Dongdaemun Market
Dongdaemun Market
4
Speciality & Gift ShopsFlea & Street Markets
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
About
With 26 shopping malls and 30,000 shops, Dongdaemun Market is one of the largest and most important shopping venues in Korea, and the best place to find Korean fashion at wholesale and retail prices.
Duration: < 1 hour
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Top ways to experience Dongdaemun Market and nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles346 reviews
Excellent
88
Very good
128
Average
104
Poor
18
Terrible
8

Bwin51_12
Thousand Oaks, CA11 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2012 • Family
This was a mad, mad experience. Like a huge flea market indoors for fabric and all types of trim and buttons, etc. Some of the vendors do wholesale only as evidenced by their swatch only displays. Others are wholesale and retail depending on the bolts they have in their space. Some only have bolts and are most likely strictly retail. People are moving about constantly carrying huge bolts of fabric over their shoulder along with bags stuffed with purchases down narrow walkways. Designers, textile manufacturers shop here. It seems all of the textile business of Seoul is centered here. There are several buildings. The textiles are in one of them and takes us two floors divided Ito several sections that are oddly shaped and mostly enormous and busy. Another building has manufacturing on the third floor. Wander around. For the sewist, this is a dream on par with Hong Kong's garment district, maybe better.
Written 6 September 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TravelDiaries_Pulkit
1,474 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2018
Though I noticed that the reviews have been a bit harsh but honestly I did not face any. Yes, the shopkeepers here show some attitude but the quality and the price at this place is comparable to other markets. Since it is close to Marriott, a convenient shopping destination close by.
Written 15 June 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michelle
21 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2015
First of all, it is important to know that Dongdaemun market is broken up into two sections.

Section 1 is ONLY wholesale retail. The area is comprised of multiple buildings that unless you are a retailer, you should not bother going into. They will not sell to you unless you are buying in bulk. It opens at 8 p.m and is open until 5 a.m.

Dongdaemun Shopping Complex is a wholesale shop for fabric for example.

The second section which if you are just a tourist like myself, is where you want to go. Those buildings are 5 buildings, Hello AM PM, Migliore, Doota, and 2 others.

Doota and Migliore are configured like department stores where all the products are nicely displayed like an American department store such as Macy's. The other 3 buildings will look like a total mess. It's a different kind of shopping and one must get past that to actually shop. There are generally no dressing rooms, but they let you try things on, and you literally try things on right over your clothes. There is no bargaining really, but if you buy a couple of items they will give you a discount. The clothes CAN be cheap, but they are also priced fairly, where you can get shirts and dresses etc, for the equivalent of $15-25 USD (which isn't SUPER cheap considering you're buying from a market that doesn't look legit, it's not like you're shopping at a brand name store).

It's definitely an eye opener. Make sure that everything you buy says "Made in Korea" to ensure quality. A lot of designs and fashion is actually exported. We went to Hong Kong after our trip to Seoul and a lot of boutique stores source 100% of their product from Dongdaemun. So if you want to shop, this is the place to do it.

For men I think it is really difficult to shop in this area. A lot of the salespeople were very very aggressive and kept trying to get my boyfriend to buy things and try things on. To an extent where if he even grazed or looked at a shirt they would immediately take it out for him to try. It was a little overbearing and he was unable to shop comfortably. For myself it wasn't difficult to browse with a little more ease, but they are on top of you, and that can be a lot. There are SO SO MANY clothes and designs and stores. A lot of Korean fashion or Asian fashion in general is one size fit all as well, so if you're looking to get something tailored for a specific body type it might be hard when it comes to pants etc. I am fairly small, a "Korean Small" as they told me, so I was able to shop for sizes without a problem.

Another place I really recommend for shopping that is less overwhelming is Hongdae. It is much more manageable, and they are open until 10-11 pm.
Written 18 September 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Karen K
1,091 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2018 • Friends
The most horrible shopping experience. It wasn't like that when I visited same place 2 years ago. The prices were so much more expensive than before and than in Myeondong. Plus, the owners were so hostile and I even witnessed a shop owner cursing and chasing customers away! My friend was also badly treated and left us very bad impression of them! The recent trip made me blacklist the stretch of shopping malls in Dongdaemun and will never return again!
Written 20 May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ai_Sakura
Singapore, Singapore13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2011 • Family
This is a famous mecca in Korea for shopaholics. If you think that 9am-9pm shopping hours are not enough for you, then you have to visit Dongdaemun because although store opening hours vary, a lot of the shops here are open until 5AM daily {except for Mondays or Public Hols}. Some are even open 24 hours!!!!

Dongdaemun is Korea's largest retail and wholesale shopping district. Major retail shopping centres include Doota {located within Doosan Tower}, Good Morning City, Hello apN and Migliore. All are walking distance from each other and have multilingual staff at the information desks at Level 1. However, individual store owners usually just speak a spattering of English so don't expect to converse with them much. There is a tourist information centre in front of Good Morning City or inside Doota though, and you can get your city maps & event information there.

For the wholesale shopping centres like Dongdaemun Shopping Complex, Migliore Valley, Gwanghee Fashion Mall and Heungin Stardom, they usually sell goods in bulk, and thus lower prices per piece. In the heart of Dongdaemun Market is Shinpyeonghwa Fashion Town, the largest wholesale market in Korea with over 1,200 stores! That alone should take you a few hours to go through...

More posts on our Korean trip here: http://www.sakuraharuka.com/search/label/korea
Written 3 April 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Diandra S
Singapore, Singapore83 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2018 • Couples
Although it is a 24 hours market/shops/malls, when I went there at 10pm, the individual shops were closed. Only shops in the malls were open. I guess you have to go at daytime.
Most shops are wholesaler. So you got to buy in bigger quantities, like 10 pairs of socks, etc.

Note:
Products are cheap but the qualities are also not top notch. Fair enough.

Written 1 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Eve L
Amsterdam, The Netherlands64 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2017 • Couples
Clothes market:
Endless shopping of korean style clothing, mostly only one size. I'm an European size 38, which translates into a korean XXXL. The bargaining was mostly fun, as they are competitive with each other as they sell many of the same goods.

Toy/stationary market:
This was absolutely fantastic, we really enjoyed this part of the market. Although many brands are fake, we could find a lot of enjoyable toys and gadgets. This was absolutely heaven for the kid in me. Bargaining is additionally possible, although many of the toys already come cheap.
Written 16 November 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

krys_k
London, UK666 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2016 • Couples
Who on earth comes here at 4 in the morning to buy socks or any of the merchandise on sale here: clothes, electronics, homeware etc. Floor after floor, corridor after corridor, building after building, filled with millions of goods. And it's open from 10am until 5am. We arrived just after 11pm just to check it out (shopping is kryptonite to me). An interesting approach to consumerism.
Written 19 December 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

si_kat07
Manila, Philippines286 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2011
Dongdaemun is a "must see" site especially for tourists. girls will mostly appreciate the site. Unlimited shopping!! and souvenir shops :P
Must try street foods:
-sticky rice on red sauce
-sweet potato sticks
-very tall ice cream, (should try esp on summer) (around KW1,500)
-fresh strawberry shake

You can also watch the COOKING NANTA show, it is situated at the center of dongdaemun market.

For first timers: ask for a MAP from one of those helpful information guys in the market.you can see them easily because they are almost all over the market's intersections. They are wearing red or something that can easily capture the attention of the people.
Written 26 June 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ry36
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia145 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2019 • Family
There are many restaurants and also shops selling clothings, shoes, bags. Nothing exciting. Not highly recommended. Visit only if you have time.
Written 5 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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DONGDAEMUN MARKET: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

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