timebomb.

Okay, so my last post brought attention to a few things, causing some to step forward and say their part. 

Team Adonis has recently posted something on their site in regards to orders. Thanks to tososhi for the heads up.

“메일로 주소지 변경과 발송에 대해서 문의가 많이 오고 있는데요.

배송은 한번에 일괄적으로 배송을 시작하려고 하는데 자꾸 몇건씩 브레이크가 생겨서 발송을 못하고 있습니다.

기다리는 다른분들도 계시기 때문에 빨리 마무리를 해주셔야 합니다.

여유가 그리 많이 않으니 자신의 주문정보를 확인하시고 최종 수정된 주소를 보내주시기 바랍니다.

부탁드리겠습니다…ㅠㅠ”

If anyone can translate that to see if it’s relevant to the situation, you would be doing a good number of people a great service.

The other issue was YOURSIDE. Before stepping further, I want to say that you should use your best judgment when reading what follows. Remember that using anything health-related as an excuse would be a really sick thing to do, and I don’t believe the master of YOURSIDE is that type of person.

Click the following to read a bit about what’s going on with YOURSIDE: here.

So… what do you think?

It was brought to my attention that there is a k-fansite that scams both Korean and International SONE out of their money with the promise to exchange that money for goods. Rather than avoiding naming names and pointing fingers, it’s best to put the name out there so that SONE are aware of who they need to avoid when buying fansite goods.

Hyohunnies usually feel left out in the cold due to the lack of Hyoyeon-centered fansites. However, there’s YOURSIDE! YOURSIDE is known for taking just about the nicest photos of any SNSD-related fansite, and it seems that many SONE would love to buy fangoods from them. To the surprise of many, YOURSIDE announced a calendar. It seems that, in reality, this was just a tactic to get money from SONE. I, personally, have not done business with YOURSIDE, so I don’t know exactly what happened. This is coming from a conversation I came across, and I’m only speaking about this issue because there is another K-fansite that is seemingly going down the same path.

When Team Adonis came out with news of their photo book, it excited many. This is because there hadn’t been an unofficial group photo book published since Thsutleo, and getting all nine in one is a treat. The first thing that should have caught my attention about ordering info, though, was that there wasn’t an expected shipping date listed. Team Adonis never stated that they would start shipping orders by such-and-such date, so many assumed that they would receive that date in an email after the order was completed. That email never came.

I’ve attempted to contact Team Adonis through multiple email accounts and have received absolutely no replies. As it turns out, I’m not the only US buyer to end up in this mess. PayPal is, as always, unhelpful, which means that there is the high likelihood that $991 has gone down the drain. To make matters worse for me, that money isn’t mine.

Question: Why do K-fansites sell fanmade goods?

Answer: To make money.

Yes, believe it or not, there is always a mark-up to these things. I’m not exactly sure how much it costs to make a photo book in Korea, but it’s usually no more than $8-$10 USD (may even average around $5-$6 USD). That’s really cheap, right? However, the cost of the “free gifts” (which aren’t really free) has to be factored in, too, and they’re usually no more than $3-$4 USD when made in bulk. The end result is a $9-$10 profit (after deducting and assuming that there are set-up fees), which is likely on the high end and possibly obtainable through fansites that sell a lot, such as Flying Petals.

That’s a lot of money, eh? I believe it still helps to support a lot of these sites, though, because they do nice things for the girls (“Fame” support for Fany, and, most recently, merong’s birthday support for Taeyeon). These things would likely not be possible without the fansites having sold fangoods, as hardly any of them ask for donations. 

Because such a thing raises a good amount of money, why do some fansites feel the need to scam fellow SONE out of their money? Aside from the aspect of greed, it could be that the site didn’t sell as many as they had originally hoped to sell. This, however, can be remedied; if fans are already willing to pay $54 for a photo book, notching the price up a few dollars wouldn’t make much of a difference. These items are highly desired, so the money falls freely from fan’s pockets. 

Poor management of projects and a lack of resources may be another possible option, but it’s highly unlikely. If you think about it, K-fansites are usually very good at managing their resources, as they tend to find their ways into just about most SNSD-related events. 

Besides a blatant disregard for the emotions of others, what could be the reason for anyone doing such a thing? This will remain a mystery to me.

For the time being, these fansites are on my list of trustworthy K-fansites (list is incomplete):

Merong, TangPa, Flying Petals, Jessture, Woorissica, Sunshine Village, Shining Smile, TheStephi, KYR125, Deeryoona, Limyoonacom, Seohyun-a, Thsutleo

Blacklisted K-fansites:

YOURSIDE, Team Adonis (subject to change)

Why does this matter so much to me? As the one in charge of With US SONE, I have put myself between K-fansite and SONE so that SONE may save money while getting the goods they desire. The last thing I want is to do business with a thief; I don’t condone taking money that isn’t rightfully yours, which is why I don’t mark-up the prices of any items I hold bulk orders for. What you pay for (fanmade good + a portion of the EMS fee + a tiny portion of the PayPal fee + shipping fee + box) is exactly what the fansite, USPS, PayPal, and Uline charge me.

If you have placed an order directly with Team Adonis, it is recommended that you contact them immediately. Since they probably won’t reply, write a message here (as much as you may want to flood them, please don’t).

My only hope is that other K-fansites don’t follow in YOURSIDE’s footsteps. It’s truly a disgusting thing to do, as SONE = family, and that’s not a favourable thing to do to family members. Anyone can shrug it off as “it happens,” but think about it… what if it happened to you?