<Anchor> As



the desire, suppressed by the corona crisis, leads to luxury consumption, the popularity of luxury goods is soaring to the point where people say that even if you have money, you cannot buy it. Luxury companies are suffering even from the so-called “gap-jil,” which makes even customers who come to receive after-sales service line up and raise prices from time to time.



Reporter Jeon Yeon-nam reports.



<Reporter>



Long lines in front of the luxury department store from the morning are now commonplace.



A chair is basic, and even a mat is mobilized.



[(arrival time) around 2 am. I've been here a few times, no days without (things).] Because for



any reason you have to stand in line to get a waiting number to get into the store.

There

are no exceptions when ordering after-sales services for products

that you have

already bought



, waiting in line because they do not check if the product you want is in stock over the phone

.

[Luxury store: You have to wait in the same way when you receive or

pick up an

AS.] Standing in

line does not mean that money can buy it.

[Luxury store: Customer, there is no stock at all right now.]

[Luxury store: In fact, it is a model that is difficult to see even with employees.]















Global luxury sales decreased by nearly 20% last year due to COVID-19, but demand in Korea increased significantly.



As a result, we are raising the price freely.



Luxury companies that used to raise prices once or twice a year have raised prices up to five times this year alone.



The average consumer price in Korea is 20% higher than in France, the home of luxury goods.




The department store industry is busy looking at luxury brands that increase sales in the face of COVID-19.



A department store decided to give its very best customers the benefit of not having to wait in line, but had to exclude some popular brands that refused to do so.



[Department store official: These brands are excluded because they do not fit the purpose of their brand...

.]



I can't sell it because I don't have it, so the used price is even higher than the new one.



[President of a used goods trading company: I can't buy it even if I go to the department store.

Department store prices are meaningless...

.] The



phenomenon of acting as a so-called 'ho-gang' despite all kinds of abuse by the company is the bittersweet pace of consumption polarization brought about by Corona 19.



(Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho, VJ: Jung Min-goo, Park Hyeon-woo)