When roaming around Dongdaemun, you must have bumped into or been intimidated by big, husky men sometimes with tatooes carrying large bags of clothes.
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When roaming around Dongdaemun, you must have bumped into or been intimidated by big, husky men sometimes with tatooes carrying large bags of clothes. Sometimes, they turn into sweet, sheepish darlings in front of store staff. Have you ever wondered what the heck these men are doing in the women's clothes section?
These guys are the "purchase uncles." It is a kind of a logistics system found uniquely in Dongdaemun. The geographical distance is a big burden for shop owners in different cities. When they can't come to the market themselves, they ask the "purhase uncles" to do the job. There are usually two ways this operates.
First, they reorder items from the Dongdaemun wholesale store via phone and notify them that "uncle" will come later to pick them up and also notify the "uncle"to do the job. Second, they place order to "uncle" and "uncle" does the ordering and picking up to delivery. The "uncle" is paid 3~6% of the total purchase amount.
Recently, the "uncles" have expanded their business territory and some of them select the items and work as merchandizers as well or sometimes take pictures of the new releases they think will suit the style of their client's store and show them and advise on selection. As some "uncles" have become influnential in promoting new items and sales, the wholesale stores sometimes share their margin and conduct lobbying.
Needless to say the "uncles" are the most knowledgeable group of people in Dongdaemun geography, network and logistics. There have been incidents where some bad "uncles" took advantage of their expertise and fled with money or products but most "uncles" are hard working and trust worthy.
In the past, they operated on their own, as freelancers, but now some have grouped together to form organizations and companies to provide more efficient services to clients.
Why call them "uncles"??
Koreans call shop or restaurant owners that are older "uncle('samchon' in Korean)" or "aunt('i-mo' in Korean)" to convey friendly respect.
When you go to a Korean restaurant or a store in Dongdaemun, call the worker or owner, "i-mo"(when elderly female), "samchon" (when elderly male). They will l-o-v-e you.
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