A local consumer advocacy group has recently confirmed the long-held rumors that foreign cosmetic brands charge Korean customers more than other overseas markets.

The Consumers Union of Korea studied 65 major cosmetic brands sold in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Japan and Korea from July 1-20 and found that the price of items sold at Korean department stores were on average 1.02-1.56 times higher than abroad. Products at drugstores were 1.11-2.46 times the average price in other countries.

The highest price gap in department stores was for French cosmetic brand Biotherm’s Homme Foam Shaver 200ml ― 1.56 times higher than the average price sold overseas ― followed by Biotherm Homme UV Supreme Sunscreen 30ml (1.36 times) and Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPFPA+ 30ml (1.24 times), among others.

The biggest gap on drugstore shelves was for La Roche Posay’s Cicaplast Baume B5 100ml (2.46 times), followed by Burts Bee’s Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream 17g (2.21 times).

The group noted that all the products were more expensive than in the country of origin.

It also revealed that retail prices here were much higher ― more than 2-3 times ― than the import prices reported to the Korea Customs Service.

“The market needs to embrace diversified retail platforms in order to induce price competition among manufacturers and importers,” the group noted.

A spokeswoman for a high-end cosmetics company declined to disclose their pricing policies.

“The price includes various factors, not limited to the import price but also other tariffs, rent for the retail outlets and promotional fees” she said. “Also, some of our loyal customers prefer the price to be a bit higher for a high-end brand image. We try to suit them.”

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)