Online Shopping In Korea With iHerb

Shopping online in Korea is pretty easy (if you have a Korean bank account and card) and with fast shipping and all that jazz, it’s great. That said, I’ve never really jumped on that bandwagon until COVID hit.

Grocery shopping in Korea is a whole new experience and shopping online can be overwhelming especially when everything is in Korean and I just want to get on and get off real quick. I did tap sites that are tried and true and easy to get the essentials, like iHerb, though. This post is sponsored by iHerb but all opinions on the service and products are my own.

Seriously, iHerb is one of those sites that is shared fairly often in expat groups when it comes to the question, “where can I get vitamins in Korea?” or “Where can I get health supplements or healthy alternatives in Korea?”. iHerb has been the answer I’ve most often seen and why I first started using it.

Previously, when it came to purchasing vitamins, supplements, or some of those other special items, I’d just stock up on our yearly trips to the US. Without that yearly trip though, I was left with online shopping. Luckily though, iHerb has the healthy family essentials covered.

• What is iHerb?
• What To Order
• My Review
  • The Pros
  • The Cons
• What We Ordered
• How To Order From iHerb
• How fast is iHerb’s shipping to Korea?
• How To Save Money With iHerb

(This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a certain percentage of a sale if you purchase after clicking at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.)

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What is iHerb?

iHerb is a U.S. based multichannel direct-to-consumer e-commerce retailer, specializing in vitamins, supplements, nutrition and other natural products. Started in 1996, they carry one of the largest selections of natural supplements, home, and personal care products in the world. iHerb carries over 30,000 natural products and ships to over 180 countries.

They have two distribution centers, one in Kentucky and the other in California, and have been certified by NSF International as a Good Manufacturing Practices facility. They ship from climate-controlled distribution centers to ensure the quality of their products.

If you do have a question or comment though, iHerb offers customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in 10 different languages. This is especially important to people living abroad like myself who are often trying to either wake up early or head to bed late when trying to call anyone back in the US usually.

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What To Order

iHerb carries a huge assortment of products but for our most recent order, I stocked up some family essentials specifically from some of the iHerb brands to see how they stand up. iHerb carries a ton of brands and not just their own, but I wanted to see how they do on their own products. You can really learn a lot about a company when you see what they produce themselves, can’t you?

For reference, the categories they carry are:

• Supplements
• Bath & Personal Care
• Beauty
• Sports Nutrition
• Groceries 
• Baby & Kids
• Pets
• Home

There’s a ton of information including all ingredients and any label warnings so you can be sure you know what you’re getting. There are also reviews under each product so you can get a great idea if what you see is what you get. Personally, I’m a review hound, especially when it comes to online shopping. As someone who likes to touch, feel, shake, and peruse in person usually, reviews are definitely the next best thing if online shopping.

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My Review

There are a lot of great products on iHerb. I appreciate that their site notifies you as you’re shopping if you have more than 6 supplements or vitamins which could cause issues with customs. No one likes to have things held up in customs.

It’s easy to filter out for various health needs and with so many supplements and vitamins, it’s great to be able to filter right to what we want. Also, if you’re not quite sure what vitamin or supplement you need, the site can also sort it based on what you’re trying to improve health-wise. Basically, I like how it sorts everything in multiple ways.

The Pros

• A large assortment and variety of products to choose from.
• A lot of information on each product including suggested use, warnings, and all ingredients.
• Easy to use in multiple languages.
• Fantastic, aka FREE, shipping rates.
• Lower prices on some western foods and supplements that are in Korea but usually more expensive here.
• Trusted brands that you know and love.

The Cons

• Korean based companies have extremely fast shipping. As in, order today and you’ll have it on your doorstep tomorrow. Though iHerb is very fast and you’ll get things in less than week, in my experiences, it’s not that fast. They are certainly fast, but since we live in a country that is ultra-fast, I guess it could seem slow even though it’s really not.

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What We Ordered

I was really interested in getting as many vitamins and supplements as I could this time around. Like I said, I usually stock up on our yearly trips home to the US and couldn’t this year so we were lacking.

• Vitables, Gummy Vitamin C for Children
  • We can always have some Vitamin C in our house. Ava is often handed “vitamins” here in Korea that are really not. We haven’t been as sick this year probably due to mask wearing but Vitamin C is always a beneficial vitamin to have on hand. Also, Ava likes the taste.
• Oslomega, Kids Omega-3 Fish Oil
  • Giving kids vitamins is an interesting feat. This is a soft gel so Ava immediately bit into it. She wasn’t super enthusiastic at first but seems to have come around and asks for it each morning.
• Vitables, Gummy Propolis & Echinacea for Children
  • Another good thing to have around when viruses run amok. Ava liked the taste of this as well and had no issue taking it to help boost her immune system.
• California Gold Nutrition, Omega-3, Premium Fish Oil
  • Jae-oo has seen me taking vitamins daily for awhile but just asked me what he should be taking so I stocked up on some for him. Omega-3 offers mood support and also promotes brain and heart health.
• California Gold Nutrition, Gold C, Vitamin C
  • Continuing on stocking up my healthy essentials for my husband, I got more Vitamin C.
• California Gold Nutrition, Vitamin D3
  • Vitamin D3 supports healthy bones and teeth as well as supports a healthy immune system. Also called the “sunshine vitamin’, my husband tends to be clumsy, so keeping his bones healthy are always a goal.

I also got a couple things for the kitchen. Can’t pass up anything that is a combo of chocolate and peanut butter. Just me? And I’ve only ever had chia seeds once, and wanted to add it to my kitchen pantry staples. iHerb has a huge selection of ingredients, herbs, and superfoods.

• California Gold Nutrition, Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
  • I love that the ingredients list is short, sweet, and just simple to read. You know you’re getting good stuff when you already know what everything is. These have no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. They taste great. I’d definitely get them again… also because I love the peanut, chocolate combo.
• California Gold Nutrition, Organic Chia Seeds
  • Like I said, this was only my second time trying chia seeds, but I’m excited to use it in different ways in the kitchen. So far, it has graced the top of my yogurt and I love the little extra seed crunch with each bite.

Finally, we were in need of restocking some bathroom essentials that are safe for everyone so it was a great opportunity to try out iHerb’s brand ‘Mild By Nature’.

• Mild By Nature, Thickening B-Complex + Biotin Shampoo by Madre Labs
  • Made without sulfates, parabens, or phthalates, this is also cruelty-free. It smells pleasant and my hair feels soft and clean.
• Mild By Nature, Thickening Conditioner, B-Complex & Biotin
  • Again, made without sulfates, parabens, or phthalates, this is also cruelty-free. My hair loves a good conditioner and this one gives me a voluminous effect which is quite nice. An added bounce.
• Mild By Nature, African Black, Bar Soap, With Oats & Plaintains
  • I read great reviews about how their bars of soap moisturize the skin. They also last a long time so we’re starting with this one which is made with aloe, oats, plantains, vitamin E, and rosemary. It feels really lovely.
• Mild By Nature, Mango Turmeric Soap Bar
  • After we finish the African Black Bar Soap, I’ll update with thoughts on this one.

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How to order from iHerb

The ordering process is really easy and if you click here, you can get a discount on your next order. New and returning customers will get a discount OFF their iHerb order with no minimum purchase. Pop everything into your cart and then choose the best shipping option for you.

For shipping, you’ll get to choose between Direct Korean Postal and CJ Korea Express. Either way it’s free to Korea if you order over a certain amount. I did the Direct Korean Postal and had tracking available the entire way. Easy peasy.

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How fast is iHerb’s shipping to Korea?

It is fast! I received a message to my phone that my order shipped on a Thursday and I received it the next Wednesday. That’s fast and especially now considering Covid has really done a number on shipping.

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How To Save Money With iHerb

If you’ve had a rough year financially, you can also find some great deals on iHerb.

Specials: They have a special page called Specials where you can see what the discounted products are.

Trials: There’s also a section called Trials where you can trial products at lower prices. You can select one trial offer per order and you can only trial a product once. But there are plenty of things to try if you want.

Rewards Credit: As a member of iHerb, you can earn rewards by writing honest reviews and receiving helpful votes on those reviews. You can also earn credits if you share iHerb with your friends.

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While I used to stock up on all of the healthy family essentials like vitamins, supplements, and natural deoderant, etc. on our yearly trips home, I’m glad there’s an online option with the goods I need. If you are living in Korea and need healthy alternatives that you can’t find in Korea, then definitely check out iHerb.

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