[Consumerwide- Youngchul Woo Reporter/ Yohan Bok Reporter] Recently, the Korea Consumer Agency has urged for frequent victim cases of free cosmetic testing promotions in Korea. We've got to make a rational choice, understanding there isn't such thing as a free lunch."

There had been a total of 817 victim applications relevant to cosmetics for the last four years since September 2020, according to the Korea Consumer Agency on the 15th. In the sales method category, online sales were the most recorded, at 69.0% (564 cases). In particular, the cases doubled in 2022 (216 cases) compared to a year prior (100 cases). In the victim type category, contract-related cases were the most recorded, at 59.2% (484 cases). The record continues: "quality issue" at 30.9% (252 cases), "prohibiting labling and advertisement regulation" at 4.7% (38 cases), and "unjust actions" at 4.5% (37 cases).

Out of all the contract-relevant victim cases, roughly 10% (81 cases) involved unfair billing practices, such as charging customers for unboxing even when they returned the product after using free sample products in accordance with the free experiment contract after receiving a call from the company. Among the quality relevant victim circumstances the majority of cases involved the rejection of refunds or compensation because of actions caused by consuming the products, no matter the evidence submitted to business owners. Customers in their 30s were the most targeted age group in the age category, accounting for 28.9% of confirmed incidents (232 out of 802 cases) based on age statistics. The rest of the victim age groups are customers in their 40s at 26.7% (214 cases), in their 50s at 16.6% (133 cases), and in their 20s at 16.5% (132 cases). As for the victim root, "online sales" was the majority case among the overall age categories. Additionally, in contrast to other age groups, customers in their 60s accounted for a comparatively larger portion of "door-to-door sales" cases (38.5%, 35 cases).

Korea Consumer Agency has urged customers not to unbox products, but only the samples, in the case of free experiments, while checking the refund period, keeping contract paper after thoroughly understanding the contract contents, making a separate contract between cosmetics and skin care services if the entire contract includes skin care services, using a credit card (or check card) instead of cash while being careful for any shocking discount deals, and checking conponents and reviews prior to purchase concerning reaction cases to protect consumers from cosmetic regulatory violations.