Need to furnish a flat in Incheon, Korea - how best to do this remotely?
 

Hi all
Kind of OT but trying to get Korea FTer experts to help - I need to furnish a small 2 bed flat in Incheon starting from nothing. So i'll need everything - beds, sofa, utensils, pots, etc. Was thinking of just getting everything from IKEA Korea, having it delivered and built. Wondering if anyone has any tips on how best to do this remotely - want to have all the furniture delivered/installed ahead of arriving in May.
Or maybe someone can share other forums I should ask on as not sure where to interact with the locals..Thanks in advance!

I live in Incheon (Songdo, to be precise). In my opinion, the smartest way to go is to come on out here, spend a few hundred on a hotel stay, and getting out to IKEA. Or you can just buy everything on "gmarket global" right before your arrival (maybe using a colleague's PCC number), just going off of product/seller reviews, and getting all that sent directly to your address. Takes like 2 business days. The standard shipping time here is the equivalent of Amazon Prime. :-)

But overall, in my opinion, it's still best to go the IKEA route and see for yourself what kind of furniture you're going to be getting. If you end up getting stuff that is sub-par quality via any other remote route, you're at risk of kicking yourself for as long as you're here.

Unless you share any other basic details (i.e. how long you're here for, whether you're bringing family), I don't know what else to advise re: this query.

However, I would advise, if you use Facebook, to check out the "Every Expat in Korea" group; tons of friendly people there to answer all sorts of questions. And in case you'll be in Songdo, check out the "Songdo Community" fb group. :-)

Thank you for the response! I'm used to ordering IKEA for everything, just was looking to see if it was the same in Korea - looking at the ikea.kr website, it's most of the same stuff we get in europe/america (even the same names!) so will just get the stuff I'm used to.

Thanks for the tips on the FB groups! didn't think about that and will reach out once dates are more confirmed but looking at middle of May and will be traveling with family/two small kids hence want to have everything delivered / setup before I get there