SEVENTEEN Criticized for High Album Price, Company Responded “It was an Error”
Many fans found the hefty price of SEVENTEEN’s latest album version to be unreasonable, leading to heavy criticisms.
On May 7, a topic titled “The price of SEVENTEEN’s deluxe edition album, which is not well received by fans”, was published on the Korean forum “theqoo”, drawing over 50,000 views and almost 1,000 comments within just a few hours.
In particular, the topic pointed out that SEVENTEEN is releasing the deluxe version of their latest album, “17 IS RIGHT HERE”, which includes a photobook, sticker, a full set of photocard, as well as key rings.
However, while previous deluxe versions of SEVENTEEN’s albums were priced at around 40,000 won (approx 30 USD), the “17 IS RIGHT HERE” deluxe version is priced at a whopping 170,000 won (approx 125 USD, after 17% discount), shocking fans.
As a result, netizens couldn’t help but express their frustrations, calling HYBE (the parent company of SEVENTEEN, who is under Pledis) greedy for such an over-the-top price.
Below are some comments from netizens:
- Wow I really hate HYBE
- Except for the key ring, everything is made of paper, so it’s more expensive than a concert. Ugh..
- Does it make sense for it to be more expensive than a concert ticket?
- HYBE are trying to recover their money after their stock dropped due to Min Hee-jin…
- After (SEVENTEEN enters) HYBE, there was a lot of commercialism, the design was outdated… It seems like they are milking the fans too much.
As the controversy intensifies, however, SEVENTEEN’s agency Pledis has published a statement about prince change, claiming that the old price was just an error.
In particular, Pledis stated on the 7th, “Regarding the price labeling error of ’17 IS RIGHT HERE (Deluxe Ver.)’ that went on sale today at 11 AM, we would like to inform you that this album was initially planned as a limited edition with a special configuration to commemorate Seventeen’s Best Album release. In the preparation process, the composition and price were changed to allow more fans to enjoy it in line with the concept of the Best Album rather than emphasizing rarity.”
However, the agency then added, “Due to operational errors, the initial planned price was incorrectly communicated to the distributors as the final price, causing a price labeling error on the sales page. Discussions with distributors on price changes and refund procedures took time, so we couldn’t announce the price error sooner.”
Finally, they said, “The sales price labeling within the sales page will be corrected from 5 p.m. today, and we will guide those who have already made purchases on the refund process and re-payment at each sales outlet. We sincerely apologize for causing confusion and worry. We will do our best to reorganize internal processes to prevent such errors in the future.”
Currently, the album is being sold at a price of 83,400 won (approx 60 USD), adjusted to 69,500 won (51 USD) after a 17% discount.
