Dreams of Laur

** Updated: June 20, 2020 **

When I first got into K-pop I really wanted to buy albums, but I had no idea where to start looking. They certainly didn’t sell them at any HMV or Best Buy. I was very confused where to start and did some research, but unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of information about a good place to buy albums. If you were lucky you could find a couple things on Amazon, but they were often overpriced and never the speciality items like “Season’s Greetings” or concert DVDs.

Over the years, I have collected my go-to places to buy albums and merchandise (merch). If you are as confused as I was, don’t know were to start and need some information, you have come to the right place. All of the options I list here are 100% authentic and offer different benefits. They also count toward the Hanteo Family and Gaon Chart, which help artists on music charts and awards. This review is done from the perspective of a Canadian fan. Let’s get started!

Ktown4u

Ktown4u is a large shop located in South Korea. They have an extensive online shop and it’s great. I really love that I can pre-order my albums here so I never have to worry about remembering to order the day they come out. If you pre-order, your package will be shipped out the day the item is released. If I am pre-ordering, I usually get it from this shop.

I have ordered from here many times and my albums have never come damaged, the odd time a corner of a large package was dented, but nothing to cause concern. The boxes the items are shipped in are pretty sturdy and all the items inside are well bubble wrapped.

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Ktown4u offers a lot of shipping options. There are some cheaper ones, but they offer no tracking and are non-refundable if your package is lost. I always use EMS shipping because it costs the same as some options that take longer, is insured, and usually arrives within 5 business days for me. Super quick!

This shop offers free posters with the albums, until sold out, either folded or in a tube. If you pick a tube you will be charged for the tube itself, but your posters will come unwrinkled. They will also ship a bigger package so the tube of posters can fit along with your albums. If you pick the folded option it states it is free and they are. However, I have noticed that my shipping costs will go up a dollar or so even if I pick the free poster option.

Their customer service is alright. As an international fan it can be difficult trying to communicate any questions I have. That being said, I haven’t ever had any issues with the shop where I required extensive customer service.

Ktown4u has a loyalty program were each item in their shop is given a “mileage” value. You collect mileage points that can be put toward future purchases to get a bit of a discount. One mileage point is equal to 1KRW. The amount of mileage you gain from any one item will be displayed in the product information for that item.
One downside for me is that all items are listed in US dollars, which can get a little frustrating from a Canadian perspective due to the currency conversion.

Types of items I have purchased from Ktown4u: albums, concert DVDs, summer packages, photobooks, season greetings, various merch.

Overall, I definitely recommend Ktown4u. I order from here all the time and am a happy customer.

Catchopcd

Catchopcd is another one of my go-to shops and probably my favourite; it is also an online shop located in South Korea. The only con is that they do not offer pre-orders so you just have to wait until the item comes out. Their albums do not come with posters and they also do not sell season’s greetings or any type of merch. They do offer albums, concert DVDs, and summer packages.

Despite that, I really love this shop and they have amazing customer service. If I want to get a certain version of an album and it is only listed as “random” version, I just mention in the comments of the order which version I want and that is the one I get. On one occasion they did not have the version I wanted in stock and promptly emailed me to let me know. They offered to cancel my order until the version came in, but I decided just to get the other one just because it was a limited-edition album from a couple years ago so there was little chance that it would even come back in stock.

Catchopcd ships your order extremely fast and it also arrives really fast, usually in 3 to 4 business days for me. The box is really sturdy and I have never seen so much bubble wrap and foam stars in my life. Needless to say, your albums are going to arrive in perfect condition.

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Catchopcd also has a membership program that allows you to get discounts off of your purchase. It does not run on a point system like many of sites, but gives you a percentage off your purchase depending on how much you have spent overall in their shop. The more you purchase, the more you level up and are offered better discounts.

Again, the one downside for me is that all items are listed in US dollars. #canadianproblems

Types of items I have purchased from Catchopcd: albums, concert DVDs.

Despite not being able to pre-order from this site I really love it and highly recommend it. They do not get as much traffic as some of the bigger shops like Ktown4u, so you might be able to find discontinued special edition items.

Kpoptown

I have only ordered from Kpoptown once so far and this has been my experience.

Kpoptown is an online shop located in South Korea and offers more merch than the other two shops I have listed above. It is really great (and dangerous for my wallet) because there are many items that I have a hard time getting, either because they are not available in my country or will not ship to my country through official Korean shops. That being said, these items are 100% official.

I do not purchase albums or special edition items, such as season’s greetings or concert DVDs, from this site because their shipping is crazy expensive! This is mostly a concern when you order heavier items.

My first purchase from Kpoptown was a pajama set so it wasn’t heavy at all by shipping standards and it was worth it for me. The item came in a padded envelope (or a puffalope) and was undamaged. My order shipped out pretty fast and arrived within a couple of weeks.

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I haven’t put Kpoptown’s membership program to the test yet, but when you make a purchase it will give you a credit amount back to put towards another purchase. For example, if you make an $80 purchase you may get a credit of $2 to use on a future purchase.

What I do like about this site is that I can switch the currency to Canadian dollars and pay in Canadian dollars as well. They have the most currency options that I have seen on online shops.

Types of items I have purchased from Kpoptown: merch

Overall, I think Kpoptown has an extensive selection of merch. I do think that their shipping is over priced so I would definitely do price checking before making any purchases.

Weverse Shop (formally BigHit Shop)

Edit (June 2020)

As of right now if you’re looking for the offical BigHit shop it was recently moved to the Weverse Shop app. This now acts as the offical shop for BTS, TXT, Seventeen, and GFriend.

December 18, 2018

I used to buy exclusive BTS concert and muster merch, from the BTS Official Shop, but as of the summer of 2018 they have moved to the BigHit Shop.

As of now, I have only purchased my ARMY Bomb Lightstick from this new shop. I had no problem with my order once it was purchased, but ordering it, oh man, that was a different story. Even though they have “pre-order” periods, pre-orders can sell out. You either have to wait until they open up more pre-orders or you are out of luck.

I do not have any recent pictures of orders from this shop, but once I get my season’s greetings in, I will add pictures of how the items are packaged and the condition they arrive in. (Even as I type this, all their season’s greetings pre-orders have been sold out. However, it is still available on other sites.)

Another slightly inconvenient observation I have about this shop is that despite being able to switch the site language to English, there is a lot of language that does not get translated. #internationalfanstruggles

The BigHit Shop also has a membership program that is point system based, which you can learn about here. Again, a certain amount of points will allow you to get discounts on your purchases. What is interesting is that all BTS albums come with a QR Code card to scan for points that can be applied to the BigHit Shop, whether you have purchased the album from this shop or another. For example, if you purchase a new BTS album on Ktown4u you can redeem extra points at the BigHit Shop once you scan the code in the album. Just a fun fact.

Types of items I have purchased from the BigHit Shop: merch (from the old site), lightstick, season’s greetings.

MWave (Signed CDs)

Looking for signed albums from an offical source? Look no futher than the offical MWave shop.

Here you will find a selection of signed albums for sale. These albums will only be available for a limited time and only at the beginning of an artist’s or group’s comeback. After the sale period ends, your album will be signed by the artist and shipped to you.

International shipping is available.

Sarah & Tom / Just You – Sarah & Tom

If you happen to find yourself in Toronto, there is a shop you can visit that sell albums and other K-pop related goodies.

They have two locations:

• Sarah & Tom located at 686 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4Y 2A6
• Just You – Sarah & Tom located at 624 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6G 1K7

The prices seem a little high, but they are accounting for the shipping costs so it works out about the same as ordering items online.

Ebay

I have ordered from various shops on Ebay for specific albums and have had no issues. I would always make sure to read shop reviews and policies before making a purchase. There are also many shops that will list overpriced items so watch out for that too. Always do your research!

I hope this review has helped you in your K-pop travels. If you have any questions about these shops or ordering albums, feel free to ask me in the comments. Happy shopping!

Love,

Lauren

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of these shops nor have I been asked or compensated to provide this review.