If you found something on Daangn (당근, also called Karrot) but cannot message the seller, or you cannot even finish signing up, you have hit the most common secondhand problem in Korea. Daangn does not ban foreigners. You can look at listings all you want. The trouble starts the moment you try to chat, and it comes down to two things: a Korean phone check you may not be able to pass, and a neighborhood lock that decides what you can see at all.
What is actually stopping you
To chat or buy, Daangn asks for 본인인증, and it has to be a Korean phone number in your own name. The official copy is blunt: “당근은 휴대폰 본인인증 절차를 통해 서비스를 이용할 수 있어요,” and “타인 명의의 휴대폰 번호는 사용할 수 없어요.” If the phone holder and the account holder differ, “계정이 제한될 수 있어요.”
On top of that there is a neighborhood lock. 동네 인증 checks whether “회원의 위치가 특정 구역 내지 행정동 단위에 속하는지,” about a 6km radius around where you actually are. You only see and reach sellers near you. There is no “whole of Korea” setting. And the whole app is Korean-only, so even looking around needs a translation app.
Daangn has no in-app payment or delivery: every deal is a direct chat plus an in-person handoff. So passing the check is not the finish line. You still have to bargain and meet in Korean.
Can you do it yourself?
If you are a resident, often yes. The official FAQ says “외국인도 추가 인증이 가능해요” using an 외국인등록증, 거소증, 영주증, or 여권 together with a Korean SIM. Once you pass the check and you are standing in your own neighborhood, you can chat, bargain, and meet. Use Papago or Google Translate to read the Korean-only screens.
But it fails in real cases: an expired ARC number, or a name mismatch between your Korean phone line and your ID. Borrowed numbers and VoIP do not work.
If you are a tourist or overseas buyer, watch out for one big myth. There is a separate global Karrot app for Canada, the US, and Japan, but it does not show Korean Daangn listings, and it still needs a local carrier SMS number (VoIP and Google Voice are not accepted, and there is no other way). It will not get you to a Seoul seller. Without a Korean number that can pass 본인인증, you can look around but you cannot reliably sign up, message, or close a deal.
When doing it yourself will not work
Get someone to do it for you (a trusted Korean friend, or Toyoni) when:
- you are a tourist or overseas buyer with no Korean number that can pass 본인인증;
- your check fails on an expired ARC or a name mismatch;
- the seller is in a different neighborhood or far-away city the 6km lock will not show you;
- you cannot read or bargain in the Korean-only chat and want the deal closed right;
- you are worried about scams (the top fear Chinese and Reddit buyers warn each other about, since you pay direct and off-platform).
How Toyoni helps
We act as your verified local. We search Daangn for the item you want, message and bargain with the seller in Korean from a verified local neighborhood account, check the listing for scams, and set up the in-person pickup or delivery and the payment. We follow Daangn’s rules, we do not break them. And we tell you straight when a listing or seller cannot be reached. You get the chat and the handoff as proof.
It is the accountable way to do this, instead of the scattered, payment-buggy proxies foreigners get pointed at. One chat, a real person, done. If you would rather try a market with a different flow, see our guide to Bunjang (번개장터).
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