Geoffrey: Valéry is a long-time editor on BonneGueule. Today he talks about his experience of Korean sites and then offers you his method for using these e-commerce sites and saving money. Very useful for small sizes or reduced budgets in general.
Note that this is not a BonneGueule product... but you can still ask Valéry your questions on this page.
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My beginnings with e-shops
Like many men, I like to buy on the internet: it saves me from wasting time in stores and negotiating with sellers.
In addition, I already know my size for certain brands so I am sure not to make a mistake and I can compare at a glance the entire offer available for the same product
But it's not always that simple: some sites are vague about measurements, offer clothes that are too expensive compared to the price in stores or sizes that are too large.
This pushed me to buy Korean a few years ago.
I started with Yesstyle: the products there are inexpensive, well cut and offer a lot of small sizes. In addition, there are tables of measurements in centimeters, which largely limits errors when purchasing.
Why especially Korean sites?
Because it's a bit of a different Japan in terms of fashion: Asian body types are slender and therefore require clothing with an impeccable cut.
If you have a really slim body shape that requires you to aim for high-end brands to find clothes that are fitted enough, then aim for Korean brands.
Please note that a shirt like this is the standard on these sites and will cost you 11 euros, certainly shipping costs not included but you still have room to stock up a little.
We always find original cuts and details that are often unobtainable in France, except in high-end Korean brands like Woo Young Mi.
Some even directly take up the most current trends (be careful, this is obviously not counterfeiting).
After a few months of shopping, I came across another site by chance: Gmarket
I'm a little shocked at first: I discover a big difference in terms of price compared to Yesstyle. And I thought at the time that it was already very good value for money...
So what are we waiting for to rush into it?
These super advantageous prices can be explained by the absence of intermediaries: Gmarket most of the time puts us in direct contact with the factories and workshops themselves.
Thanks to Gmarket, I have been able to order hundreds of products for two and a half years and, thanks to the accumulated experience, offer my services to customers of my old eshop, JamaisVulgaire.
In two and a half years, here are some of the difficulties I encountered and which took me some time to resolve:
The references
The difficulty is to find your way around the product references, because both the colors and the sizes are indicated in Korean.
With a little savvy - and a lot of time - it's possible.
But without a rigorous method for doing so, we are rarely safe from errors and I had unpleasant surprises on my first orders.
Interpreting measurements in centimeters is also crucial.
Two difficulties will face you: on the one hand the identification of the measurements indicated in Korean.
On the other hand, taking your measurements in the right way, it makes sense not to take your measurements in the same way when you want to buy a shirt as when you want to buy a jacket or coat.
I won't teach you anything by telling you that a shirt is worn closer to the body than a coat or a jacket, and that you must therefore compare your measurements to those in the table in a different way depending on the situation.
The plethoric choice
Gmarket is the equivalent of Korean eBay and therefore has an astronomical number of references: ranging from the perfect jacket with the killer detail at 50 euros to the umpteenth counterfeit Lacoste polo shirt.
You will need solid sorting methods and tips to identify hundreds of products that could be right for you in just a few minutes. Otherwise you will waste hours going from fake Armani t-shirts to fake Diesel jeans.
Logistic
Gmarket, in addition to being a website, is a logistics platform that aggregates products from suppliers and then sends them around the world.
This complicated supply chain involves guesswork when calculating shipping costs which can cost you time and money if you are not careful.
Rest assured: correcting them only takes a few minutes once you know precisely where to go in a somewhat complicated interface: either you will get used to it, but it will be laborious, or you can let yourself be guided...
A quick solution to get familiar with Gmarket?
After 3 years of purchases made on Gmarket for my eshop JamaisVulgaire, I suggest you reveal all the tricks of the site through a complete manual which will teach you in 20 minutes how to use it.
I also selected the well-cut basics at the best quality/price ratio that I could distribute on my store, accompanied by advice like I can give on my BonneGueule items.
I therefore invite you to go to my page to find out more:
never vulgar.fr
100% SATISFIED OR REFUNDED
If, despite all the care I have taken in writing these ebooks, they do not bring you complete satisfaction, then I will refund them immediately. Without any proof.
Update of January 16: 7 refund requests out of 609 sales
