The greatest pleasure of sightseeing in Korea is shopping. There are cosmetics stores, department stores, duty-free shops and other shopping places everywhere. You can buy everything from cheap local products to high-end brands in Korea. You don't have to waste time thinking about where to buy things during a time-limited trip. Grasp the characteristics of each store and region, and enjoy the shopping paradise of Korea more efficiently!

Discount season

Generally, shopping malls and department stores in Seoul have discount seasons twice a year, usually from June to August in summer and from 165438+ 10 to 65438+February in winter, and there will be substantial discount activities. Duty-free shops will offer special promotions to China tourists during the National Day or China New Year holidays. Nandamen and Dongdamen markets have a big promotion of 1 every year in early July and mid-June. Basically, it is 7-8 fold, while out-of-season goods are given a large discount of more than 50%. Of course, shopping in the off-season will be more favorable.

Refund of tax

South Korea has two tax refund series, one is "global blue tax exemption" and the other is "global tax exemption". In South Korea, major brand stores, department stores, large supermarkets, gift shops and other tax refund franchisees can apply for tax refund. As the last step of shopping abroad, make full use of South Korea's tax refund system to make your trip more perfect in the final stage!

Step 1: Shopping in a tax refund franchise store.

If you consider tax refund, please confirm whether the store is a tax refund franchise store before shopping. In South Korea, all places with the sign of "Global Blue Union Tax Exemption" or "Global Tax Exemption" are tax-refundable shops. The minimum refundable purchase amount is 30,000 won. After purchasing goods, you should show your passport to the clerk and ask for tax refund documents. Please keep the tax refund documents and shopping receipts issued by each store before leaving the country.

Step 2-1: Get the tax refund at the airport before leaving the country.

Due to the crowded airport environment, it is best for tourists who intend to apply for tax refund at the exit airport to plan their itinerary and leave enough time for tax refund after arriving at the airport.

Incheon International Airport Tax Refund

Take the suitcase that needs to be checked to the tax refund counter (located in the center of the third floor of the terminal building, near gate 28), and give the documents that need to be refunded to the staff. The staff will stamp the list one by one and look at your tax refund items (usually scanning several times and going through the process, generally not counting one by one). Finally, as a precaution, please make sure that every document you want to refund is stamped. Then you put all these tax refund items back in the suitcase and drag them to the large cargo consignment counter next to you. Please make sure that the luggage has passed the X-ray inspection before leaving.

If you board the plane with tax refund items, then after the documents are stamped one by one, take the tax refund baby and receipt to enter the next security and exit inspection procedures.

The tax refund counter is located in the center of the third floor of the terminal, near gate 28. There are two tax refund counters: duty-free Korea and global blue duty-free Which tax refund system did you shop in before? You should choose the corresponding tax refund counter. You give all the documents to be returned to the staff, and the staff will refund the money to you after calculating the total amount. You can choose to refund US dollars, Japanese yen or Korean won. If you don't take the initiative to speak, the staff will choose won by default, so if you need currency, please explain it in advance.

Tax refund at Jinpu International Airport

After arriving at Gimpo Airport, take the elevator to the 3rd floor, and the tax refund counter is next to the 1 boarding gate. Handling tax refund at Gimpo Airport is slightly different from that at Incheon Airport. There is no large consignment counter next to the tax refund counter at Gimpo Airport. In order to save trouble, you can give the documents required for tax refund to the counter staff, who will check your tax refund items slightly and then stamp each document you want to refund. The tax refund procedure at Incheon Airport is very different. The tax refund staff at Gimpo Airport will ask you to fill in the credit card number, stamp it and sign it on the back of the tax refund form, and then put the tax refund form into the tax refund mailbox, and the tax refund process will be over. You can't get cash at Gimpo Airport, and the tax refund will be sent to your credit card within one to two weeks. Then you put all the tax refund items that need to be checked back in the suitcase, and then go to the airline counter to get the boarding pass and check the luggage.

Step 2-2: Get the tax refund directly in Seoul.

Since the second half of 20 13, six tax refund agencies have been opened in Myeongdong, Dongdaemun and Xincun, the main shopping centers in Seoul, making the tax refund procedures faster and more convenient. In order to cope with the situation that the application for tax refund cannot be completed due to the crowded airport customs or the tight boarding time, it is best to go through the tax refund formalities at the designated window in the city in advance after shopping.

A new way of after-sale tax refund-Alipay tax refund

In the past, there were two common tax refund methods: cash tax refund and credit card tax refund. The cash tax refund procedure is complicated, and the credit card tax refund takes a long time to arrive, so many Korean tourists did not receive the tax refund when shopping in South China. In response to this phenomenon, Alipay launched the overseas shopping tax refund service on 20 13 and 10, which was the first in Korea. Since then, China tourists can use Alipay for tax refund more conveniently when shopping in South Korea.

With Alipay tax refund, consumers only need to spend 1 minute to fill in the mobile phone number, passport number and English name bound to Alipay on the tax refund form, and then submit the tax refund form to the customs for inspection and seal when leaving the country, and deliver it to the designated mailbox at the airport. The amount of tax refund will be received in RMB within 10 working days at the earliest, and consumers will be notified to confirm by SMS, which is much more efficient than the traditional tax refund method.