Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

It is the Korea Customs Service "simplified clearance" duty-free threshold. If the taxable value (item price + international shipping) is $150 or below, all customs duty and VAT are waived. If it exceeds $150 by even $1, the entire amount becomes subject to tax — not just the excess. Example: $140 item + $20 shipping = $160 → the full $160 is taxed. This is Rule #1 for Black Friday imports to Korea.

Yes. Electronics, laptops, and tablets are covered by the WTO ITA agreement, so the customs duty rate is 0% — only 10% VAT applies even above $150. A $200 pair of wireless earphones incurs only 10% extra. By contrast, clothing (13%), shoes (13%), and bags (13%) attract customs duty + VAT ≈ 24% effective rate, effectively wiping out half of a Black Friday discount.

No. Health supplements, vitamins, and nutraceuticals are classified as "formal customs clearance" items regardless of value — customs duty 8% + 10% VAT applies even below $150. Exceeding the personal-use allowance (6 bottles or $150 equivalent) can also trigger delays or returns. Compare the total landed cost against domestic alternatives on Coupang or Oliveyoung before large orders.

Small/cheap items (1–2 lb): USPS or Amazon Global (free over $25). Multiple heavier items: Korean forwarding services (Malltail, Baesongeui Minjok) offer the lowest per-lb rate. High-value/urgent: DHL/FedEx delivers in 3–5 days but adds 17–19% fuel surcharges. Bulky items (pillows, duvets) are billed by volumetric weight, which is often much higher than actual weight — calculate before buying.

(1) Prime members get free shipping on orders over $25. (2) Pre-paid duties/VAT option (similar to IOSS) speeds up clearance. (3) Returns are handled directly by Amazon. Downsides: not all products qualify for Global Shipping, and some restricted categories (certain electronics, cosmetics) are excluded. During Black Friday, Amazon Global Shipping is the fastest and most dispute-free option — recommended for first-timers.

If a checkout page offers KRW/USD, always choose USD (local currency). Accepting KRW lets the merchant/payment processor add a 5–8% margin on top of the card's 1.25% fee — pushing the effective rate to 8–9%. On a $200 order that's an extra ₩16,000–18,000. That's half your 40% Black Friday discount gone. The same rule applies with TravelWallet and TravelLog prepaid cards — always pay in USD.

For US USD purchases and ATM withdrawals, both charge 0% — effectively equal. Differences: (1) Network — TravelWallet is Visa, TravelLog is Mastercard. (2) ATM limit — TravelLog US$500/day vs TravelWallet US$500/month. (3) Currency coverage — TravelLog supports 42 currencies, TravelWallet covers major currencies. For Black Friday online shopping alone, both are equivalent; add US travel and TravelLog is the safer choice.

Enter the official sale percentage in the "Discount %" field (e.g. 40%), and any coupon deduction amount in the "Coupon ($)" field — they apply sequentially. Cashback (e.g. Rakuten 5%) is a post-purchase refund, so track it separately outside this tool. Card issuer Black Friday event cashback is also settled after billing and should be calculated separately from the "card fee" figure shown here.

The default is the 2026-04-19 mid-market rate snapshot (1 USD = 1,380 KRW), which you can override in the "Applied Rate" field at the top. The actual charge rate is the mid-market rate on the card clearing date (2–4 business days after purchase), so real charges may differ by ±0.5–1% from the snapshot. For large purchases, verify the current rate on Naver Finance.

(1) Place multiple separate orders from the same store account. (2) Apply different coupons to each order. (3) Have your Korean forwarding address receive each order separately and ship individually. (4) Use your Korean personal customs clearance code (개인통관고유부호) for each shipment. Caution: splitting orders on the same day from the same store may be treated as one combined order by customs — stagger your purchases or spread across different stores. Check your clearance status on Unipass.

Every input change (item price, discount rate, store, carrier, category, card, FX rate, DCC) is auto-saved to the URL in base64 encoding. Click "Copy Share URL" at the top and paste into a KakaoTalk group chat — the recipient instantly sees the same calculation. Perfect for answering "how much will this cost?" with a link.

Yes — use the 한국어 toggle in the top-right corner. The tool is also designed for foreign residents and students in Korea who want to understand the actual landed cost of US Black Friday purchases shipped to Korea.