Idol birthday cafes boom — but fans say some venues are cashing in unfairly

Late on a Tuesday night in June, fans could be spotted decorating the inside of a cafe near Hongik University Station in Mapo-gu, Seoul — an area known as a hub for idol birthday cafes, or "saengka" — to celebrate the birthday of their favorite K-pop idol.

Inside one cafe a reporter visited, nine large boxes filled with handmade merchandise — T-shirts, keyrings, tumblers and pouches — were stacked against a wall, with decorations scattered across the floor.

Fans preparing for the birthday cafe set to open the following day cut out caricatures of their favorite artist and pasted them on the walls, inflated dozens of balloons, and stretched up on their tiptoes to hang decorations from the ceiling. The preparations had begun at 6 p.m. and stretched past midnight.

The organizers said they had spent more than three months planning the event — from concept to merchandise production. The budget came to 3 million won ($2,080). Three van trips were needed just to transport the props.

A birthday cafe works like this: a fan signs a contract with a cafe, then spends their own money to produce photos, banners and merchandise and decorate the space. The fan also handles promotion and teardown after the event. The cafe, meanwhile, sells beverages and desserts to visiting fans and regular customers throughout the event, boosting its revenue while the fan gets to express their support.

The birthday cafe culture took root during the COVID-19 pandemic. As large-scale concerts and fan meetings were canceled one after another, fans began gathering in small groups at cafes to celebrate their idols' birthdays — a workaround that gradually grew into a full-blown trend.

Kim Hyeon-jeong, 29, who said she has been a BTS fan for 10 years, said the format used to be something only a few large fandoms did occasionally, but since the pandemic it has become an annual tradition that every fandom observes. The trend also aligned with cafes' own need for alternative revenue streams as the pandemic cut into their sales.

Even after the pandemic ended, birthday cafe culture kept its momentum. It offers fans a far cheaper way to show their support than concerts or fan meetings, which require expensive tickets. Kim Do-heon, a popular music critic, said attending a fan meeting can require buying 100 albums, and concert tickets start at a minimum of 150,000 won. "As fan activities became limited to high-cost content, fans started looking for alternative fan culture they could enjoy for around 10,000 won," he said.

An invisible sense of competition among fandoms has also fueled the birthday cafe boom. Park, 24, a member of an Enhypen fan club, said apps now share real-time counts of how many birthday cafes are open for each idol, intensifying a rivalry in which fans feel their idol cannot afford to have fewer cafes than others. "That's why people hold events even when they lose money," she said.

Jeong Deok-hyeon, a popular culture critic, said competition among fandoms through popularity polls and album sales is a long-standing tradition. "That competition has now expanded into new territory, which is how birthday cafes were able to establish themselves as mainstream culture within the K-pop industry," he said.

According to Offmate, an app that tracks fan event information, around 100 birthday cafes open in a single day in the Hongdae and Hapjeong Station area of Mapo-gu. The neighborhoods around Hybe's headquarters in Yongsan-gu and SM Entertainment in Seongdong-gu are also dense with birthday cafes. The format has recently expanded beyond K-pop idols to cover animation and drama series characters, and even figures such as Jesus, King Sejong, Newton and Einstein.

As demand has grown, businesses outside the cafe industry have also entered the market. A perfume shop on Hongdae Street bundles its 20,000-won mini perfumes with fan-made merchandise and rents out its space when needed. A flower shop sells roses alongside fan-produced commemorative items.

A reporter visited 20 birthday cafes in the Hongdae area and found that standard contract terms typically include a venue deposit of 100,000 to 500,000 won and a minimum daily sales requirement of around 50 drinks. If that minimum is not met, the fan organizer must make up the difference. At one Hongdae cafe, when a reporter asked about rental terms, the response was: "If you can't sell enough, you have to cover the shortfall — think carefully before you book."

During a birthday cafe event, the venue sells beverages and desserts bundled with fan-made merchandise. A typical package pairs a 7,000-won drink and a 2,000-won Dubai Chewy Cookie with merchandise, sold together for 11,000 won, with the margin going to the cafe owner. One cafe owner said a single birthday cafe event can triple the venue's usual daily revenue. As demand from fans has surged, cafe owners have found a lucrative new business opportunity.

Popular cafes that attract heavy booking inquiries can afford to dictate terms, and stories circulate among fans of some venues presenting one-sided conditions with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.

Son, 29, who organized a birthday cafe in Yongsan, said she once inquired about booking a cafe on a day when her favorite idol's birthday coincided with that of a more prominent Hybe act. The cafe told her that her idol was not at a level that warranted a birthday cafe on that date and that an additional fee would be required.

There have also been disputes over prepayments. Last November, NCT member Chenle visited a birthday cafe held in his honor in Seongsu-dong, where he prepaid 500,000 won — but fans later raised concerns that the equivalent amount in drinks had not been provided. The cafe subsequently posted an apology acknowledging that the prepayment had not been properly reflected.

Online communities are filled with complaints from fans who have organized birthday cafes. Common grievances include: "I don't understand why, on top of boosting their sales, we also have to guarantee a minimum order count" and "The owner does nothing but take the booking, yet earns double the monthly rent from a single birthday cafe."

Last year, the Korea Consumer Agency received an inquiry asking whether a birthday cafe booking deposit could be refunded. An agency official said that if consumers file complaints about birthday cafe contract terms, an investigation would be warranted. "If the terms impose an excessive burden on consumers in an unfair way, there are sufficient grounds to demand adjustments," the official said. The official added that if many cafes are found to be using unfair contract terms and public consensus builds, preemptive regulators such as the Korea Fair Trade Commission could conduct a sweeping review of those terms and order corrections.

Experts say unfavorable contract terms should not be treated as acceptable simply because fans are motivated by affection for their idols. Choi Cheol, a professor of consumer studies at Sookmyung Women's University, said requiring fans to guarantee minimum sales on top of paying a venue fee — in a situation where fans have little choice but to use a cafe to secure the space they need — is difficult to regard as a fair and equal contract. "Consumer spending driven by fan affection deserves protection just like any other. Standardized trade practices are needed," he said.