Choosing what to buy at Olive Young

Right now

1. 1Carry your passport. It has to reach the counter before payment for the tax to come off there and then.
2. 2Keep a single payment above 15,000 won. Below that, immediate refund does not apply.
3. 3Read the 1+1 and 2+1 tags on the shelf first. You have to pick up the marked number of the same item for the price to apply.

What to have ready

• The passport itself: A copy or a photo will not do. Immediate refund needs the physical document.
• A bag with room in it: Store bags cost money, and cosmetics gain weight faster than bulk.
• Space for liquids: Cabin rules on the way home cap containers at 100mL. Large bottles have to go in checked luggage.

Phrases you can copy and paste

Step by step

1. 1

   Know what kind of shop this is

   Olive Young is a health and beauty store run by CJ Olive Young. It is known for cosmetics, but roughly half the floor is something else. Painkillers and stomach medicine belong to convenience stores rather than here, yet plasters and pain patches, sheet masks, mouthwash, period products, nail clippers, travel bottles, basic supplements and even low sugar snacks and drinks share one floor. That makes it the first place you end up when something small goes missing mid trip. In central Seoul there is one every other block, and most close somewhere between 10 and 11 at night.

2. 2

   Put your passport on the counter

   Prices in Korea include value added tax, and foreign travellers can get that tax back. There are two routes, and the one used at Olive Young is the immediate refund. Instead of filing paperwork at the airport, the tax is taken off while you pay, which is far less work. The conditions are fixed. A single payment has to be at least 15,000 won and under 1,000,000 won, and the whole trip has to stay at or below 5,000,000 won. Goods must be new and unopened, and you have to leave Korea within three months of the purchase. Hand the passport to the cashier and ask for a tax refund. Checking for a Tax Refund sign at the entrance or the till beforehand settles it.

3. 3

   The shelf tag sets the price, not the product

   The same product often costs something different today than it did yesterday, because promotions attach to periods rather than to products. A 1+1 tag means you take two of the same item and pay for one. A 2+1 tag means three for the price of two. Put a single one on the counter and you pay full price with no promotion at all. Bigger campaigns land at the start of each month, and the same basket can differ by tens of thousands of won a few days apart. If an item is not urgent, photograph it on the first visit and come back during a campaign.

4. 4

   Choose against your luggage, not the shelf

   When you cannot decide what to buy, judge by the suitcase instead of the product. First, value against weight. Sheet masks and lip products are light and bought in numbers, so they pay off here, while large bottles of lotion or shampoo are weight you carry the whole way. Second, cabin rules. Liquids and gels only fly in the cabin in containers of 100mL or less, so big bottles need checked luggage, and with no checked bag they are better left alone. Third, shelf life. Cosmetics carry a period after opening, usually six to twelve months. Before buying twelve of something, work out whether you can finish twelve in that window. Fourth, anything that touches your skin is worth buying one at a time, testing, and returning for. Even within one brand, the line that suits you varies.

5. 5

   In Myeongdong, go to the other store

   Tourist districts have stores on a different scale. Myeongdong has OliveYoung MyeongDong Global Town, built with overseas visitors in mind, as the name says. It runs across several floors with deep stock, so a shade that was sold out in a neighbourhood branch is often still there. Prices are the same and the crowds are not. If you plan to spend time picking shades and testing, the large store is better. If your list is already decided, a small branch near your accommodation is faster.

6. 6

   Order the rest from home

   If your luggage filled up, or you need something again after flying home, there is the Olive Young global online store. It is the official shop that ships overseas and runs in English. Prices can differ from in store promotions, and shipping and customs sit on top, so do not treat it as the same price as buying in Korea. Still, it helps to know there is somewhere to turn when a product you had grown used to runs out and you cannot come back.

The Korean words

여권 있으세요?yeogwon isseuseyo?· do you have your passport

Asked so the cashier can process the tax refund. Hand over the physical passport.

택스 리펀드 해 주세요tax refund hae juseyo· please process the tax refund

Say it before payment. Once the receipt is printed it is hard to redo.

원 플러스 원won peulleoseu won· buy one get one

You have to bring two of the same item to the counter.

품절pumjeol· sold out

Seen on shelf labels or said by staff.

테스터teseuteo· tester

An opened sample to try on, set apart on the shelf.

봉투 필요하세요?bongtu piryohaseyo?· do you need a bag

Bags are charged. If you have one, say no thank you.

멤버십 있으세요?membership isseuseyo?· do you have a membership

A points scheme that requires a Korean phone number. Saying no is fine.

Easy to miss

• ·Producing your passport after payment makes the immediate refund hard to redo. It has to be on the counter first.
• ·A single payment of 1,000,000 won or more falls outside immediate refund. Large amounts are better split across receipts.
• ·1+1 means two of the same item. A different shade or a different size often breaks the promotion.
• ·It is easy to confuse this with duty free. Olive Young sells at a taxed price and takes the tax off, rather than selling tax free from the start.
• ·Liquids and gels over 100mL cannot go in the cabin. On a trip with no checked bag, skip the large bottles.
• ·Promotions usually rotate monthly. Paying full price today and seeing 1+1 three days later genuinely happens.

You can skip this if

• If what you need is a prescription drug, a fever reducer or cold medicine, this is not the place. Look for a pharmacy, or at night a convenience store licensed to sell basic medicines.
• If you need one specific product from one brand as a gift, that brand's own store or a department store carries deeper stock. Olive Young keeps a little of many brands.

Where this comes from

• Duty Free & Tax Refunds (Korea Tourism Organization)
• OliveYoung MyeongDong Global Town (official)
• OLIVE YOUNG Global (official overseas store)
• Olive Young official online store