Secondhand marketplace Bunjang revealed Thursday its 2024 trend report on K-pop merchandise for its global platform.

K-pop merchandise is currently the most popular category for Global Bunjang, taking up 69 percent of all transactions on the platform. Global Bunjang began catering to customers overseas through international shipping in July last year.


The most active fandom to trade on Global Bunjang was ARMY, or fans of BTS. The boy band is also the most searched K-pop group on Global Bunjang, following Seventeen, Plave, NCT and IVE, in order, from January to October this year.

ARMY has twice as many transactions as the second most active fandom on the platform, Stray Kids’ STAY.

The most expensive type of K-pop merchandise is photo cards. A photo card of BTS’s Jimin was sold for 3 million won ($2,150) last October, making it the largest transaction on the platform this year. This follows a photo card of girl group Loona that sold for 2 million won and a calendar themed after BTS’s Suga for his solo album “D-DAY” (2023) that sold for 1.5 million won.

The quickest sale was an IU-themed merchandise set, comprised of a badge and key chain, which was sold to fans at the singer’s concert in Berlin. It only took 23 seconds for it to be sold.

Customers in the United States accessed Global Bunjang the most, following Japan, China and Vietnam.

“Global Bunjang achieved a 95 percent increase of monthly active users last October when compared to last January,” Global Bunjang said in a press release. “We are seeing a continuous increase in users who are willing to buy K-pop merchandise. We hope the platform grows globally beyond K-pop merchandise as a hub for K-culture to be widely exchanged.”

Global Bunjang also offers collectible items, such as figurines and special edition cards. The Global K-pop Merch Trend Report 2024 can be found on the platform’s website.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]