If you’ve ever wondered how much a Kpop fan is willing to spend on their idols, iPrice Group, Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce aggregator, has done the legwork and got the answers for you.
iPrice’s aggregated data measured how much a Kpop superfan spends on average if he or she bought at least one merchandise per shopping category, purchased all their idols’ albums, and attended one concert a year.
Which Kpop fan group can spend the most?
A devoted member of BTS Army must have spent an average of US$1,422 and has collected at least 15 studio albums/ EPs and attended 5 concerts aside from having numerous merchandise. It may seem like a huge amount but considering all the items and keepsakes the fan gets, it’s well worth it.
Blinks, fans of BLACKPINK, can spend up to $665. The amount seems lower simply because BLACKPINK is still considered a younger group than the other Kpop bands and has fewer albums and concerts.
On the other hand, Twice has been around longer so Onces (fans of Twice) can spend up to $824 after purchasing a whole lot of merch, 14 albums and attending 4 concerts.
The breakdown of Kpop fan kits
If Kpop fans aren’t careful, they might bankrupt themselves from buying tons of merch of their favourite idols. There are so many different kinds of merch available for each Kpop fan, from home décor items to lomo cards to phone cases to clothing.
A BTS superfan who’s devoted enough to buy an item per shopping category (one light stick, a shirt, a lomo card, and so on) can easily find themselves spending up to $545. For Blinks, they would spend about $349 on merch while a Once would spend $173.
What’s most surprising is that purchasing albums is the least costly. This is good news to fans who solely appreciate these groups for their music (which, realistically, may only be a small percentage of the fans).
Purchasing all albums may cost $336 for BTS fans, $161 for BLACKPINK fans and $205 for Twice fans.
Attending a Kpop concert is a dream come true for Kpop superfans. However, if a super fan was able to buy one concert ticket a year to see their idols, it would cost them an average of $541 for BTS, $155 for BLACKPINK and $446 for Twice.
To put the expenditures into perspective, the latest iPhone 12 Pro can cost about US$1,000 (1,500 on iPrice). This is about the amount BTS superfans potentially spend on their idols.
For non-fans, it seems ridiculous to splurge on these merchandise with that much money but for these superfans, it’s money well-spent.
P.S- The results are not a call for competition. Don’t bankrupt yourself and please manage your finances carefully! Only buy what you can afford in support of your idols.
The full report of the study can be read HERE
Study methodology
Data on merchandise was based on the sum of the average price of each category in iPrice's database of hundreds of merchants and billions of products. This is then combined with https://www.bt21fans.com/ prices for merchandise categories (such as lightsticks, etc.) that weren't included in iPrice's database.
The total of concert tickets is an average calculation from prices of all classes and all areas in each concert. This list is based on the standalone online concerts and concerts that are done in the form of tours of each group in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Any music festivals, joint tours, or performance in award events are excluded.
The price of the three Kpop groups' albums are limited to studio albums and EPs based on the list of each band's discography on Wikipedia's list. Album price information is obtained from four international music stores (KTown4U.com, CDJapan.co, Target.com, YGex.jp) that sell albums at official prices. The price information collected is the normal price for a regular album type before the discount.
