As the 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) ended, transactions for so-called "CSAT items" heated up in the secondhand market. Items used by successful applicants to prestigious universities or high scorers on the CSAT are being traded at higher prices with a "premium."
On the 14th, dozens of posts selling CSAT mechanical pencils were uploaded on secondhand transaction platforms such as Karrot and Bungaejangter. Prices range from a minimum of 5,000 won to as high as 20,000 won. If buying only the mechanical pencil, it is about 5,000 won, but the price goes up when items such as the provided OMR computer pen, correction tape, and pencil leads are included.
CSAT mechanical pencils have been supplied to test-takers since the 2006 CSAT after a series of cheating incidents, such as installing cameras in writing instruments. Recent colors were white (2021), ocher (2022), dark olive green (2023), beige (2024), and mint (2025), and this year it is peach.
Despite only the color differing and the functions being the same, CSAT mechanical pencils are also easy to find on the market. If you search for "CSAT mechanical pencil" on open markets, they are sold at 1,050 won each. Even so, secondhand transaction users say the fact that an actual test-taker used it raises its value.
In particular, mechanical pencils used by early-admission admits or high CSAT scorers are regarded like a kind of "talisman" and can be traded at higher prices. On the 9th, a mechanical pencil purportedly used by a student admitted to Seoul National University College of Medicine in the 2025 CSAT was listed at 45,000 won. That is about 40 times the list price. However, the item still has not been transacted.
Items such as desks and clocks used by test-takers are also popular. On Karrot, a post offered a single-person study booth with a reading-room-style desk for 975,000 won. The seller introduced the desk by saying, "Accepted to Johns Hopkins University, accepted to Ewha Womans University. It has good energy from producing two successful applicants." The average secondhand price for the item is in the 500,000–600,000 won range. Citing use by successful applicants to prestigious schools, the seller set a price nearly twice as high.
When transacting secondhand items related to test-takers that carry a premium, some people reportedly ask for university admission documents or CSAT score reports.
Workbooks, private mock tests, and EBS textbooks are also being traded. They are mainly sold as essentially new products in unused condition. One set of cram school materials posted under the title "Complete CSAT math prep materials" included more than 10 types, such as well-known instructors' books and full-length mock tests, and was being sold for 95,000 won.
We contacted the seller of the cram school materials. The seller said, "I got three wrong on this year's CSAT, so I don't think I'll be taking it again, and I'm letting these go," and noted, "These are materials given by instructors in the top-track class of the repeaters' comprehensive course, so I can vouch for the problem quality."