US Black Friday Sale Begins... Be Cautious When Buying Samsung and LG TVs Directly

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] "Four years ago, when I bought a TV through direct overseas purchase during Black Friday, it broke down, and when I tried to buy it again, it seems that the price gap between domestic and direct overseas purchases has narrowed significantly compared to before."

Ahead of Black Friday, the largest shopping festival in the United States, the premium TV discount event by the home appliance industry, which attracts the attention of overseas direct purchase shoppers, has begun. Although it is a time when consumers wait to purchase TVs at prices hundreds of thousands of won cheaper than domestic prices, the industry advises considering various costs such as long delivery times and installation fees.

Samsung Electronics Offering Discounts Ahead of Black Friday

According to Samsung Electronics' official US website on the 15th, Samsung Electronics' local subsidiary is conducting a discount event of nearly 40% on premium TVs including Neo QLED TVs through the 'Early Black Friday' event. For the 85-inch Neo QLED 8K (QN900A) model, a 39% discount is applied locally, selling at around $5,500 (about 6.5 million won). The same model (KQ85QNA900FXKR) is sold domestically for 15.9 million won, showing a price gap of over 9 million won.

LG Electronics is also running promotions focused on ultra-large premium TV products such as OLED TVs, QNED, MiniLED, and NanoCell. The OLED TV with the largest discount is the 83-inch C1 series, currently sold at $4,999.99, down from $5,999.99. Considering that the same product (OLED83C1KNA) is sold for nearly 9 million won domestically, there is a price difference of about 3 million won.

Seeing such price differences, many consumers who want to purchase TVs from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics engage in reverse direct purchases. However, industry insiders advise that there are many points consumers should be cautious about when using this method. Recently, considering direct overseas shoppers, domestic distributors have expanded their discount rates compared to before, and price gaps have narrowed due to consumer activation policies such as Korea Sale Festa, so consumers need to carefully compare depending on the desired product. In particular, the current TV discounts focus on the highest-end premium lines, so discount levels for entry-level products may be low.

Especially this year, with serious raw material supply chain issues and logistics difficulties, delivery costs have increased, delivery periods have lengthened, and it is expected that stocks of desired products will quickly run out, making wise consumer judgment important.

An electronics industry official said, "For high-priced products, it is good to fully consider delivery and service. Prices sold vary by country depending on market environments such as taxes, distribution structures, and market size." He added, "In the US, although taxes vary by state, about 10% tax is added, and prices often do not include delivery and installation fees that cost hundreds of dollars, so all these factors must be considered."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.