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Myeongdong in Seoul is famous for its shopping but did you know the Myeongdong Daiso branch is also one of the biggest Daisos in South Korea?
From BTS dolls to badminton rackets, K Beauty to inexpensive bling, the 12 storey Daiso in Myeongdong is superb for all your Seoul shopping needs.
The Daiso in Myeongdong reopened in early 2023 after a major renovation and we joined the queues recently to see what all the fuss was about.
Each of the 12 storeys of this Daiso has a different theme / range on each floor, with sections such as dinnerware, cartoon characters and travel (perfect if you need any bits whilst visiting Seoul or to take back home as souvenirs).
Make sure you bring an empty suitcase to take home your Daiso bounty – skin care products are also really cheap here.
From the best Daiso bargains to some helpful shopping hints and tips, here is our guide to visiting the flagship Daiso store in Myeongdong, Seoul:
Note – there are two Daiso stores currently in Myeongdong – the flagship Myeongdong Daiso store is the one nearest to Myeongdong Station. The other Myeongdong Daiso venue is a much smaller basement branch across from Myeongdong Theatre – don’t get the two confused or you will be severely disappointed.
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Table of Contents
What is Daiso?
Daiso is a Japanese discount store that has around 6,000 locations worldwide including branches in America and Australia.
Daiso began in 1972, selling thousands of products for just 100 Japanese Yen each.
These days, it has over 100,000 products, many of which are imported from overseas at low prices, with savings passed onto the customers.
Japan has the most Daiso stores in the world (over 3,000 Japan branches) followed by South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.
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Daiso in South Korea
The Japanese chain Daiso is huge in South Korea – there are over 1,100 stores all over South Korea including the 12 storey one in Myeongdong, and a several storey Daiso in Hongdae.
Daiso in South Korea sells a mix of Japanese, South Korean and overseas goods including Disney merchandise, K-beauty products plus stationery galore.
Most Daisos in South Korea are open until quite late in the evening (usually 10pm).
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Daiso Prices and Discounts
The prices of products at Daiso South Korea greatly vary but similar to Daiso Japan and its low prices, many items can be bought from as little as 1,000 Won (around 60p / $0.75 USD).
In Japan, Daiso is often referred to as the ‘100 Yen store’ as pretty much all small items cost 100 Yen (around £0.55 / $0.65 USD).
We found like for like products in Daiso much cheaper than 7-Eleven Korea. For instance, a 500ml bottle of Listerine mouthwash in Daiso South Korea is 3,000 Won whilst in 7-Eleven, the same mouthwash is 5,000 Won (so much cheaper in Daiso).
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Arriving at the 12 Storey Daiso in Myeongdong
Look up when you first arrive at the main entrance and see just how huge this Daiso is – long and skinny, this Seoul Daiso is like a skyscraper of shopping or a palace of purchases.
As you enter Seoul Daiso Myeongdong, pick up a shopping bag or basket and take a look at the Daiso 12 storey floor plan by the elevator – this will help with your ‘plan of attack’.
You’ll also notice that on the ground floor, as well as the payment desks, there is usually seasonal goods like Daiso Halloween or Christmas products.
Plus there is a semi permanent display of BTS dolls which has been there for a few months. And these Daiso BTS Dolls are really cheap – only 5,000 Won per doll (like £3).
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Navigating Daiso Myeongdong
One of the things you might notice as you first walk in is the huge queue of people to your right. This is for the elevator that goes between the 12 floors in Daiso – if you don’t fancy the stairs, this is another way to get between floors.
However, not everyone knows about the second lift at the rear of Myeongdong Daiso – so for a quicker ride and smaller queues, head to the back of Daiso.
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What can you buy at Myeongdong Daiso on each floor
Level 2: Daiso Myeongdong Beauty
For fans of K-Beauty products, look no further than floor 2. Here you’ll find body care products galore from moisturisers to face masks, hair care to stick on nail art.
As well as local K beauty brands, you’ll find branded products like Nivea and Vaseline. Vaseline face masks sell for as little as 1,000 Won per mask.
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Level 3. Stationery
This is the Daiso floor for pens, paper, pencils and the like – as well as beautiful notebooks, this is also the place to find a huge range of cute cartoon stickers.
In fact, Daiso Myeongdong is so well known for its super sticker collection, it has a cool device whereby you can slide shelves of stickers between each other so you can browse hundreds of different packets at the same time.
Better yet, there is even a machine where you can create your own personalised Daiso stickers – cool!
Other items include gift wrapping, cute character pencil cases and desk container storage units.
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Level 4. Daiso Character Range
This is where you’ll find lots of licensed cartoon character goods and toys including Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty, Marvel and Pixar products.
Perhaps our favourite item here is the Lego style* mini Daiso stores and delivery vehicles you can buy complete with tiny Daiso workers – very meta! *But definitely not LEGO!
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Level 5. Myeongdong Daiso – Food / drink
Nom nom nom – for when you’ve had your fill of Korean street food, Daiso in Myeongdong has a whole floor of sweet treats, classic potato chips and decadent desserts.
Food items you can buy at Daiso Myeongdong in Seoul include Lotte / Hershey choc tarts and chocolate bars, ‘French Pies’, Japanese Calbee potato chips with flavours like honey butter, and HBAF flavoured almonds.
There are also food storage and utensils like air fryer bags or zipper bags. There is even an international food section in Daiso with products like Pringles, Tootsie Rolls from America plus Haribo sweets.
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Level 6. Dinnerware, Ceramics and glassware
Although beautifully laid out, unless you have a big space in your suitcase, you may want to give this Daiso level a miss as it is generally bulky items such as glasses, bar goods, flasks, water bottles and lemon squeezers.
Feeling homesick – this Daiso even has a range of International mugs with different countries’ flags on each – so if you want a tea cup with a Union Jack, you know where to go in Myeongdong!
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Level 7. Kitchenware, Homeware & Cutlery
Daiso does kitchenware – although once again you might not want to take clunky homeware back in your suitcase, you’ll find a full range of quirky Daiso here from pan scourers shaped like fruit to cute chopping boards.
This is also where you can get the famous Daiso egg timer (more on this later).
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Level 8 – Bath, Cleaning and Laundry
Check out this Daiso section for cotton wool buds, bathroom slippers, coat hangers and bath bombs plus bathroom slippers in all colours.
There are cartoon / character branded items too from the likes of Hello Kitty And Crayon Shin-chan and more; talk about Kawaii crazy!
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Level 9. Home decor / Storage
Want a brightly coloured toucan cushion? Daiso in Myeongdong has you covered! Here you find gardening figures and gnomes galore, plenty of picture frames, clocks and storage boxes.
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Level 10. Gardening, Artificial flowers, Pets
You know when you’ve arrived at Myeongdong Daiso’s 10th floor – you’ll be greeted by the tranquil sounds of birds chirping over the loudspeaker (as well as K-POP TBH).
The pet section of Daiso is always one of our favourite floors to visit – there are cute canine costumes, kitty clothes plus even pet accessories like dog birthday hats; catnip and scratching posts for cats too!
Other Daiso products on level 10 include planters, pots and seeds (it is probably best not to take seeds in your luggage to be honest).
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Level 11. Tools, Cars and Accessories
Not actual cars but car related merchandise like Mickey Mouse sunscreens, car wash bits and bobs plus character air fresheners and even a Winnie the Pooh car bin.
Other Myeongdong Daiso products here include wool, knitting needles, shoe care and supplies.
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Level 12. Sports, Camping & Travel
Ironically after walking up all 12 storeys of Daiso Myeongdong and arriving at the sporting section, you’ll either be mega fit after all those steps (or out of breath).
On the top floor of Daiso Myeongdong, you’ll find everything from balance boards to weight balls, skipping ropes to stretch bands and yoga mats.
The Daiso Travel section is pretty decent too and inexpensive. You’ll find Daiso products like Sesame Street Eye masks, travel / toiletry bags, a colourful umbrella section (great for a rainy day in Seoul).
They also stock instant noodles and tins of tuna for camping trips ,plus poker chips and waist jackets.
Who said the merchandising was random at Daiso in South Korea!?
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The Best Daiso Products
If you aren’t sure what to buy, try our recommendations for the most novel and best Daiso products available to buy in the South Korea Daiso stores:
The Daiso Egg Timer
When we first visited Daiso, we knew what we wanted – the novelty Daiso egg timer! We are happy to confirm you can indeed get the famous Daiso egg timer at the Seoul Myeongdong branch.
This egg timer that looks like a chicken helps you make the perfect boiled egg based on how you like it – the egg timer has a gauge for “soft“, “medium” and “hard eggs; and yes, it really does work!
Sushi Rubbers / Erasers
Daiso is well known for its cool eraser / rubbers and you’ll find lots of fun themed erasers in store. One of the best Daiso erasers is the sushi set – a fun souvenir or cute gift to take home.
K-Beauty Face Masks
Based on what we saw in Myeongdong’s Daiso stores, K Beauty masks seems to be one of the best selling Daiso products; people were literally filling up their baskets with face masks.
There are dozens of K Beauty face masks to choose from in Daiso, starting from about 1,000 Won each – and as they are so light, you can easily take them home.
Note that many of the K Beauty products in South Korea are ‘whitening’ so if this isn’t something you want, maybe double check the packets using Google translate.
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Other things to do know about Daiso Myeongdong in Seoul
- On the 11th floor of Daiso Myeongdong, you’ll find toilets (these aren’t mentioned on the floor plans) – handy if you get caught short!
- Daiso gift cards are available in 10k, 50k and 100k Korean Won denominations.
- There are two elevators to help you navigate the twelve Daiso storeys – the busier one at the front (expect queues) plus the quieter one at the rear of the store).
- You pay for all goods in the Myeongdong Station Daiso on the ground floor – there are several automated tills and a couple of staffed tills.
- If self-scanning items at any South Korea Daiso self-checkouts, make sure you scan the Daiso QR code style labels on each item, not the barcode itself (they don’t seem to scan).
- Overseas debit and credit cards can be a bit hit and miss at South Korea Daiso – e,g, our Starling bank card never seems to work but our UK high street bank card was fine.
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Daiso Myeongdong Station Opening Times
The 12 storey Daiso near Myeongdong Station is open from 10am to 10pm, 7 days a week.
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Daiso Myeongdong Station Address
The largest Myeongdong Daiso can be found by exit 1 of Myeongdong subway station.
The Google maps address for Daiso Myeongdong station is 134-1 퇴계로 Jung-gu, Seoul (although in South Korea, you are best to use the Naver app to get around as Google cannot calculate walking distances here).
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Did you like our Daiso Myeongdong blog? What should we buy next time we visit a Daiso in South Korea? Let us know in the comments below:
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