Selling Online in Korea (2026)
Compare Naver Smart Store, Coupang and your own store for selling in Korea, with the mail-order report, display rules, fees and foreign seller documents.
To sell online in Korea you can list on a marketplace such as Naver Smart Store or Coupang, run your own store with a Korean payment gateway, or do both. Marketplaces bring ready-made traffic and payments in exchange for fees and less control; your own store needs a mail-order business report (통신판매업 신고) in most cases, a payment gateway contract and your own marketing. Many sellers start on a marketplace and add their own store once they know what sells.
This guide compares the routes and lists the legal requirements as written in the Korean statute and official help pages. It is not legal or tax advice.
What are the main ways to sell online in Korea?
| Route | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Naver Smart Store | A store page inside Naver, with Naver Pay checkout and exposure through Naver Shopping | Sellers who want to be found in Naver search and shopping |
| Coupang Marketplace | Listings on Coupang; its global seller programme lets overseas businesses ship directly to customers in Korea | Product sellers who want marketplace traffic without setting up in Korea first |
| Your own store | Your domain, your design, checkout through a Korean payment gateway | Brands that need their own customer data, content and pricing control |
| Cross-border store | Your existing global store shipping to Korea | Testing demand before localizing anything |
If the question is whether you need a Korean storefront at all, read do you need a Korean website? first.
These are not exclusive. A common pattern is a marketplace for reach and an own store for brand content, repeat customers and B2B orders.
Marketplace or own store: how do they compare?
| Marketplace (Smart Store, Coupang) | Own store | |
|---|---|---|
| Start-up work | Seller registration and document review | Design, build, payment gateway contract, legal pages |
| Traffic | Comes with the platform's search and shoppers | You bring it: Naver and Google search, ads, social, KakaoTalk |
| Payments | Handled by the platform | Your own PG contract and integration |
| Fees | Platform sales fees and payment fees on each order | PG fees, plus development and hosting |
| Customer data | Limited to what the platform shares | Yours, subject to Korean privacy law |
| Page design and content | Platform templates | Anything you build |
| Pricing and promotions | Within platform rules | Your own rules |
| Legal role | The platform is an intermediary; you are still the seller | You are the seller and the site operator |
The table hides one important point: on a marketplace you are still the seller under Korean law. The platform must tell buyers it is not a party to the sale and must show them your identity information, but obligations such as cancellations and refunds still fall on you.
Can a foreign company sell on Naver Smart Store?
Yes, as an overseas business seller. Naver's Smart Store help centre says overseas businesses register with:
- a copy of the representative's passport,
- a copy of the business registration (for the United States, an IRS document), and
- a copy of a bank account statement in the business's name, opened outside Korea.
Documents not in English must be submitted with a local version and an English translation, and Naver reviews the application within three business days of receiving all documents. Some categories are restricted for sellers based in China and Hong Kong.
On fees, Naver's help centre lists two kinds: a Naver Pay fee and a Naver Shopping sales fee. Since the fee change on 2 June 2025, the standard Smart Store sales fee is 3% including VAT, falling to 1% when the buyer arrived through the seller's own marketing, such as shopping search ads or the seller's own marketing links. The Naver Pay fee depends on the seller's grade, and fees are deducted automatically at settlement.
Can foreigners sell on Coupang?
Yes, through Coupang Marketplace's global seller programme. Coupang's global seller site describes it as a cross-border service in which overseas businesses ship directly to customers in Korea, says there is no sign-up fee and no Korean documents are required, and lists four documents for registration: a business licence, proof of identity, proof of business ownership and a bank statement. Approval takes up to five business days when the documents are complete. Coupang publishes its pricing separately, so check the current fee schedule for your category before you price products.
When goods ship from abroad, Korean buyers deal with customs clearance on their side. The Korea Customs Service issues personal customs clearance codes (개인통관고유부호) through its e-commerce customs portal, and your checkout or marketplace listing should be ready to collect that code if the carrier needs it.
Do I need a mail-order business report to sell online in Korea?
If you sell to Korean consumers from a business in Korea, usually yes. Article 12 of the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce requires mail-order businesses to report their trade name, address, phone number, email, domain name and hosting server location to the Fair Trade Commission or the local city, county or district office.
There is an exemption. The FTC's notice on exemption criteria says a business does not have to report if either:
- it made fewer than 50 mail-order transactions in the previous year (cancellations and withdrawals do not count), or
- it is a simplified taxpayer (간이과세자) under the VAT Act.
The enforcement rule sets out the filing form and the supporting document: a purchase safety service confirmation (구매안전서비스 이용 확인증) or an escrow confirmation, which your payment provider or marketplace issues. After filing, the office issues a report certificate with a number.
How the reporting duty applies to an overseas company selling cross-border without a Korean entity is a question for Korean counsel. Marketplaces handle part of the compliance for their sellers, which is one reason foreign brands often start there.
What must a Korean online store display?
The same Act sets out what customers must be able to see. On your own store:
- Operator information (Article 10). Trade name and representative's name, business address (including where complaints are handled), phone number and email, Korean business registration number, and the store's terms of use. Korean shops usually put this in the footer of every page.
- In advertising and listings (Article 13). Trade name, representative, address, phone, email and the mail-order report number with the name of the office that received it.
- Before purchase (Article 13). Supplier and seller details, product name and details, price and payment method, delivery method and timing, the cancellation and withdrawal terms, exchange, return and refund conditions, complaint handling and the terms of the transaction. After the contract, the buyer gets these terms in writing (electronically is fine) by the time the goods are supplied.
- Withdrawal right (Article 17). Buyers can generally withdraw within 7 days of receiving the contract terms or the goods, whichever is later. If the goods differ from the advertisement or contract, the period is 3 months from delivery or 30 days from when the buyer knew or could have known. There are exceptions, for example when the buyer damaged the goods or used up their value, and the seller carries the burden of proof in disputes.
Add a privacy notice under the Personal Information Protection Act and separate consent boxes for marketing; see the privacy section of our Korean website localization checklist.
Payments and KakaoTalk on your own store
A Korean own store needs Korean payment methods at checkout: domestic cards and easy-pay wallets, through a Korean payment gateway. The PG contract, test keys and settlement terms are where most of the setup time goes, and they depend on whether you have a Korean business registration. We cover the process in Korean payment gateway integration and, for one specific provider, Toss Payments integration. Without a Korean entity, start with does Stripe work in Korea?
After payment, Korean shoppers are used to receiving order and shipping updates in KakaoTalk rather than by email. That is done with AlimTalk templates, explained in KakaoTalk Channel and AlimTalk for business. Kakao or Naver login at checkout reduces sign-up friction; see Kakao and Naver login integration.
Hosted platform or custom store?
| Option | Fits when | Check before choosing |
|---|---|---|
| Korean hosted shop builder | Standard catalogue, standard checkout, small team | Admin language, design limits, data export |
| Global platform you already use | You run one store for several countries | Which Korean PGs and wallets it supports, Korean address and phone formats (is Shopify available in Korea? See Cafe24 vs Shopify) |
| Custom store | B2B ordering, member pricing, complex options, integration with ERP or inventory, or content-heavy brand pages | Development budget, who maintains it, hosting and maintenance contract |
A custom store makes sense when the store has to do something a template cannot: quote-based or B2B ordering, approval steps, integration with your own inventory or ERP, or a brand experience that mixes long content with products. If you only need a catalogue and a cart, a marketplace or a hosted builder will cost less.
For reference, in our price list v1.1 (as of 23 September 2026, KRW, VAT excluded) a commerce module costs KRW 2M to 5M and requires the one-time payment integration module at KRW 0.8M to 1.8M, both added to a site package such as a brand site at KRW 1.8M to 3.5M. Payment gateway fees are charged by the PG and passed through at cost. A custom store is quoted on its requirements, so treat these as ranges, not a price.
Launch checklist for a Korean online store
| # | Item | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choose the route: marketplace, own store or both | Start where your buyers already search |
| 2 | Business registration and, if required, the mail-order report | Check the 50-transaction and simplified-taxpayer exemptions |
| 3 | Payment: platform checkout or a Korean PG contract | Get the purchase safety confirmation for the report |
| 4 | Operator information in the footer and in listings | Article 10 and 13 items, including the report number |
| 5 | Terms of use, refund and withdrawal policy in Korean | Article 17 periods and exceptions |
| 6 | Privacy notice and separate consent boxes | Have counsel review |
| 7 | Korean address search and phone formats at checkout | See the localization checklist |
| 8 | Order notifications via KakaoTalk AlimTalk | Template approval takes time; start early |
| 9 | Naver Search Advisor registration for the own store | See Naver SEO for foreign websites |
| 10 | Customs and delivery for cross-border shipments | Plan for the buyer's personal customs clearance code |
Our experience with online catalogues and stores
Our published commerce-related work includes a B2B digital catalogue for a jewellery company, an online product catalogue for an industrial machinery manufacturer, and Project K, an e-commerce planning and validation project. When a client needs a custom store, we scope the commerce and payment modules separately so the payment gateway contract, which only the seller can sign, runs in parallel with development.
Frequently asked questions
What does Korea use instead of Amazon?
Korean online shopping runs mainly on domestic platforms: Coupang, which tells prospective global sellers it serves over 21 million customers, and Naver's shopping services, including Smart Store. A foreign seller usually reaches Korean buyers through one of these marketplaces, through its own Korean store, or both.
Can foreigners sell on Coupang?
Yes. Coupang Marketplace's global seller programme lets overseas businesses ship directly to customers in Korea. Coupang says there is no sign-up fee and no Korean documents are required, and registration needs a business licence, proof of identity, proof of business ownership and a bank statement.
Can a foreign company open a Naver Smart Store?
Yes, as an overseas business seller. Naver asks for the representative's passport, the business registration (an IRS document for US businesses) and an overseas business bank account statement, and reviews applications within three business days of receiving the documents.
Do I need a mail-order business report (통신판매업 신고)?
Most Korean online sellers do. The FTC exempts businesses with fewer than 50 mail-order transactions in the previous year and simplified taxpayers under the VAT Act. Filing goes to the FTC or the local city, county or district office with a purchase safety service confirmation.
How long do Korean buyers have to cancel an online order?
Generally 7 days from receiving the contract terms or the goods, whichever is later, under Article 17 of the E-Commerce Act. If the goods differ from the advertisement, the period is 3 months from delivery or 30 days from when the buyer knew.
Sources
All checked October 2026.
- Korea Ministry of Government Legislation, Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (Articles 10, 12, 13, 17, 20)
- Korea Ministry of Government Legislation, Enforcement Rule of the E-Commerce Act (Article 8)
- Fair Trade Commission, Notice on mail-order business report exemption criteria
- Naver Smart Store help centre, Documents for overseas business sellers
- Naver Smart Store help centre, Types of fees and Sales fee rates
- Coupang, Coupang Marketplace for global sellers and Seller FAQ
- Korea Customs Service, E-commerce customs portal: personal customs clearance code
Planning a Korean store or adding Korean checkout to an existing one? Send us your requirements, see what we build on the web development in Korea page, or read the Korea market entry overview.