The Ultimate Guide to Group Orders.
In addition to their academic responsibilities as full-time students, Jia Ying and Mel run a commission-based purchasing business as Group Order Managers (more commonly known as GOMs). They help other Singaporeans to purchase items that may not be easily accessible due to a variety of reasons, such as language barriers or high international shipping costs.
Jia Ying has been running Sakuramochii (@sakuramochii_ on Twitter) with another admin since late October last year. They conduct GOs for K-Pop merchandise, lifestyle products, stationery, and Korean and Japanese online fashion.
Sakuramochii_ open GOs for both Korean and Japanese stores. (PHOTO BY: Yvette Ortega.)
Mel (@kingvanitas_ on Twitter) has been opening GOs for almost two years and is highly recognised within the Singaporean utaite (Japanese cover artist) community as a GOM.
Kingvanitas has been part of the Singaporean utaite community since 2018. (PHOTO BY: Yvette Ortega.)
As the name states, Group Order Managers, well, manage group orders. Despite most GOMs operating within the K-Pop fandom, there has been a recent rise in GOMs for lifestyle products, stationery, and more. GOMs are responsible for communicating with overseas sellers and brands, placing orders on your behalf, and arranging collections once the goods arrive! They essentially work as the middleman between you and the seller.
Why purchase through a GOM, though, if there are so many steps involved? The answer is a simple one: convenience, and lower shipping costs.
GOMs collect orders in large amounts, frequently racking up over $100 by the time their order deadline closes. This means that domestic shipping within the seller’s country is low to none, and your total international shipping can go as low as $0.50 for a notebook instead of the $20 that might’ve been charged. They also liaise with sellers and buyers to ensure a smooth transaction, especially if there is a language barrier. GOMs may also take orders for pre-order items, so you won’t have to worry about having to camp out on the website hours before to secure your goods! Purchase and collection of items are all arranged by them, meaning your only responsibilities are paying for your items and collecting them once ready.
So what does it take to be a GOM? Sakuramochii takes us through a typical GO process for her.
How do GOs work?
Hello! What would you like to buy?
The very first step will be deciding on what items to ‘open’ for. Most GOMs will open for requested items or items that they are interested in. A Google Form is then created to collate orders. The form provides all the information in that order - product descriptions, price list, payment and collection options, and deadlines.
Most GOMs promote on Twitter, where they send a tweet with the order name, price range, deadline, and form link. Buyers can place their order by filling in the form and making payment. Updates will also be added as replies to the original tweet throughout the Group Order process so that buyers are constantly in the loop.
A notice is posted on Twitter to inform buyers of the order. (PHOTO BY: Yvette Ortega.)
Thank you for your purchase!
After the form deadline, Sakuramochii compiles all orders into a spreadsheet and cross-checks it against the Google Forms response. After verifying payments, she places the order either through a website for official merchandise, or sends it directly to the seller for unofficial merchandise and smaller shops that do not have a website. She then tweets a ‘Purchase Proof’ - usually a website screenshot stating that the order has been accepted.
Your items are on the way!
When production is complete, orders will be shipped to her Korean Address (or K-Add for short). All packages received at the K-Add within a stated period will be collated to ship to Singapore, which lowers the total cost of international shipping. Sakuramochii submits a forwarding request to the K-Add for a shipping fee quote. Once paid, the K-Add staff sends out the package to be delivered to Singapore.
While the items are in transit, she calculates the individual shipping fees for each item and buyer. A second shipping payment form is then emailed to buyers so that they can make payment within the given deadline.
Your items are ready for collection!
The work doesn’t end here - Sakuramochii unpacks and ensures that all orders have arrived. Incorrect, missing, or damaged items means that she’ll have to contact the seller or brand to request for a refund or an exchange.
Once all orders have been accounted for, an ‘Arrival Proof’ image will be posted on Twitter under her hashtag #sakuramochiiarrived.
Sakuramochii unpacks each order to ensure that everything has arrived in good condition. (PHOTO BY: sakuramochii_).
Buyers who have made payment for second shipping will receive an email with collection details and forms. Sakuramochii offers three collection methods - Mass Meetups, Self-Collection, and Mailing.
Each collection method has its own form. After a buyer fills in their preferred collection form, she packs their items either for mailing or in-person collection.
During in-person collections, Sakuramochii updates her location on Twitter along with specific instructions to ensure a smooth collection. Items to be mailed are packed and dropped off at the post office, and an update will be posted to inform buyers.
Sakuramochii sends her location for buyers to identify her during the meetup. (PHOTO BY: Jewel Chng)
Q&A time! Sakuramochii and Kingvanitas share their experiences and tips for running a GO account.
Why did you start conducting Group Orders?
Kingvanitas: I started ordering things by myself, but with the extra charges that come with ordering internationally - such as proxy, shipping, and consolidation fees - it is tough and very expensive for only one person to bear the cost. I decided to try out and start my own Group Order service since I’m quite a shopper myself, and also because I wanted cheaper shipping for myself and others can have it too since its split among everyone! Plus, its really fun to receive big boxes of merch on my doorstep and unboxing them!
Sakuramochii: I wanted to get specific goods from Korea but can’t seem to find anyone that is also ordering who I can share shipping with, so I decided to open them myself.
Are there any struggles that you have faced?
Kingvanitas: Collating the orders can be a struggle if I have orders from various platforms. My accounts (such as Twitter and Telegram) are my own personal accounts too so I have various casual chats with friends and chats with those who joined my group orders. I’ve had rare incidents where I accidentally missed out on orders because my chat list on the accounts are all scattered and it can’t be organised so I made the mistake of missing their orders. There are also times when I undercharged the items because I was unable to make the right predictions for the exchange rate. Its usually just a couple of cents per item so it’s not a huge deal for me to handle.
Sakuramochii: I was not really familiar with the process of doing an order as it was my first time doing it and was not really fluent with my Korean. I struggled to communicate with my sellers as they only spoke Korean.
How do you decide on what products to open for?
Kingvanitas: Usually, I only do GOs for groups I know, I like, if I’m buying their stuff but if someone requests me to open one, I will - it can be from any group, even those I don’t recognise!
How has COVID-19 affected your business?
Kingvanitas: Pretty much the only issue is COVID-19 affecting the economy so badly that our usual prices became more expensive. Because of the bad exchange rate, the items will be more expensive than they already are so other fans will be more reluctant in buying any items and joining my GOs. Lesser fans that join will cause lesser people to split shipping fees and hence, more expensive shipping cost for everyone who joined. That’s a problem that COVID-19 caused for me.
Sakuramochii: [My business was] affected badly as the shipping period from Korea to Singapore has been delayed from one and a half weeks to six weeks to reach me. This delayed all the processes that were planned ahead for packing and collecting of goods for buyers. During this period, I have received a lot of complaints as the delayed shipping time and the high shipping fee as the company I used for forwarding asked for an emergency fee due to COVID-19. Item collection was also affected as the Circuit Breaker period meant that I was unable to meet buyers, so most of the goods were stored in my home for months.
What does your buyer demographic look like?
Kingvanitas: A very wide range actually. They are usually students and young adults, mostly female, of various ages. They come from various countries from Singapore, the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Slovekia, Malaysia and so on.
Sakuramochii: I have a very wide range of buyers, ranging from secondary school students to working adults. The youngest buyer that I have met is in lower secondary and there are buyers who are working as well. A large age range means that there are different considerations - meetup timings and dates have to be catered to the different demographics such as having more meetups during school holidays or after school and office hours.
How did you learn to conduct GOs?
Kingvanitas: I learned it all by myself! It wasn’t that hard since I did some ordering by myself before I started group orders.
Sakuramochii: I learned together with my friend who handles the Japanese orders. We were able to share our experiences and improve together.
Would running a GO account be a possible full-time job?
Sakuramochii: I don’t think it can be a full-time job as the income will be quite unstable since the profits we get are from excess amounts when rounding off second shipping fees. I earn anywhere from $2 to $15 per batch, so it’s really not a good or stable income for me to do it full-time.
Kingvanitas: No, at least not for me! While GOs can be a source of income for others, it's not very stable because hosting GOs is really dependent on whether the artists themselves release any merchandise, albums, or goods, and no one will know whether they will unless the artistes announce it.
The benefits of GOs
Opening GOs create a platform for lesser-known brands to reach a larger international audience. Buyers are able to choose from a wider variety of products, and stores can promote on an international scale as well, compared to having only local customers.
GOs also greatly lower the shipping cost for each product. As shipping costs are split by weight, each buyer will only pay for their share instead of footing the entire bill! This gives buyers a larger budget as compared to purchasing it alone.
Despite the stereotypes, most GOMs are extremely friendly and are willing to help you out when asked politely! Just keep in mind that they run these accounts voluntarily, so a little patience and kindness goes a long way in making the experience a pleasant one.
“A lot of hard work is put in for GOs, and sometimes it may seem extra difficult because of the many complications that come up. My buyers are very understanding and often send in kind messages thanking us for helping them, which I’m grateful for. It’s the small things that reminds me of why we became GOMs.”
Some bite-sized fun facts!
Most GOMs work with proxies in the seller’s country to safely pack and deliver goods to Singapore.
Buyers are able to track the process of their orders through a masterlist - typically a spreadsheet posted on the GOM’s account that details the status of each order.
From fanmade stickers to official merchandise, most GOMs are avid collectors as well!
Some GOMs design their own business cards to add to mailed items! These cards usually include the GOM’s contact details and a hashtag for buyers to upload photos of the items that they’ve received as a way to give reviews.
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