Definition
An open market is an online brokerage marketplace, like a huge flea market where anyone can spread out a blanket and sell, where sellers and buyers meet freely on the internet to trade goods. The site operator doesn't buy the goods and resell them. It rents out the space to trade and the payment system.
How is it different from a department store or a traditional market?
A neighborhood department store carefully picks the clothes and food for its shelves, buys them directly, and sells them to customers. A traditional Korean five-day market (a market held every five days), on the other hand, works differently: the person who manages the market grounds rents out spots, and then a grandmother selling vegetables and a merchant selling clothes can both walk in and do business. An open market is exactly that: a free online five-day market built on the internet.
Not every online store runs the same way. Unlike a direct-purchase store that buys goods, stocks them in its own warehouse, and ships them to shoppers, an open market lets anyone register as a seller and list products. That opens a path for individuals and small businesses to reach customers nationwide without big costs.
Shoppers get a much wider choice too. On a single site, they can compare prices and perks from thousands of sellers at a glance and shop on the best terms.
How does it make money by opening a market?
An open market company doesn't make and sell products itself, so how can it earn so much? Its most basic source of income is the transaction commission it takes when merchants make a sale. If a shirt sells for 30,000 won (about $22), the company takes around 10 percent of that as a fee for the spot.
Another huge source of income is advertising. With hundreds of sellers offering the same item, the race to put your product at the very top of the search results gets fierce. To catch shoppers' eyes, sellers pay the platform ad fees and buy "recommended product" slots.
It also provides a safe payment (escrow) system to help money change hands securely. The seller's account is paid only after the buyer receives the package and presses the "confirm purchase" button, which protects against scams where someone takes the money and runs.
To be more precise: the middleman's legal responsibility
To be more precise, under Korean law an open market is not a "mail-order seller" that sells goods itself. It is a mail-order brokerage business (communications sales intermediary) that provides the space. So in the past, even when a fake luxury item was delivered or a refund dispute over a defective product broke out, many platforms backed away, saying, "We only rented out the space, so settle it directly with the seller."
But as the market grew to tens of trillions of won, that attitude drew heavy criticism. Shoppers make their buying decisions based on a platform brand they can trust, not on an unknown individual seller.
Laws and rules are gradually changing as a result. Even now, a platform shares responsibility with the seller if it didn't tell consumers it is only an intermediary, if it didn't properly check and provide the seller's identity information, or if it handled sales tasks itself, such as taking orders or collecting payments. Talks about changing the law to widen platform responsibility are continuing.
Common misconceptions
Every product sold in an open market is inspected and shipped by the platform company itself.
In an open market, each seller that opened a shop handles its own stock and shipping, and the platform brokers the place to trade and the payment. Some open markets also run a service that, for a fee from the seller, stores and ships goods on their behalf.
Where you meet it
Comparing the price of the same pack of bottled water from different sellers on Korean sites like Gmarket, 11st, and Auction, then buying one.
Registering a shop on an online platform to sell the handmade scented candles you made yourself to buyers across the country.
In one sentence
An open market is an online brokerage marketplace that rents out space and a payment system so anyone can buy and sell.