Where To Buy BTS and BT21 Merchandise in Seoul
[*Updated August 2020]
When coming to buying BTS and BT21 merchandise in Seoul it is more of a question WHAT not to buy than WHERE to buy. They are literally EVERYWHERE.
I have compiled a handy guide to buying BTS and BT21 products in South Korea's capital city which you can find below.
Where To Buy BTS Merchandise
1) VT Store
VT x BTS cosmetics
VT stores also sell VT x BT21 collection.
My purchase: Nothing, they are hard to find, small and overcrowded.
2) Nature Collection
Whilst VT flagship stores seem to be extremely hard to find in Seoul (I have only seen 1 in Myeongdong and know about the other one in Hongdae). Luckily, you can easily find VT x BTS collection in all Nature Collection shops.
VT x BTS
My purchase: Triple power mascara, Lip Rogue 09 lip gloss, Born Natural healing hand Cream "We're Still Young".
Both, hand creams and lip glosses, come in 7 different variations. Every hand cream is named with a cute quote.
Every Purchase qualified for a gift - Halloween poster and every purchase over 30 000 KRW also qualified you to an additional gift of 7 postcards.
3) 7/11 & GS25 Convenience Stores
BTS x Coca Cola
Literally every convenience store caries BTS and Coke special edition cans. Most of the shops only carry one or two members though. It kind of became like an Easter egg hunting game when we would go into the shop and try to find all the members.
I completed my "hunt" at the airport as Jimin was the hardest for us to find.
(I spent like a week after returning back to London catching myself looking for the members' cans which we obviously don't have. :()
3) BTS x Baskin Robbins Korea 2020
Baskin Robbins Korea in collaboration with BTS launched limited edition collection of ice cream snacks in signature purple colour.
The collaboration includes limited edition ice cream flavor each month made in collaboration with BTS, limited edition products like 7 piece BTS cake with limited edition photo cards and keychains.
Besides iced goods, collaboration also includes merchandise like tote bags and stickers.
And yes, the collab includes the infamous mint choco chip flavour. 😉
Where To Buy BT21 Merchandise
1) Line Friends Flagship Stores
You can find BT21 merch in almost all Line Friends stores. They all offer a wide array of BT21 merchandise and some of the flagship stores also have cafes where you can order seasonal BT21 themed drinks.
RJ Mellow Latte, MANG Bubble Taro Latte (5 000 KRW each)
There is a special BT21 dedicated store in Hongdae with the biggest cafe which can be found in the basement. This was my favourite cafe out of all Line Friends cafes we have visited as it is really big and it has all the characters and their art placed all over the place.
My purchase: Nothing, most of the stores have a very limited amount of products but they do offer them in all the character versions. Most common products you will find here are pillows, apparel, plush toys, laptop bags, tumblers, and latest releases.
Check out store locator HERE.
2) Lotte World-Tower Line Friends Store
This is a small store located next to the entry to Seoul Sky elevator inside Lotte World-Tower Mall. Even though this is a small shop in a large mall, it was surprisingly well stocked with different products. They also had smaller items but some of the merch was not available in all the characters. In general, RJ seems to be the most popular and the hardest to get for some products.
My purchase: RJ luggage tag, RJ passport cover, Koya socks.
3) Skinband (COEX Mall)
Skinband is a small shop inside the COEX Mall that I have discovered by accident. It looks like a phone case shop but they also had most of the BT21 merch I wanted to buy and couldn't find in any of the previous Line Friends stores. This shop was such a gem and I think this is where I spent the most on BT21 merchandise in a single transaction.
My purchase: RJ tote bag, RJ clothes pouch set (I've been obsessed with this pouch set ever since I've seen it on season 3 of Bon Voyage. It is just so practical! I can now finally have some more order in my suitcase. This is literally the most useful thing you can get for someone who travels regularly.), RJ ball pen and Koya sticky notes.
4) 7/11 & GS21 Convenience Stores
All pastries come with a character sticker inside and cheesecakes have character's faces printed into them! (Of course I had to get my favourite one - RJ.)
My purchase: Most of the BT21 pastry collection. :D
5) Paris Baguette*
My purchase: BT21 Blueberry Ice Cream, BT21 Blueberry Ice Cream Macron, Mang Chocolate Lolly.
*BT21 x Paris Baguette collaboration has now ended. It was replaced with BTS x Baskin Robbins collaboration in 2020.*
6) Olive Young (aka Korean equivalent to Sephora)
My purchase: RJ & Mang post it notes, RJ & Mang small notebooks, BT21 notes markers, Koya clear card pocket, RJ plastic folder, RJ perfume hand cream, RJ hand sanitiser gel.
7) Any Skincare Store / Drugstore You Will See
They sell BTS and BT21 x Mediheal on literally every street corner. I have noticed the prices in drug stores varying from 21 000 KRW to 9 000 KRW (clearance pricing).
Overall, I feel like the merchandise is relatively well priced and definitely cheaper than you will get it anywhere online. So I would definitely recommend buying BT21 merchandise in Seoul if you have the opportunity.
I would advise visiting Line Friends and especially BT21 store in Hongdae for the cafes and so that you can take cute pictures of characters. Line Friends stores are also a good place to get all the larger sized merchandise which usually costs more.
For smaller merch, like stationery, I would suggest trying stores I have listed above as the Line Friends stores didn't have a lot of it in stock.
Let me know which is your favourite BT21 character and which product would you like to have the most either in the comments below or on my Instagram!
