How Actress Kang So-ra Masters the Art of Second-Hand Shopping: Tips for Finding Hidden Gems

[Herald Muse = Kim Da-young, Intern Reporter] Actress Kang So‑ra has returned as a savvy secondhand shopper.

On May 8, her YouTube channel ‘Solplay’ posted a video titled “A Day in the Life of a Pro Secondhand Trader.”

In the clip, Kang opens with “Welcome to my home.” She said she’d wrestled with whether to do a home tour, noting that keeping some distance preserves a bit of mystery. Since the moment felt right, she decided to offer a brief look inside her house.

Kang said much of her home is furnished with secondhand finds. Pointing to her daughter’s desk, she said she picked it up in Songpa through a local secondhand deal and that the child uses it as a study desk.

During the living-room tour, Kang displayed her thrift-shopping instincts. Indicating the sofa, she said, “That sofa is a used item. I sat on it in the store and loved it; when the alert popped up, I had it loaded onto a truck right away.” Her enthusiasm for preowned pieces came across as genuine and relatable. The sofa is a high-end item priced at over 2 million KRW (approximately $1,500).

Kang also noted that the bedroom shelves and clothes rack are secondhand, brought from Wangsimni by a hauling service — a detail that underscores her particular thrift-savvy approach as a Gangnam resident.

She recommended keeping listings in two areas: one in your own neighborhood and another in a different district. “Gangnam tends to have more conservative luxury pieces, while Seongsu, Mapo and Yongsan often offer trendier, more current items,” she advised, sharing her personal tips for shopping the secondhand market.