Gmarket FAQ - a compilation of questions

Here's a compilation of questions I've received regarding ordering/processes of Gmarket which I thought would be useful to everyone, so I'm compiling and posting them here!

GACCOUNT

♥ Hi Kris, If possible, could you please explain what the purpose of the mileages are?

Mileage is like bonus points you can collect, and once you reach 10,000 mileage, you can exchange them for Gcash, which you can exchange for cash balance. So 10,000 mileage points can be converted to 10,000won of cash balance (:

[Under Gaccount, click the Mileage>>Gcash button, followed by Gcash>>Cash Balance]

However you can only do the exchanging of mileage in exact denominations of 10,000.

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♥ How do you get to Gmarket VIP status?\

You can get VIP status by accumulating 50 credit points~


When you first sign up you get 5 credit points, and you'll get 1 for every item you purchase from Gmarket. When you become a VIP customer you'll see a crown logo and "VIP Customer" beside your username on the My Gmarket page.


Gmarket is planning to update their VIP program in late Jan 2011, shall update more at (Gmarket Tips #1 - GAccount) when that happens.

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♥ Hey Kris (: I've notice this new label under the GAccount called "bookcash". What is it? Is it like Cash Balance?

Yepp, bookcash is like Cash Balance, but it can only be used to purchase items in the Books/CDs/DVDs category. And like Cash Balance, it can only be used if the amount of Bookcash you have is greater than the full sum of what you are purchasing (ie overseas shipping cost included).

Hence for now it is probably more useful/applicable to people residing in Korea as they do not need to pay overseas shipping cost ^^

Like mileage and Gstamps, the amount of Bookcash to be given with an item is dependent on the seller. Some offer 10% bookcash of cost of item, others 5%, others a flat amount of 2,000won etc. And sometimes there are bonus bookcash like purchase above 40,000won worth of items from the Books/CDs/DVDs category and get extra 2,000won bookcash etc.

Bookcash is valid for 3 years from date of receipt unless otherwise stated. (Some say valid for 1 month or other durations, you can check your bookcash record on Gmarket.)

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♥ I've spent over 50,000won the last month, how come I can't get the Shopping Support rewards?

The condition for "this month" refers to the current month, not the duration of the month that just passed. Say you want to draw the Shopping Support rewards for March. You have to have spent over 50,000won in the current month of March. It doesn't matter if you've spent 700,000won on February 28, the 50,000won has to be spent in MARCH (:

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PAYMENT/CREDIT CARD ISSUES

♥ I can't seem to pay the additional shipping cost :( I don't have enough cash balance, so I tried buying Gcash, but I get a message saying Gcash is no longer available to be purchased. So I tried using VISA. But I keep getting a pop-up saying "The corresponding card number is not verified. Please apply for foreign credit card verification." I didn't even key in any card number, and according to Gmarket VISA and MASTER cards don't require registration. This is frustrating and I want my order to be shipped out soon...

What browser are you using? Gmarket is optimized for IE, anything up to IE8 should work. But I think there might be problems with IE9. This happened to me before too, I was using IE9 and got the same message. But it worked fine with Firefox, when I clicked the same button, instead of that annoying message I went to the page to enter CC details. This is even though I've never been able to pay with Firefox before. I think it's a result of Gmarket's recent system updates, so just try your luck on different browsers!

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♥ I have a certain amount in my Cash Balance, but the cost of my order is just a few cents above. I know it's due to the estimated shipping! :( Is there anyway to change the estimated weight or transfer Cash Balance to my CC?

You could try inquiring to the seller or Gmarket Customer service, to ask them whether they can adjust the weight for you. They usually will if it's within reason.

Alternatively, you could purchase a few dollars worth of Gcash to convert to Cash Balance so that you'll have enough to pay (: However you will be charged a 5% processing fee to convert purchased Gcash to Cash Balance so do take note.

There is a service available to withdraw your Cash Balance to a bank account, but you will be charged USD35 to transfer to a non-Korean bank account, and it'll take 15~20 working days to process, so I guess it's not that worth it...? There's no option to transfer to CC.

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♥ Did you use credit card to pay for it? For a credit card payment, I’ll need to select the option to pay by foreign credit card right? Is it safe and cheaper than Paypal, cos when I Googled, most of the people use Paypal. Since I’ve not made any online purchase using Paypal or credit card before, I just want to be sure of the procedure. ^^

Is the exchange rate cheaper by using credit card as compared to Paypal? Hmm.. for the excess shipping fee, will they credit back to my Gaccount, or will they put into my credit card bank account or Paypal?

I've never used Paypal so can't comment on that, but I would think credit card is pretty safe, at least for my bank there's extra security stuff, after keying in credit card details they'll text you a password to your phone, and you have to key it in to complete the purchase ^^ Gmarket is a legitimate site so you don't have to worry about getting scammed or charged extra ^^

As for cheaper, there are no extra fees or extra charges other than what you check out from Gmarket. (Does Paypal have fees? Cos I always hear of people having to pay Paypal fees when they use it, not sure for Gmarket ^^) Exchange rate depends on your bank, but most banks have better exchange rates than Paypal (:

As for excess shipping fees, they'll credit it back to your Gaccount in the form of Cash Balance, regardless of how you paid for your order. However you can only use your Cash Balance to pay for stuff if the amount in your Cash Balance is greater than the full sum of you're buying (ie no partial payments). But refunds for when your items goes OOS/cancellations by seller will go back to your credit card (if you used credit card to pay) (:

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♥ Every time I try to pay I keep getting an error -344 message saying my order's been cancelled. Why can't I pay?

Most of the time this error is gotten by people who use Firefox, Opera, Chrome as their browsers, and can be easily solved by using IE. Gmarket, like many other Korean websites, are best used with Internet Explorer, so try paying with Internet Explorer. You probably will be able to get your order through (:

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CANCEL/REFUND/RETURN

♥ Hi, I've ordered an item that I no longer want anymore. The status of that item is currently "Domestic on Delivery". Can I cancel it? If yes, does the amount paid get refunded?

Yes you still can, but you should do it asap. It will not be a considered cancel, but a return, which cannot be done anymore once the status reaches "Domestic Delivered". Go to My Gmarket>>Cancel/Exchange>>Apply>>Select your order and item and click "Return".

You will be refunded the cost of the item (to cash balance), but you have to bear the cost of the return/domestic delivery to seller. And you will lose credit points.

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♥ How do I cancel an item? It's been 2 weeks and the seller hasn't shipped it out, I don't want to keep waiting for it anymore, it's holding up my shipment! Do I have to pay extra costs for cancelling? Will they refund it to my CC or GAccount? Thanks!

You can only cancel an item if it has not been shipped out by the seller (ie "On Request"). There is no extra cost for this, you just lose credit points (amount varies with price of item). Go to My Gmarket>>Cancel/Refund>>Apply and select the order/item you want to cancel.

However, once the seller has shipped it out ("Domestic on Delivery") you can only do a return, for which you must bear the return cost to the seller. You will also lose credit points for this.

You will be refunded the item amount to your GAccount in the form of Cash Balance. (: Refunds to Credit Card are only done if it's the seller who cancels the item. (From what I've experienced!) If you yourself cancel the item, the amount will be refunded to Cash Balance.

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♥ My item's GMarket status has been "On Request" for so long, I'm sick of waiting! :[ What do I do to expedite the process or is there any way to find out when the seller will ship it out?

You could try inquiring to the seller (click the "Inquiry" button on the item page, it's below the options, in the minishop/about seller box!). Ask them when they'll ship or if they can send it by some date or whatever you want to ask? A lot of sellers might not understand English so you could either A) write in proper English so that they'll get an accurate translation when they use a translator or B) use a translator yourself and paste the translated chunk there along with the English in case they do understand English.

Since your item's still "On Request" after a long time, probably the seller still has intentions to send it, cos otherwise the Gmarket overseas system automatically cancels for you if they do not hear from the seller for a long time.

If you do not want to wait anymore, you could apply to cancel the item, and the amount will be refunded to cash balance/credit card without extra charges. (I don't know about PayPal, I've only ever used VISA or cash balance to pay for Gmarket ^^)

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OVERSEAS SHIPPING

♥ Hi, I was wondering, does Gmarket help to declare goods at a lesser value? Do we need to "instruct" them them to do so? Cos my country would normally tax for items above a certain value.

From what I've noticed Gmarket would usually list 3~4 items on the declaration sheet, but I never really noticed whether they declared lesser/higher/equal value... They declare in USD.

However if you're worried you could try contacting Gmarket directly via Help>>Contact Us>>Shipping>>Contact Us, they usually reply inquiries really quickly (:

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♥ What's the difference between DPD shipping and EMS shipping? Is it safe?

DPD is usually just a dollar or so cheaper than EMS (to Singapore), so since it's just one buck I'd suggest you just choose EMS because A) EMS is faster, and B) EMS has updated real-time tracking so you'll always know it's whereabouts, ie it can't be "lost". DPD is slower, and takes usually around 5 working days. EMS packages reach my doorstep on average 2 days after Gmarket sends it out. Although DPD has tracking as well, it's not updated very quickly. So if you're like me who need to plan to have someone in the house for when the delivery man comes, only EMS can provide up-to-date timings. (See Gmarket Tips #3 on Tracking). However, if you live in a house where someone's always at home to receive the parcel (maid, parents, siblings etc), then this would not be of concern to you ^^

Also, if it's been a while and you're wondering where your parcel is, for EMS the status is updated quickly so it's easy to track. For DPD, people have complained that even though they've been told by Gmarket/delivery company that the parcel has reached their country, the tracking system has not been updated. So you really won't know where your package is until it reaches your doorstep.

I would say that DPD is quite safe, because delivery in/to Singapore generally can be trusted. Everything will be packed well, no mishandling either. But it all depends on your personal preference (: If you don't mind waiting a few more days and/or if there's always someone at home to receive the parcel, then DPD should be fine.

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MISCELLANEOUS

♥ I've never ordered from Gmarket before, so I wanna know, is Gmarket legit?

Well, Gmarket is a registered company, and it is the leading e-commerce business in South Korea, with over 10million registered users. It was recently acquired by Ebay.

However, unlike Ebay, you do not pay the seller directly, rather you pay to Gmarket, and Gmarket pays the seller. So you most likely will not encounter a scenario of a seller running away with your money as if the seller takes to long to ship the item, Gmarket will cancel the order for you and refund you the money.

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This list will be updated as more questions come in (: I'll try to help if I can, but I have no experience using Paypal so I probably can't help you with questions about that! ♥