty that may rise and trust me, I've had my days of dilemma and concerns as well.

What if I'll be cheated and won't ever get my stuff? What if they are scammers and would steal the money from the credit card? 

Yes, thoughts such as these will run through my head over and over again for several months before I made my first order ever. Since I am a high school student and would be using my mom's credit card, I wouldn't want my mom to be scammed and have her money taken out of her account. It scared me and I did not trust the Internet all that well.

However, I decided to go onto blogs and made several online friends who had bought many albums and goodies online. I tried to find the right sources and have feedbacks on my questions to quench my worries. To my relief, I received many positive feedbacks about a few sites that do licensed online shopping service for K-Pop and other Asian-related stuff (DVDs, collectible items, clothing, etc). I did some research and surveys and decided to use a website called YesAsia.

That was my first experience with online shopping service and I managed to buy the SHINee Sherlock Mini-Album with a poster delivered in a tube. It arrived safely in the mail in good condition and I spazzed all night long about it...haha!

So here are my Top 3 Online Sites to shop for K-Pop!

1. YESASIA.COM 

I used YesAsia's service the most and I dare say that I am a regular customer there for my albums...teehehehehee~ Now, be warned that it is a little more pricey compared to other sites that I have used due to their expensive shipping fees. 

- Standard Shipping (around $8 - $10 depending on the item) takes around a week to a maximum of 2 weeks to reach its destination.

- Express Shipping (around $16 - $20 depending on the item) takes around 2 to a maximum of 6 days to reach its destination.

The albums' pricing are actually lower compared to the price once available at my local music stores since they pretty much take out the shipping payments for the albums to get to their headquarters from Korea. Due to the fact that they pretty much gave a discount for the actual stuff, I really think that it is understandable to why their shipping fees can get pretty expensive. 

HOWEVER!

The Express Shipping does not lie when it stated about how fast its delivery would be. A YouTuber I subscribed to have mentioned in one of his videos that he received his package just ONE DAY after he placed his order. I too have received my items around 2 days after the actual release date by placing my order with the Express Shipping. Like, WHOOT WHOOT!

Their Standard Shipping service is also amazing. I never received my packages later than 2 weeks and it always arrived around the 4th to the 10th day after the release date (since I usually pre-order my items).

There is also a service in which they offer FREE Shipping if you order items that total up to a price above $25 where the service is basically like Standard Shipping but it is EFFIN' FREE! Also, there was one experience I had in which I ordered 2 albums which cost me above $25 and I placed the order with the FREE Shipping and by a sort of magical delivery fairy...I received my package in LESS THAN TWO DAYS. That is really amazing in my opinion and I am so so happy on how well they run the delivery service for their customers. 

I've only had one problem so far with YesAsia and that as during the holiday seasons when my order was unconfirmed for a whole week and after sending an email, I received an apology as well as a full refund a few hours later. I am actually very impressed with their system and began trusting YesAsia a lot more since. Therefore, I recommend to any unsure fans to try YesAsia's service on your first time. Yes, it is pricey but they are trustworthy. Just follow the steps to place an order and you will be hugging your own K-Pop stuff soon too~ ^_^

2. KPOPTOWN

A site I've used around two to three times and this is also a great place to order your K-Pop items. They have a lot more of unofficial goodies like hats, badges, T-Shirts and collectibles than YesAsia for almost every idol group, Korean cosmetics, fashion and beauty items, jewelry and even FOOD (yes, they have it!) and also have good quality delivery service. My only concern was that I found 2 bloggers that had complained about KPOPTOWN's delivery being slow (takes up about a month) however this has never happened to me, fortunately. 

The shipping pricing are a little bit more pricey in comparison with YesAsia BUT, KPOPTOWN allows the customer to be able to have many different options with their order as well as many tracking methods for the order.They provide more options if you have a poster (in a tube or folded) as well as selection of albums if there are different versions. There are also 3 Shipping methods and two will provide tracking codes for the order. KPOPTOWN is also -in my opinion- very friendly as they would give you freebies if available for the specific item. I received a few unofficial photocards when I placed an order for SHINee's Why So Serious: The Misconceptions of Me album and I just felt all warm and fuzzy when I got it~~ X'D

I refrain from using KPOPTOWN since the Shipping methods with tracking codes are a lot more expensive than YesAsia and that I am able to use YesAsia's tracking code pretty well already. However, the variety of options given by KPOPTOWN makes the orders a lot more specific and you will be provided with many information about your order. I definitely would use KPOPTOWN to buy actual Korean items instead of K-Pop related things due to its wide range of items on sale and I do recommend it as it is still trustworthy by my opinion.

3. AllKpoper

I have not used this site but I know a friend of mine who uses this site to get many unofficial goodies of her favourite group. AllKpoper offers the same Shipping qualities as the two above though I do not have much experience to elaborate about it.

I have found, however, that this site has A LOT of unofficial items on sale such as beanies, hoodies, pillows, backpacks, smartphone cases and many more that are well customized to the idol groups. I would really like to use this site one day to haul all the unofficial stuff I could afford~ Hehehe...

My friend has been using this site regularly for her own personal K-Pop shopping sprees and she recommends this site for those interested in goodies and fashion relating to your favourite idol groups than actual official items. As how she mentioned, it is heaven for those who would want to strut out on the streets with a hat, bag, shirt and accessories that carries your favourite group's name proudly as a fan~

So here are the 3 recommended sites by me. I remind you that these sites are based on my personal experience as well as information I received directly from the site or through close friends and other bloggers. There are still plenty of sellers on other websites such as eBay or Amazon if you live in the States. As a girl living in the South-East of Asia, these are the trusty websites I would use. At the end of the day, it is up to you to make the choice.

I am always questioned to why I would skip lunch meals to save up for these things despite being thin and frighteningly light in weight. My only answer is that I feel extremely happy and satisfied whenever I place an order and receive my package later on. I feel happy that I will be able to help my favourite group by directly buying their albums as well as the people working hard in these services that are able to bring K-Pop a lot closer to fans globally. In a personal matter, I also feel proud to see shelves neatly stacked with the albums I purchased and I feel more accomplished as a fan.

However, I do not support this activity to the point of addiction where it may be detrimental. I still feel that the clicks we do to go on YouTube and watch their Music Videos, commenting and giving supportive messages to the idols are already very significant. I have quite the number of SHINee albums to the point where I'm only missing one or two to complete my current collection. Despite so, I did not reach that number overnight. It took me two years and a lot of effort to save up and buy the albums instead of other things that I had wanted. As a collector and a fan, I am proud to be making the effort and I am always happy to help other fans who would want to try to buy albums as well.

I hope this post is not too excruciating to read~ If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will reply with an answer as soon as possible! Until my next post, stay healthy and always do things to make yourself happy~

Ciao~!

DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT GET PAID OR SPONSORED FOR THIS POST BY THE WEBSITES THAT I HAVE MENTIONED ABOVE! THIS IS JUST A PERSONAL OPINION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR ANYONE READING THIS WHO IS LOOKING FOR INFORMATION.