So good, and sold out: Daiso can't keep up with demand for 5,000 won appliances

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So good, and sold out: Daiso can't keep up with demand for 5,000 won appliances

Published: 24 Sep. 2025, 15:22 Updated: 24 Sep. 2025, 16:09

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A Daiso store in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on Sept. 16. [YI WOO-LIM]

Shoppers across Korea are scouring Daiso stores for its new 5,000 won ($3) home appliances — but most are being told the same thing: sold out.

"The 5,000 won vacuum cleaners? They’re already gone. We don’t know when more will come in," a clerk at a Daiso store in Ilsan, Gyeonggi, said on Sept. 16 to a customer who asked for the retailer’s new portable wireless vacuum cleaner.

The response was the same during the JoongAng Ilbo’s visit to five more Daiso branches in Jung and Mapo districts across Seoul. Three days later, on Sept. 19, Daiso’s online mall only displayed a "restock coming soon" notice for the same product, along with a count showing that more than 75,000 people had viewed the item.

Daiso’s 5,000 won small home appliance lineup, launched last month, includes a portable wireless vacuum, hair dryer, hair straightener and electric body shaver. The discount retailer’s latest move into ultracheap appliances has hit the mark, extending a strategy that has already produced hits in beauty and health supplements during an economic slowdown.

How is the 5,000 won price possible? In the past, Daiso kept costs low by working with small Korean firms and cutting distribution margins, with 70 percent of its total sales coming from domestic suppliers. But the four new appliances, like most of its home electronics, are imported as finished products from China.

Industry insiders note that cooperation with domestic firms is difficult in the home appliance sector, as Korean manufacturers have scaled back local production due to labor costs.

Even local small appliance makers tend to either import finished products from China or rely on original equipment manufacturers there.

“Even factoring in shipping, producing in China costs less than half of what it does in Korea,” said a small appliance industry source.

The influx of low-priced Chinese-made gadgets into accessible offline channels like Daiso has raised concerns over safety and quality. While the products carry the KC safety certification mark, this only confirms electromagnetic compatibility — meaning the device won’t interfere with other electronics — and does not cover electrical safety or durability.

Current regulations exclude small appliances using USB power sources, such as C-type fast chargers, from requiring full safety certification. Daiso said after-sales service will not be available, but it will take direct responsibility if consumers are harmed due to product defects.

Small home appliances sold at a Daiso store in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Sept. 16. [YI WOO-LIM]

Domestic small appliance makers are already feeling the squeeze from the rapid growth of Chinese e-commerce platforms. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT’s 2024 Internet Usage Survey, the proportion of Korean online shoppers aged 12 and older who made direct purchases from overseas rose from 15.4 percent in 2021 to 34.3 percent last year, an 18.9 percentage point increase. Researchers attributed the rise to the entry of Amazon, AliExpress and Temu into the Korean market.

“Since launching in 2017, we posted our first loss last year,” said Kim Jang-gu, the CEO of Korean small appliance brand Sothing. “About 85 percent of our sales are online, but the competition from Chinese companies is overwhelming, and offline stores are too few and charge high entry fees.”

“Ultra-low-cost goods are a symptom of deepening consumption polarization,” said Jung Yeon-sung, a business professor at Dankook University. “The small appliance market is likely to be reshaped around Chinese-made products. Over time, low-quality items will be weeded out, but for Korean companies to survive, they will need to differentiate themselves through brand value and innovative products.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY YI WOO-LIM [[email protected]]