Skincare and cosmetics are on almost every first-time visitor’s shopping list in Korea, and the choice of where to buy them is confusing: an Olive Young on every corner, a budget-friendly Daiso, or a duty-free shop where you need your passport. The three differ as much in how they handle tax as in what they sell. This guide compares them on range, tax (duty free, instant refund or tax refund), what to bring, when you get your goods, and store details in Seoul. It is a research guide, not a shopping diary: the facts come from the official pages of CJ Olive Young, Asung Daiso and Lotte, Shilla and Hyundai duty-free shops, a Korea Customs Service notice and press release, Korea’s decree on tax refunds for foreign tourists, Incheon Airport and VisitKorea, checked on 1 November 2026 (US Central time; 2 November in Korea). It does not recommend or rank products.
How the three differ: when and how the tax comes off
There are two ways for a foreign visitor to pay less tax on skincare in Korea, and the three places in this guide use them differently. VisitKorea splits Korea’s tax-free system into duty free and tax refund. Duty-free shops sell at prices that exclude value-added tax and individual consumption tax; they are in airports and downtown and are generally run by large groups such as Lotte, Shilla and Shinsegae. Tax refund means you pay the full price, tax included, and claim the tax back before leaving Korea at an airport counter, a downtown refund booth, a kiosk or by mobile. Since 1 January 2016, certified stores can also take the tax off at the till, which is called an immediate (instant) tax refund.
On that basis, Olive Young and Daiso are ordinary shops: the shelf price includes tax, and at branches certified as tax-free shops for foreign tourists (look for “Tax Free” or “Tax Refund” signs) you show your passport to get the tax off on the spot or to receive a refund receipt to cash in when you leave. Duty-free shops price without tax from the start, but downtown and departure-area shops sell only to people leaving the country. The Korea Customs Service’s notice on bonded (duty-free) stores says departure-area and downtown duty-free shops may sell only to departing travellers and transit passengers, and must check each buyer’s identity with a passport or other accepted ID. Lotte Duty Free adds that you cannot buy duty-free goods for a domestic trip, including Jeju.
Not everyone qualifies for a tax refund. VisitKorea lists non-Korean citizens staying in Korea for less than six months, and overseas Koreans staying less than three months who have lived abroad for more than two years or hold permanent residency elsewhere. Goods must be new, and you must leave Korea within three months of buying them. If you live, work or study in Korea for longer than six months, check before you count on a refund.
Olive Young: a wide choice of brands, with instant tax refunds at major stores
Olive Young is the health-and-beauty chain run by CJ Olive Young, which says it sells beauty and health products through its shops in Korea, an online mall and a global mall, and develops its own brands. Its business page lists more than 1,360 stores in Korea and more than 3,000 partner brands, and says it has about 20 large-format “Town” stores.
Some branches are set up for visitors. In a July 2025 press release the company said it had designated about 110 stores in Myeongdong, Hongdae, Gangnam, Busan, Jeju and elsewhere as “global tourism” stores, staffed with English, Japanese and Chinese speakers, with product names and promotions labelled in English, and that major stores offer an instant VAT refund: foreigners who bring a passport and spend 15,000 won or more pay the price minus tax. On 26 March 2026 it opened Olive Young Central Myeongdong Town for overseas customers; the press release describes three floors of about 950 pyeong (roughly 3,100 square metres), around 1,000 brands and 15,000 products, 22 staffed tills and guidance in English, Chinese and Japanese. The same release counts 138 global tourism stores, up from about 110 in 2025.
The strength is choice: skincare, sheet masks, make-up, hair and body products from many brands, side by side, in a chain with more than 1,360 stores in Korea. The limits: instant refunds and multilingual help are concentrated in what the company calls major and tourist-area stores rather than every branch, and the shelf price includes tax. If you want to reorder from home, there is the online Global Mall: the company says it serves more than 150 countries, but the Global Mall’s home page says it does not ship to the United States (the 50 states and D.C.) and points US shoppers to a separate US online store, so check that it delivers to yours.
Daiso: cosmetics at a fixed-price variety store, with tax refunds at some branches
Daiso is a variety store run by Asung Daiso. The company says it opened Korea’s first fixed-price household goods store in 1997 and describes its policy as fixed prices that make even 1,000 won count. It sells far more than cosmetics, but cosmetics have their own category on its product pages, and its online Daiso Mall ran a beauty event featuring about 330 items, many of them new, from 12 to 16 October 2026.
Tax refunds depend on the branch. Daiso’s store finder marks the services each branch offers, and one of them, “tax refund”, is described as issuing tax refund receipts, for foreigners only. When the store finder was searched for Myeongdong with the tax-refund filter on 1 November 2026, it returned two branches: Myeongdong Main and Myeongdong Station. So the routine is to check the tax-refund mark in the store finder, show your passport at the till and ask for a refund receipt. The same store finder also marks cashless branches that accept only cards or mobile payments.
Daiso’s strength is budget. Its product categories put cosmetics, from skincare to make-up, next to health foods, food, kitchenware and stationery, so you can pick up everyday items in the same trip. In our view a beauty specialist is the better place to compare many skincare brands, and you should ask at the till whether the refund is taken off on the spot or handled later with a receipt at the airport or a refund booth. Purchases under 15,000 won in one transaction do not qualify for a refund at all.
Duty-free shops: tax-free prices from the start, but bring your passport and flight details
Duty-free shops sell without tax from the start, in exchange for paperwork. Shilla Duty Free and Hyundai Duty Free tell in-store shoppers to bring their own original passport and a booking record that shows the departure flight, such as an e-ticket, and say photos or copies of a passport are not accepted. Both say you can buy from 90 days before departure, and Shilla adds that when a foreigner takes Korean-made goods on the spot, purchases open 60 days before departure. Hyundai says there is no purchase limit when leaving Korea.
Goods bought downtown are collected at the airport or port pickup counter on the day you leave. Shilla says you collect them at the designated counter after immigration on departure day by showing your passport and ticket, that only goods bought with your own passport can be released, and that goods cannot be sent by courier or handed over on arrival. Lotte warns that goods cannot be released if the details entered when ordering differ from your passport. What happens to uncollected goods differs: Lotte lets you change the departure date or cancel and cancels orders 15 days after the departure date (in-store purchases are cancelled at the store), while Shilla cancels automatically from 10 days after departure.
There is an important exception for foreigners buying Korean cosmetics. The same customs notice, in force since 1 July 2026, allows a downtown duty-free shop to hand over domestic (Korean-made) goods on the spot to a departing foreigner who asks for it, after checking the passport, a booking record such as a boarding pass or e-ticket, and whether the traveller is barred from on-the-spot delivery. In other words, imported brands are collected at the airport, but Korean-made products can leave the downtown store with you. Goods received this way must be taken out of Korea, and some travellers and goods are excluded.
In Seoul, the operators’ own pages give these details. Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong Main Store is on floors 9 to 12 at 30 Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, open 09:30–20:00 (brand closing times vary). Shilla Duty Free Seoul is at 249 Dongho-ro, Jung-gu, open 09:30–20:00 every day of the year. Hyundai Duty Free Trade Center is on floors 8 and 9 at 517 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, open 10:30–20:00 Monday to Thursday and 10:30–20:30 Friday to Sunday. VisitKorea’s shopping guide also lists Shinsegae Duty Free Myeongdong (floors 8 to 12, 77 Toegye-ro), but Shinsegae’s own site could not be reached for this guide. Timing can matter too: according to a Korea Customs Service press release, customs and the Korea Duty Free Shops Association are running Korea Duty-Free FESTA 2026 from 29 October to 15 November, with discounts of up to 25% at participating duty-free shops; discounts depend on the shop and item.
Duty-free suits a clear kind of shopper: if you are buying several expensive brand-name skincare items or fragrances, the tax is off from the start, and foreigners can usually collect Korean-made goods downtown. In return you need your passport and flight details, imported goods wait for you at the airport, and the customs allowance of the country you fly to still applies.
Getting your tax back: the 15,000-won minimum, instant-refund limits and the airport
Start with the minimum. Korea’s decree on VAT and excise refunds for foreign tourists and its enforcement rule, both in their current versions (in force since 2 January 2026; the 15,000-won figure has applied since 1 January 2024), exclude goods whose single-transaction price, tax included, is under 15,000 won. Incheon Airport likewise tells shoppers to ask for a receipt and tax refund documents when they buy something over 15,000 won, and notes that a passport is required; without the documents you cannot get a refund at all, and incomplete ones can be refused.
Instant refunds have limits. Under the same decree, a shop can take the tax off at the till only when the single transaction, tax included, is under 1,000,000 won and your total instant-refund purchases since arriving are no more than 5,000,000 won. Above that, you pay the full price and claim the refund when you leave. VisitKorea adds that airport and port refund counters have no purchase limit, while downtown refund booths handle only their own company’s receipts, up to 6,000,000 won each, and you still have to report the refund at the airport when you leave. The decree also says that if goods bought with a refund are not taken out of Korea within three months, later purchases no longer get the instant refund.
At the airport, deal with refunds before you check in your bags. Incheon Airport says that if you carry refund items on board, you process the refund at a kiosk in the departure hall, and if the kiosk says customs inspection is needed, you show your passport, the unopened and unused goods and the purchase confirmation at the customs desk. If you want to check refund items in your luggage, tell the airline at check-in, have a customs inspection tag attached, take the bag back to the kiosk, show it at the customs desk only if the kiosk asks, and then put it on the large baggage belt next to the desk. VisitKorea notes that where there is no refund counter, or it is closed, you can write your details on the receipt and drop it in the box provided, with the refund paid to an international credit card, Alipay or WeChat Pay within one to two months.
Skincare also runs into liquids rules. Incheon Airport says liquids, sprays and gel cosmetics in carry-on bags must be in containers of 100 ml or less inside one 1-litre transparent zip bag per person, while duty-free items are allowed regardless of volume if they are in a Duty Free Liquid Item Bag that stays sealed until you board your final flight. Large bottles bought at Olive Young or Daiso belong in your checked luggage. For paying and cash, see the posts below.
Related on Rank Three: for how to pay at the till, How to pay in Korea as a tourist: foreign card, WOWPASS or a QR wallet?; if you are deciding whether to stay near Myeongdong’s cosmetics shops, Myeongdong vs Hongdae vs Gangnam: where to stay on a first trip to Seoul?; and for cash, Global ATM vs money exchange vs WOWPASS: how to get Korean won cash in Korea.
Our three picks
- Olive Young: a wide choice of brands, with instant tax refunds at major storesOlive Young
If you want to compare many brands in person: according to the company, more than 1,360 stores in Korea (checked November 2026) and an instant VAT refund at major stores when you show your passport and spend 15,000 won or more. Central Myeongdong Town is its large store designed around overseas customers.
- Daiso: cosmetics at a fixed-price variety store, with tax refunds at some branchesDaiso
If you are on a tight budget or stocking up on basics: a fixed-price variety store with a cosmetics section. Tax refund receipts (foreigners only) are issued only at branches marked for it in the store finder, so check first.
- Duty-free shops: tax-free prices from the start, but bring your passport and flight detailsDuty-free shops
If you are buying several expensive brand-name items: prices are tax-free from the start, and foreigners can collect Korean-made goods at the downtown store. Bring your original passport and flight details; imported goods are collected at the airport on departure day.
Side by side
| What to check | Olive Young | Daiso | Duty-free shops |
|---|---|---|---|
| How tax is handled | Price includes tax; instant refund at major stores (company) | Price includes tax; refund receipts at some branches (foreigners only) | Prices exclude VAT and individual consumption tax |
| Who can buy | Anyone (refunds for eligible foreigners only) | Anyone (refunds for eligible foreigners only) | Departing travellers only at downtown and departure-area shops (not for domestic trips, including Jeju) |
| Bring | Passport (for the refund) | Passport (for a refund receipt) | Original passport (Shilla, Hyundai: no copies) and e-ticket details |
| Minimum and limits | 15,000 won per transaction; instant refund under 1,000,000 won per transaction and up to 5,000,000 won in total | 15,000 won per transaction (for a refund) | No purchase limit on departure (Hyundai); check your destination’s customs allowance |
| When you get the goods | At the till | At the till | Imported goods at the airport or port pickup counter on departure day; Korean-made goods can be handed over downtown to foreigners |
| Size and range (company figures) | More than 1,360 stores in Korea; more than 3,000 partner brands | Fixed-price household goods with a cosmetics category | Korean and international brands; downtown and airport stores |
| Seoul examples | Central Myeongdong Town (opened March 2026); about 20 Town stores nationwide | Myeongdong Main and Myeongdong Station (tax-refund search) | Lotte Myeongdong Main, Shilla Seoul, Hyundai Trade Center |
| Opening hours (examples) | Not found on an official page | Check each branch in the store finder | Lotte Myeongdong Main and Shilla Seoul 09:30–20:00; Hyundai Trade Center 10:30–20:00 Mon–Thu, to 20:30 Fri–Sun |
| Watch out for | Instant refunds and multilingual help mainly at major stores | Some branches are cashless; under 15,000 won no refund | Order details must match your passport; uncollected-order rules differ by shop |
| Good for (editor’s view) | Comparing many brands in person | Small budgets and basics | Several expensive brand-name items |
So where should you buy?
For a first trip I would start at Olive Young: you can compare many brands in one place, and, by the company’s account, major stores in tourist areas take the tax off at the till when you show your passport and spend 15,000 won or more. If your budget is tight or you are also buying basics, Daiso is the better stop, as long as you check the branch is marked for tax refunds. If you plan to buy several expensive brand-name products or fragrances, a duty-free shop makes sense: bring your original passport and flight details, and ask whether Korean-made items can be handed over on the spot. Wherever you buy, sort out refunds at the airport before you check in your bags, and pack large liquid skincare from Olive Young or Daiso in checked luggage.
