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K-pop light stick sales surge ahead of BTS comeback

Published: 18 Mar. 2026, 12:46

An installation resembling a giant ARMY Bomb light stick stands inside the Kintex building in Goyang, Gyeonggi, during the 2025 BTS Festa In-person Event on June 13, 2025. [DANIELA GONZALEZ PEREZ]

With BTS’s comeback on the horizon, the group’s official light sticks are flying off the shelves of online secondhand marketplaces, leaving fans scrambling and supply shortages in their wake.

The top BTS-related search terms in March included “BTS light stick,” “BTS concert” and “BTS tickets,” according to secondhand marketplace Bunjang on Wednesday, indicating that demand for both concert attendance and merchandise purchases rose at the same time.

Online searches for light sticks in general jumped 438 percent in March from the previous month and 1,764 percent from the same month last year, and the total value of light-stick transactions rose 136 percent from February. On domestic secondhand marketplaces, some light sticks were sold within 30 minutes of being listed.

Prices for BTS’s official light stick, commonly known as the ARMY Bomb, have also soared. Although its official retail price on Weverse Shop is 49,000 won ($33), recent transactions on Bunjang and the limited-edition products trading platform Kream have taken place in the 100,000 won to 200,000 won range. On Kream, some were sold for as much as 300,000 won.

Demand is also growing overseas, with transactions involving BTS light sticks appearing on Mercari, a Japanese secondhand marketplace.

BTS's official ARMY Bomb light stick with a purple "norigae," a traditional Korean ornament [SHIN HA-NEE]

The increase in trading volume has been even steeper. Light-stick transaction volume from March 10 to Monday rose about 513 percent from the previous week, according to Kream.

“Ahead of BTS concerts, fans are actively seeking not only tickets but also merchandise such as light sticks,” an industry source said. “The related market is expanding rapidly.”

Some 260,000 people are expected to gather near the venue for BTS’s highly anticipated comeback performance, “BTS The Comeback Live: Arirang,” at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Saturday. The show will be livestreamed globally on Netflix.

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 HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]