Chinese carnations, gifts ”group purchase”... A May scene born of high prices = Korea

The month of May, known as "family month" in Korea, is a gloomy one for Koreans. Rising prices have people tightening their purse strings. As proof of this, restaurants famous for their "value for money" are already closing.
As people's schedules fill up, many are seen buying gifts together for Children's Day and Parents' Day. This trend has self-employed people feeling confused.
On the 1st, the citizens that Edaily met were looking for ways to spend money as efficiently as possible for the "Family Month."
Rather than high-end yakiniku and Korean set menus, which are the norm, relatively inexpensive shabu-shabu and other cost-effective menus have been gaining popularity.
"Before COVID-19, reservations for this time of year were already fully booked in May, but now there are still many vacant time slots," he said. Meanwhile, a meal and dessert set for 27,900 won (about 2,835 yen) per person is also available.
Shabu-shabu restaurants that offer shabu-shabu meals and other types of meals are already fully booked during popular times. People are also trying to save money on gifts for Parents' Day and Children's Day.
The community is seeing a steady stream of so-called "group purchase" suggestions. They range from health foods such as red ginseng and the royal elixir "Gongjindan" to massage equipment and toys.
The items listed for group purchases included red ginseng, which normally costs 80,000 won, and other items such as toys from famous foreign brands, which are worth 170,000 won.
However, there were also posts saying that it was possible to purchase it for 150,000 won by group purchase. Companies are also launching products with good value for money one after another. One famous rice cake shop previously only sold it in sets of 32 or more.
Starting this year, gift sets that were not previously available for sale are now also being sold in packs of 16. Although the number has decreased, there is not much difference in appearance, as the items are wrapped in furoshiki. A store representative said,
We received many requests to sell the 16-pack in gift packaging, so we decided to do so." He added, "The smaller gift sets are more popular."
Due to this situation, a cost-effective flower market is also experiencing a boom.
At the flower market, many stores were promoting Chinese carnations rather than domestic carnations. Korean carnations cost about 15,000 won per bunch, while Chinese carnations cost 10,000 won.
It is said that you can make a lot of cost-effective flower baskets for about 10,000 won per bouquet. Self-employed people who are unable to enjoy the special demand during the peak season are looking confused.
A woman in her 60s who I met at Yangjae Flower Market said, "At this time last year, I was receiving orders for baskets, but this year, there are hardly any orders at all. I'm trying to lower the price.
Even so, it will be difficult (to make prices cheaper) as the cost of materials such as baskets and the price of fresh flowers have risen by about 50%."