Free guide · 7 min read
Korean for shopping and markets
From department stores to street stalls: asking the price, asking for another colour or size, trying things on, paying, and bringing something back. Plus the one kind of place where bargaining is normal, and the many where it is not.
Prices in Korea are large numbers, so most of the difficulty in shopping is hearing them. 만 (man), ten thousand, is the unit everything is counted in, and once you hear 삼만 오천 원 as 'three ten-thousands and five thousand won' without doing sums, the rest follows. Day 10 of the daily course covers prices and day 38 shopping for clothes.
Browsing
Staff greet you as you walk in:
어서 오세요 (eoseo oseyo) needs no reply; a nod or a smile is enough. 구경 means looking round for pleasure, the same word used for sightseeing, so 구경 좀 할게요 is a friendly way to say you are browsing. In small clothes shops staff may stay close to help, which is service rather than suspicion. Showing a photo on your phone with 이거 있어요? works in any shop and saves a great deal of vocabulary.
Prices
Ask, react, and in a market, ask again:
Bargaining belongs to traditional markets and street stalls, and even there it is gentle. 좀 깎아 주세요 (jom kkakka juseyo) with a smile is more often rewarded with a small reduction or something extra thrown in, called 서비스 'service', than with a big cut. Asking the price for two is the easiest opening. In department stores, chain shops and anywhere with printed price tags, prices are fixed and asking for a discount is odd.
Sizes and trying on
Ask before you take anything to a fitting room:
Korean women's clothes are often sized 44, 55, 66 and 77, and men's tops 90, 95, 100 and 105, alongside S, M and L; the numbers do not match British sizes, so try things on. Many street shops and cheap stalls do not allow trying on at all, especially tops, and some shops hand you a thin face cover to keep make-up off the clothes. 입어 봐도 돼요? combines trying (day 38) with asking permission, and is worth asking before you pick something up.
Paying
Card is normal almost everywhere:
Visitors can reclaim VAT in shops displaying a Tax Free or Tax Refund sign, either on the spot at the till or at the airport, and you will need your passport; the minimum spend and limits change, so check the current figures before you go. Market stalls take cards more and more, but some prefer cash or a bank transfer, marked 계좌이체, and occasionally a cash price is a little lower.
Exchanges and refunds
Bring the receipt and say what is wrong:
Keep the receipt and the tags. Exchanges are usually possible within a week or so, refunds less reliably, and sale items and market goods often cannot be returned at all. A sign reading 교환 환불 불가 means no exchanges or refunds, and it is worth looking for one before you buy. 안 맞아요 'doesn't fit' uses the same 맞다 as 맞아요 'that's right' from day 5.
These phrases get built into real conversation in the daily lessons. The first thirty days need no account, and the Hangul course will have you reading every sign in the guide.