Olive Young for Tourists: Instant Tax Refund, Payment & Sale Dates

Spend ₩15,000 or more at Olive Young, show your physical passport, and the tax comes off right at the register. This guide sticks to what is specific to Olive Young — excluded items, how you can pay, the Olive Young Sale that runs four times a year, and the return rule. The general refund caps live in our tax refund guide.

• → Korea Tax Refund Guide: Instant vs Airport, and the Limits That Split Them

Last checked: 2026-10-06·Desk-researched — not yet verified on site

1. 1Instant tax refund at the register — passport and ₩15,000

   Per the Myeongdong Town store's official page: spend ₩15,000 or more, show your physical passport, and the refund is applied in store. Sanitary goods, shopping bags and dried-fruit products are not eligible, so the tax-free total can be lower than what you pay — if you are only just over ₩15,000, do the maths without them. Olive Young puts the refund at 5–8% of the purchase. For the per-receipt and whole-trip caps, see the tax refund guide.

   Olive Young Myeongdong Town (Flagship) →

2. 2If you left your passport at the hotel

   The same official page says that without a passport you can take a refund slip and claim the money at the airport refund counter instead. So you only lose the instant deduction, not the refund — keep the slip until you fly out.

3. 3Paying — WeChat Pay and Alipay are officially listed

   The Myeongdong Town store's official page lists mobile payments such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, but says nothing about cards. An official Olive Young press release once announced a discount for paying with UnionPay, so UnionPay cards appear to be accepted. We found no official wording on overseas-issued Visa or Mastercard cards — don't rely on a single card, carry a backup payment method.

4. 4Which store — Myeongdong Town

   Myeongdong Town opened on 1 November 2023 as a tourist-focused store and, at 1,157 m², was Olive Young's largest in Korea at the time. Staff serve customers in English, Chinese and Japanese, and the 2nd-floor Global Service Lounge has free Wi-Fi and somewhere to sit. Listed hours are 10:00–22:30 every day. Outside Myeongdong: as of August 2026, Olive Young says it has designated 151 stores nationwide as key stores for foreign tourists, prioritising multilingual staff there.

   Olive Young Myeongdong Town (Flagship) →

5. 5The Olive Young Sale — March, June, September, December

   Olive Young's regular sale, the "Olive Young Sale" (올영세일), runs four times a year — in March, June, September and December — in stores and on the official online mall, for about a week each time (1–7 March in 2026; 31 May–6 June for the 2024 summer edition). Exact dates are announced each time, so check if your trip overlaps. The passport refund still applies during the sale.

6. 6Exchanges and refunds — 15 days, unopened, receipt and card

   Per the Myeongdong Town store's official page, exchanges and refunds are only for regular, unopened products still in sellable condition, within 15 days of purchase, and you must bring the payment method you used and the receipt. If you won't have time before your flight, check your items inside the store right after paying. How a tax-refunded purchase is reversed is not covered by the official page, so ask the staff at the time. Refunds are only at the store where you bought the item; exchanges for the same amount or more can be made at any Olive Young in Korea.