Buying K-Pop Merch: 5 Things I Learned

I’ve been a K-pop fan for at least seven years (and I’ve been a casual listener for even longer), but it’s only in the last few years when I’ve started spending money on official and unofficial K-pop merch. Here are just some of the things I realized (aside from happiness) when I started growing my collection.

An expensive hobby, especially as a multi-stan. 

It started with one…or four. The first official K-pop merch I actually bought weren’t even albums by idols. I bought four—yes, four—CDs of a ballad singer I liked, Sung Si-kyung, on a trip to Seoul in 2016. The following year, I asked a friend to buy Bigbang’s MADE concert tour DVD for me. And then, I stopped. I thought that as a fan of more than one artist, if I continued doing this, I might end up bankrupt. Plus, I didn’t even have a CD player—not that I would risk scratching the CDs by actually playing them. Besides, the music was readily available on Spotify and YouTube. 

Fast-forward to six years later, that initial collection of four CDs and one concert DVD slowly grew to include albums from several more of my favorite groups—Super Junior, EXO, VIXX, and Epik High (my playlist is a mixed bag of music genres lol). I’ve also since added several light sticks, unofficial merch, and magazines to my small collection. As a multi-stan, I knew I couldn’t possibly buy everything that my favorites released. So to keep myself from going into debt, I had to be very strategic with the items I wanted to buy—official light sticks, as well as full group albums and solo work by my biases are on top of my priority list. 

Joy in the waiting and unboxing your purchases.

I didn’t understand what the fuss was about albums, magazines, and light sticks—I got my fill of K-pop by listening to my faves’ music and watching their variety show/drama appearances. That is, until I started ordering merch myself.  

I’ve always found myself looking forward to new releases (music or other content), but the anticipation and eventual happiness in receiving the actual albums and merch gives off a completely different kind of thrill. After unboxing, I find myself flipping through the photobook pages multiple times as I listen to the songs off the album. And the high doesn’t fade even after a few days; I regularly still take out the albums and look at them to cheer myself up. 

Waiting for my purchases to be delivered at my doorstep is also part of the experience. The fear of not making the pre-order cut off, the anxiety over shipping delays—they only add to the joy upon finally seeing and holding the merch. 

Effort into creating albums is admirable

Albums nowadays are more than just CDs in plastic cases; they now come with beautiful photo books, posters, stickers, and the much-sought-after photo cards. The quality isn’t something to joke about, either. I’ve come to appreciate how albums have different concepts, which show beautifully in the music and the album inclusions. 

One of my recent favorites is Super Junior Kyuhyun’s latest album, Love Story. This mini-album is a compilation of the singer’s ballad releases under his Project: Season series in 2021-2022. The album I purchased was in a story/photo book format, with tons of pretty pictures of Super Junior’s maknae. Even the dust jacket is nice. I’m pretty sure this slim volume won’t look out of place on my bookshelf.

Inside the album, one can see that the story has a couple of chapters. In between the pages of text are photos of Kyuhyun and illustrations of the two characters in the Project: Season MVs. I assume that the narrations tell the story of the two characters, and I’m looking forward to reading that once my Korean language skills improve.  

Fan-made merch, a connection to the fan community 

As an introvert, I’m not really one to participate in fan events. Nor was I much interested in chiming in on conversations in stan Twitter. So to make myself feel like I’m part of the fan community, I buy (and use) fan-made merch! There are tons of talented fans who have created beautiful pieces that allow other fans to show their love for their favorite groups. When I started buying merch, I found myself browsing for fan-made stuff—and even bought a few pieces that I use on the daily!  

Collecting merch brings genuine joy

In my early days as a K-pop fan, I’d been happy with streaming my favorite soloists and groups’ MVs on YouTube and playing the songs on loop in Spotify. I don’t think having a collection of albums or other merch has anything to do with being a true fan—and I don’t judge those who click on the checkout button as soon as their ults drop their latest release—but I personally used to think collecting merch isn’t for me. 

That is, until the lockdowns hit and I found myself ordering albums on Ktown4u. And when I received my purchases, I realized just how much looking at the photo books and light sticks brightened up my days.

Today, I have a very modest collection of albums, light sticks, and merch. What I have might not fill up an entire room (it won’t even fill a whole shelf), but the ones I have right now spark joy—and that’s what makes my tiny haul special for me.

Featured Image: Official K-pop merch bought by the writer. Credit: Paula Abiog