With the growing number of consumers utilizing secondhand trading platforms like Karrot and Bunjang, associated incidents have risen significantly. Emerging disputes include situations where users are unable to obtain refunds even when they have employed safety features such as secure payment services to avoid fraud, highlighting the need for vigilance.
Based on information regarding “damage relief status related to secondhand trading platforms” provided to Yi Yang-soo, a member of the People Power Party associated with the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee, by the Korea Consumer Agency, there were 175 instances of damage relief applications involving Joonggonara, Karrot, and Bunjang as respondents last year, which is more than double the 82 cases recorded in the previous year.
In comparison to three years ago in 2022 (18 cases), this represents a tenfold rise.
Examining incidents of damage, it is different from the past when issues concerning secondhand sales were typically between individuals, but now conflicts between purchasers and platforms are becoming more common.
In a particular conflict, Individual A bought a laptop priced at 1,800,000 South Korean won via a used goods trading website, terminated the deal by mutual agreement with the seller, and asked for several credit card refunds from the platform but did not get any reply.
Person B, who bought a transformable robot figurine collection set priced at 1,200,000 Korean won through the platform’s secure payment system, was asked by the seller to return the item because the transaction was still being processed. The person returned the product but has not yet been refunded the amount paid.
In the last five years, the count of damage relief requests submitted through each platform was 133 for Bunjang, 125 for Karrot, and 77 for Joonggonara. Karrot saw a significant rise, going from 3 cases in 2021 to 88 in the previous year. Bunjang’s applications also grew from 5 to 57, increasing by more than ten times.
Information gathered by Yi’s office via the National Police Agency indicates that cases of direct transaction fraud rose from approximately 80,000 in 2021 to 120,000 in the previous year. The total losses also increased from 257.4 billion South Korean won to 874.1 billion South Korean won, tripling in amount.
Representative Yi Yang-soo remarked, “Although the secondhand trading market is expanding quickly like a snowball, the protective measures for consumers are largely overlooked. Important consumer protection policies, such as enhancing secure payment systems to stop platforms from avoiding accountability, need to be implemented.”
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