What is a GO ?
Here is – almost – everything you need to know about GOs and what is important before joining your first one !
WHAT IS A GO ?
A GO – short for group order – is a way to buy items for multiple people that is often used by K-pop stans. It is usually managed by one person, the GOM – group order manager – and goes as follows:
- The GOM orders some albums, some photocards or some merch items for themselves and some other people – called joiners – from a shop usually based in South Korea and sends them to a proxy address in South Korea.
- The proxy packs the items from multiple GOs together and ships the package to the GOM.
- The GOM receives the package, opens the items and sorts everything before packing items individually and shipping them to the joiners individually.
WHY IS IT BENEFICIAL FOR ME ?
There are multiple reasons to join group orders:
- Maximizing your chances to receive the photocards or the album versions of your bias: the photocards or items are often random when you buy them directly form the shop and by joining a group order, the amount of items ordered is bigger, therefore giving you more chances to pull your bias’ items.
- Minimizing fees: K-pop items are often quite expensive in shops that are not in South Korea and joining a group order means you will pay the korean price for the items. It also means that shipping from South Korea to the country the GOM is based in will be divided between the joiners and will therefore be way cheaper than if you ordered the items by yourself. Please note that some other fees apply to the original price of the item – for more informations about fees, click here.
- Discovering the K-pop BST – buy, sell, trade – community: there is an amazing community sharing their love for K-pop and collecting and joining group orders will make you meet new people!
WHAT SHOULD I BE CAREFUL ABOUT ?
Joining a group order for the first time can be scary! You have to trust someone you probably never met to handle your money, you often can’t know for sure how much the additional fees will be beforehand, … so it is primordial to be careful about whose group order you join. Here are a few tips to find reliable GOMs:
- Check if the GOM lives in the same country / area of the world as you: it really helps with payments – same currency – and domestice shipping – lower prices.
- Make sure the GOM has recent proofs of their previous group orders: you can usually find them on their profile or in their highlights.
- Have a look at their socials: make sure the GOM doesn’t profit from their GO – only if that bothers you! Most of the GOMS don’t make the joiners pay them for a service, they just help people and do that as a hobby.
- Look for hashtags: The community found a way to signal if a GOM has some questionable ways of handling their GOs. The hashtag #DWAYOR means “Deal with at your own risk” and if you look it up, you can find some posts where people explain their negative experience with a GOM.
I JOINED A GO, WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW ?
Usually, a good GOM will explain every step of the GO, send deadlines and infomations in the groupchat and keep their joiners updated on the situation. If you are not sure about what you have to do, here are a few advices:
- Check your GOM’s stories or highlights: GOM sometimes give GOs updates that way
- Look for your GOM’s masterlist: GOMs usually have something called a “masterlist” – often on Google Sheets or Notion – where all of the GOs, joiners and various informations are written down and you can often find it in the groupchat or in your GOM’s bio
- Keep track of your claims: make a note of which items you claimed from which GOM so you know what you’re receiving payment deadlines or forms to fill out for
- Be patient: GOs take time, sometimes months, to get to a GOM who then has to open packages, sort items and pack letters for dozens of joiners – and they often are working or studying full time aside from their GOM’s work!
- Respect deadlines: it is the most important thing to do as a joiner! Some GOMs even have late fees if you miss deadlines, so make sure you don’t!!
HOW DO I JOIN A GO ?
Many GOMs are active on Instragram or on Twitter/X. Usually, you only need to comment on the post of the items you are interested in and the GOM will make sure to include you in the groupchats where they will send the informations related to the group order.