When I received my 4th Generation Carat kit last September, I was faced with the same question I’ve asked myself a couple of times before: Is this worth my money?
Inside the plain white box printed with nothing but a block of thin text saying “CARAT: SEVENTEEN OFFICIAL FANCLUB 4TH CARAT” were a membership card, a beach towel in a drawstring plastic bag, a photobook, a “Carat Dictionary”, a card case with a lanyard that came in the fandom’s colours, a binder, and a bunch of photo cards featuring the 13 members of the group—all of these for the price of 53,000 KRW (30,000 KRW for the membership and 23,000 KRW for the shipping). And in case you’re wondering, that’s about 2,000 KRW cheaper than the previous kit.
When it comes to purchasing merchandise and related items, you’ll be surprised to find out that K-Pop fans—myself included—can be quick to shell out some good money. But that doesn’t take away the fact that these goods can be quite pricey, too. And I daresay that fan club memberships and their kits are not cheap at all, especially if you’re living outside South Korea, which brings me back to the question: Are they worth one’s money?
Well, it really depends on a lot of factors—from the price of the membership and the kit’s inclusions to your budget and how long you can wait for the package to arrive.
Personally, I don’t find the membership kit worth every cent I spent for it. The inclusions are not always useful and the quality of some of the goods can be sub-par. But I still sign up during the “recruitment” period for one simple reason: Having the official fan club membership card with my name on it cements my fan status.
Now, this may not be the answer you’re looking for, so I rounded up as many pros and cons as I could think of for you to take into consideration:
[+] If you collect artist merchandise, then you will love the exclusivity of the goods in the kit. Since they’re not for sale in the market and are made available for a limited time only, the recruitment period is the best time to purchase the goods for yourself.
[-] Like what I’ve mentioned above, the quality of the goods can be sub-par. There are even instances when Carats receive defective goods, or worse, they don’t receive a particular item that’s supposed to be in the kit. Fortunately, Pledis Entertainment addresses such issues by giving fans the opportunity to report about defective goods and missing items.
[+] Purchasing the kit means your Fan Café membership will be marked official and you’ll gain access to exclusive content such as never-before-seen photos, drawings, and greetings to the fans. In SEVENTEEN’s Fan Café, these are posted in the “CARATZONE.”
[-] Your patience will be tested as the wait can be long. This year, it took a while for Pledis to announce the inclusions, produce the goods, and ship out everything to the fans. If you want the specifics, it took four months, and within those four months, SEVENTEEN celebrated their fourth debut anniversary, released a new single, kicked off their second world tour in Seoul, announced a comeback, and took up other activities that my multi-fandom brain can no longer recall.
[+] One of the major benefits you can get as an official Carat is privilege in purchasing tickets to SEVENTEEN’s events including concerts and fan meetings, BUT…
[-] …if you can’t readily fly out to South Korea for these events, then you can’t really maximise this feature of the membership.
[+] If you do get to travel to South Korea for events, though, you’re entitled to participate in special events, including those where they give away freebies like photocards, badges, and other tiny stuff that make for cutesy mementos.
[-] There are also instances when a package is misdelivered to a fan, meaning the membership card carries a different name. I actually know someone who received the wrong package and never found her own ID. (If this happens to you, make sure to post about it on your SNS and on the Fan Café. Pledis will not come to your assistance in finding your package, but other fans might be able to help you.)
[+] Just as how you get first dibs on event tickets, you also have the privilege to purchase special merchandise like the Carat Land Memory Book.
That’s pretty much it!
Thing is, it’s really up to you if you’ll find fan club membership kits value for money or not. Some are happy with the simple merchandise that come with the kits, while others would want to get more. It’s all about managing your expectations and knowing your priorities as a fan.
If you’ve got other fan club membership-related questions that I was not able to cover here (especially if you’re contemplating on becoming an official Carat), feel free to shoot me a DM on Twitter.
Fangirl On The Go 