When Five Guysannounced that it was opening up a store in Seoul, South Korea, they would have never imagined that their burgers would be resold online.
On June 26, popular fast food chain Five Guys opened its first store in Seoul to hundreds of customers, including actor Yim Si-wan, who had braved the rain and humidity and queued up outside their store in the buzzing Gangnam district of the city.
“I have tried Five Guys in the United States,” the first person in the line, who waited overnight for the 11 a.m. opening, told a local news outlet. “When I heard that a branch was opening in Korea, I rushed here.”
Seeing the hype, the sixth person in the line saw this as an opportunity to make some quick money. They first listed their spot in the line online for $1,520 and when that didn’t work out, they decided to resell the food purchased on the second-hand e-commerce platform Danggeun Market for a hefty profit.
In a post that has since gone viral on social media in Korea and has sparked outrage, the individual tried to sell two Five Guys cheeseburgers and one large fries for 100,000 won (US$76.90), more than double the actual price of the items.
The post angered social media users in Korea, who blamed the trend on the fear of missing out on consumerism. Many also commented on how it should be illegal to sell food this way on social media platforms for the sake of public health and hygiene standards.
However, a Danggeun Market official said there are no rules against selling takeaway food on the platform as long as it still had its original packaging and was untouched, the South China Morning Post reported.
There is no indication that anyone bought the meal posted on Danggeun Market.
Five Guys Korea is currently selling a regular cheeseburger for 14,900 won ($11), a price similar to the chain’s U.S. locations, though critics have labeled the burger as overpriced for the South Korean market.
Five Guys’ franchise in Seoul is its fifth branch in Asia after Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Malaysia. The fast food chain aims to open over 15 Five Guys restaurants in Korea over the next five years. Other popular chains in Korea include Burger King and Shake Shack.
