Why is Daiso Korea so cheap?
Daiso Korea sets the price first and designs the product to fit it. It uses six fixed price points from ₩500 to ₩5,000, and reportedly lowers unit costs through large orders, paying suppliers in cash and long-term deals. It still makes a profit: ₩371.1 billion operating profit on ₩3.97 trillion revenue in 2024. Per-item cost and margin are not published.
What to do now
- Compare price per unit (per 100 ml, 100 g or per piece), not the price tag.
- Check the size: a ₩1,000 item may be a smaller size than the supermarket version.
- Read the label for the manufacturer and country of manufacture.
Who owns the resolution
Daiso sets its own price points; per-item costs and margins are not disclosed.
Evidence to prepare
- The size or count on each label, to work out the unit price
Turn this answer into a question about your case
Give another AI the facts it needs—not just “what should I do?”
I need practical help with a Daiso Korea issue. The policy question: Why is Daiso Korea so cheap? Useful context I found: Daiso Korea sets the price first and designs the product to fit it. It uses six fixed price points from ₩500 to ₩5,000, and reportedly lowers unit costs through large orders, paying suppliers in cash and long-term deals. It still makes a profit: ₩371.1 billion operating profit on ₩3.97 trillion revenue in 2024. Per-item cost and margin are not published. My specific situation: [Describe what happened, including dates and messages shown] The outcome I want: [Refund, verification, appeal, account recovery, explanation, etc.] Important constraints: [Country, deadline, booking/account status, documents already submitted, budget, or other limits] Please: 1. Identify any missing facts you need before reaching a conclusion. 2. Separate platform policy, local law, and your own inference. 3. Give me the safest next steps in priority order. 4. Use current official sources where possible and flag anything that may have changed. 5. Draft a concise message I can paste to customer support. 6. Do not invent account access, guarantees, refund rights, or legal conclusions.
Why this policy exists
What reporting and company materials show:
1. Price first. Most retailers add costs and margin to set a price. Daiso fixes six prices (₩500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,000 and 5,000) and fits the size, materials and packaging to them.
The ₩3,000 and ₩5,000 points were added in 2004 and 2006 (Money Today, April 2026).
2. Simpler production and packaging, worked out with manufacturers.
3. Purchase terms: large orders, 100% cash payment and long-term relationships (Herald Business, January 2025).
4. Its own sourcing network: affiliate Asung has sourced goods since 2009 from suppliers in China, Southeast and South Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Yiwu (Asung HMP official site).
5. Volume: about 30,000 items on shelves and about 600 new items a month.
It is profitable as a company: 2024 revenue ₩3.9689 trillion and operating profit ₩371.1 billion (Korea Economic Daily, April 2025); 2025 revenue about ₩4.5 trillion with a 9.7% operating margin (Money Today, April 2026). That margin is a company average and does not tell you the margin on any one item.
The practical catch: when costs rise and the price is fixed, the product changes instead, for example a smaller size. Compare price per ml, gram or piece rather than the shelf price.
- How Daiso became a retail kingdom (Jan 31, 2025, Korean) — Herald Business
- Daiso 2024 revenue and operating profit (Apr 14, 2025, Korean) — Korea Economic Daily
- Daiso revenue hits record ₩4.5 trillion (Apr 14, 2026, Korean) — Money Today
- Affiliates and overseas offices (Korean) — Asung HMP
Last verified against the sources above on 2026-10-09. Policy and deadlines can change -- use the official support link below for the current rule.
Need to act on your account?
AMS explains the rule but cannot access your account, issue a refund or change a platform decision.