▲ Food ordered through a food delivery platform
You open a delivery app and add "half-seasoned, half-fried" chicken to your shopping cart.
You also add a cola.
To get it as quickly as possible, you choose "rabbit delivery" instead of "turtle delivery" and complete the payment.
The rider's location moves across the map app.
Eight minutes after payment, a notification pops up saying the food has arrived.
But when you open the front door, there is no food delivered.
This is because, from the start, it was not a real delivery app.
However, you have not been scammed.
This is because you did not actually pay any money.
You have just engaged in a so-called "fake consumption experience."
Recently, these "fake websites" that allow people to satisfy various daily consumption desires—such as food delivery, shopping, and concert ticketing—in a virtual space have become a hot topic on social media.
Users experience their desired consumption behavior exactly as if it were real, but no fees are charged and no items are received.
Nevertheless, people are responding positively, saying they feel a sense of vicarious satisfaction similar to actual spending through this "fake experience" alone.
For instance, when accessing the fake delivery app simulation website "Eumsikman***," a description reading "Delivery Addiction Treatment Demo (Simulation) App" appears.
Users select menu items and add them to their shopping cart just like on a real delivery app.
After a (virtual) payment, they can even track the delivery rider's location.
The site features more than 40 menu items from 15 restaurants, including chicken, ramen, pasta, tteokbokki, and malatang.
Options such as flavor selection, size changes, and adding toppings are also available.
Half-fried, half-seasoned chicken is priced around 21,900 won, kimchi stew at 9,500 won, and rosé tteokbokki at 7,900 won.
After adding cheese to the rosé tteokbokki and virtually paying 10,667 won, a delivery completion notification popped up in just six minutes.
This was followed by a message saying, "You saved 580 kcal."
It showed that, "thanks to" not actually receiving the food, the user avoided consuming that amount of calories.
This website was born from an X user's experience with "delivery addiction."
In March, they introduced the site on X, writing, "My delivery addiction was so severe that I made a fake Baemin/Coupang. You can choose menu items, pay, and even track the delivery, but only the food doesn't come." The post recorded 5 million views.
Netizens cheered with comments such as "This is such a novel idea," "The fake Baemin is brilliant. As someone who just fills the cart and closes the app, this is a revolution," and "Is this like a zero-calorie delivery?"
Graduate student Shim (26) said on June 19, "I accessed it just for fun, but it felt like I was actually ordering, which satisfied my craving. It's killing two birds with one stone since I save money and go on a diet."
"I used to open delivery apps out of habit as soon as night fell, spending nearly 300,000 won a month just on delivery," Shim recalled. "I wasn't even hungry, but I ordered food just to get a dopamine hit."
Office worker Lee (25) also said, "It felt surprisingly rewarding when the app showed at the end that I saved calories. I think I will find this fake app very useful whenever I get the urge to order delivery."
Lee added, "Even on days when I ate dinner at the company cafeteria, I would habitually order dessert after returning from working overtime, and I often ended up leaving food behind once it arrived."
There are also virtual shopping malls that soothe the urge for impulsive shopping.
On "Saja**," created by another X user in April, users can add items to their shopping cart, make (virtual) payments, and even leave product reviews, just like on a real online shopping mall.
However, the products sold there are far from ordinary.
In the home appliances category, a "space-time leap device (time machine)" priced at a whopping 10 million won is listed.
Witty reviews abound, such as: "Received a defective product. It only makes a buzzing sound. I set it to travel back to the Joseon Dynasty, but now I'm in the dinosaur era and got into a traffic accident with a Brachiosaurus," and "I bought this to stop Elon Musk from buying Twitter, but a warning window popped up. So now I just smack him on the back of the head every day and run away. Highly recommended."
Job seeker Lee (26) said, "I have a habit of filling up shopping carts on shopping apps whenever I get stressed, and while trying to fix it, I happened to see 'Saja**' on Instagram. I laughed at the ingenious product list and ended up making a fake payment for a 5 million won 'wish fulfillment ticket'."
Lee laughed, adding, "It helps me resist impulsive buying, and thanks to the quirky products and reviews, I had a big laugh and felt strangely healed."
There is also a simulation app called "Do*" where users can satisfy their desires by "splurging" to their heart's content with fake money.
On this app, users can shop for clothing, electronics, cosmetics, and household goods, as well as order food from more than 60 virtual restaurants.
They can also virtually book tickets for concerts, sports matches, and flights for overseas travel. In the case of concerts, users can search for their desired performance and even select the date and seats.
Of course, it does not cost a single penny of real money.
Kwak Geum-joo, an honorary professor of psychology at Seoul National University, explained, "Even if actual food or goods do not arrive, the act of choosing menu items and putting them in a shopping cart itself provides vicarious satisfaction."
She analyzed, "Impulsive spending or overeating is usually followed by regret and a sense of burden, but on fake websites, users can experience the pleasure right up to the moment before payment without such regret, thereby preventing impulsive consumption."
However, Professor Kwak advised, "Just as some people end up with vicarious satisfaction after watching 'mukbang' while others are led to an actual meal, fake websites can be an alternative behavior that reduces impulses for some, but may lead to actual consumption for others. It is best to use them wisely as a means to control one's impulsive behavior."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.