"From the Matin Kim knit I'm wearing now to the refrigerator at home, I bought 95% of the manufactured goods I use (excluding cars and fresh food) on Bunjang. I don't need to go to a department store because the app builds a recommendation feed tailored precisely to my taste."
Bunjang co-CEO Choi Jae-hwa, whom we met recently at Bunjang's headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, introduced Choi as a "die-hard user" of Bunjang. After overseeing YouTube marketing at Google Korea, Choi joined Bunjang in 2020 as chief marketing officer (CMO) and rose to CEO in 2022, witnessing changes in Korea's recommerce (secondhand transaction) market at the front line.
Launched in 2014, Bunjang is a secondhand transaction platform used by more than 10 million people a month. As of 2025, gross merchandise value (GMV) is about 1 trillion won, and 80% of users are the MZ generation (millennials + Gen Z, born 1981–2010). Unlike other platforms based on regions or communities, Bunjang aims to be a native app (an app optimized for a specific mobile operating system) dedicated to secondhand transactions. It has also taken the lead in spreading Korea's secondhand culture by opening limited-edition sneaker counters in department stores and hosting large offline events. In Sep. 2025, Bunjang's flea market festival held on Nodeul Island drew a total of 70,000 visitors over two days. Total transaction count was about 29,000, and safe payment transaction value came to about 330 million won.
Choi said, "The secondhand transaction market has moved beyond the past stages of 'disposal of unused items' or 'saving money' to become recommerce that discovers personal taste and circulates resources, and a retail category competing with department stores that sell new products." The following is a Q&A with Choi.
It has been six years since you joined Bunjang. How has the market changed?
"The industry's rules have changed. In the beginning, people regarded secondhand transactions simply as 'selling unused items cheaply,' but now, especially among those in their 20s and 30s, consumer perception has completely shifted. They enjoy secondhand transactions as a process of discovering their own taste, like a 'treasure hunt,' rather than buying what someone else used. We say 'recommerce literacy'—the understanding of secondhand transactions—has increased. From the moment they buy, consumers consider 'how much can I resell this for later,' and that behavior has taken root."
Specifically, what does high recommerce literacy mean?
"It means having a perspective of resource circulation. For example, someone who enjoyed camping might sell existing camping gear to switch hobbies to yachting. In fact, media artist Song Ho-jun sold many of personal hobby items on Bunjang, bought a yacht, and competed in a world tournament. As people accumulate experiences of selling items for their fair value, the guilt around consumption fades, and they can more boldly explore new tastes. While public perception of secondhand is still lower in Korea than in Western markets, recommerce literacy is gradually rising, and the potential is that much greater."
Like many secondhand transaction platforms, you emphasize "technology" and "trust."
"To grow the secondhand transaction market, people must be able to transact safely even with strangers. Secondhand goods in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions involve a lot of unstructured data, so we used artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning to help users list and find items easily. We also developed the 'Coalytics' inspection system to scientifically authenticate high-priced secondhand goods such as luxury items. In 2024, we introduced an escrow safe payment system for the first time among domestic secondhand transaction platforms. To do this, we focused on technology investment to the extent that 50% of all employees are developers. Only with trust backed by technology can the market expand nationwide and, further, globally."
You cited department stores as competitors.
"Someone who gets a Moncler down jacket at a reasonable price on Bunjang is less likely to go to a department store or an outlet. In other words, secondhand transactions can be seen as replacing the distribution market for new products. In addition, Bunjang's business model is like YouTube, Airbnb, or LinkedIn, pioneering a marketplace that did not exist before. Just as YouTube created the 'creator economy,' we are pioneering a new retail genre where individuals transact their tastes.
The recent trend of brands and retailers entering the market more is a welcome and natural development. The market can only grow if more players take interest and come in."
How is the performance of the global mall 'Bunjang Global,' which has been operating since 2023?
"We view the global mall not as simple product export but from the perspective of solving customer problems. To quickly find a second or third owner for customers who want to sell, we addressed language barriers, shipping, and customs issues and expanded the sales scope overseas. When you list an item on Bunjang, you can sell to more than 200 countries worldwide.
The popularity of K-culture is reflected in the global mall as well. Someone in Brazil who fell for Korean folk music while searching on Google ends up buying a Kim Kwang-seok LP listed on Bunjang. Overseas fans who belatedly became fans of Blackpink after watching Jennie's performance video on YouTube come looking for the out-of-print first Blackpink album. Items that are out of season in Korea become "rare items" overseas, leading to cross-border taste transactions."
When do you expect to turn profitable?
"Until last year, we were in an investment phase to solve structural issues such as building a safe transaction environment. Recently, it has been proven that users are willing to pay fees for the values of 'safety' and 'convenience,' so we believe we can turn an annual profit in 2026. It will likely be Korea's first case of generating revenue from recommerce's core model. Our goal is for Bunjang to become a place where consumers naturally shop within two to three years."