Never ever interfere with the Auction and raise a hand
The auction at the wholesale market is quite a scene. However only certified intermediate wholesalers are qualified to attend the auction.
Ordinary customers may freely observe and watch the auction scenery, however even the subtle hand movements could distract the auctions so customers must be careful.
Consumers could simply ask an intermediate wholesaler who is qualified for the auction and ask to bid a price for desired seafood.
Point the desired seafood and ask an intermediate wholesaler to make a bid
Customers could simply ask an intermediate wholesaler at the scene if there is a desired seafood or fish to bid a price.
For such fish or seafood, intermediate wholesalers only charge about a 2,000~5,000 KRW overhead cost (this includes the enlistment cost, transportation cost as mentioned, even shipping within the market costs labor) or even lower.
Parking Lot is free at dawn of Noryangjin Fish Market
The Parking lot of the Noryangjin seafood market is free between 04:00 ~ 08:00. Consumers could use the parking lot for free.
Some intermediate wholesalers may not deal business with general consumers
Consumers should bear in mind that there are some intermediate wholesalers that might not deal with them. This isn’t an act of hostility but intermediate wholesalers generally are a B2B business where they have their own vendor businesses.
The quantity of the seafood that intermediate wholesalers are massive so some of them can’t simply spend time on general consumers that only purchase seafood at retail scale.
Quantity of Seafood dealt in the wholesale market is always larger than ordinary retail stores
The prices at the wholesale market of Noryangjin Fish Market are surprisingly cheaper compared with ordinary retail stores and much fresher and vivid as well. However, the wholesale market’s purpose is a wholesale for B2B scale in massive quantities.
The general smallest unit of seafood dealt in the wholesale market of Noryangjin Fish Market is in boxes, at least 6~10 fish at once, over 3 kg units.
Thus, consumers should bear in mind the scales and quantity that is dealt with in the wholesale market. Only very expensive fish like the akamutsu(blackthroat sea perch) are dealt in one EA unit.
Perfect Time to visit the Noryangjin Wholesale market
Before 02:00, consumers could observe the auction, however most wholesale businesses are still in preparation.
Thus, consumers should visit the wholesale market around 02:00~04:00. The wholesale market is still open before around 08:00, however most of the good quality merchandise are all sold out around 04:00 and it is already late to arrive 05:00.
Also, the crustaceans auction that deal king crabs, lobsters, hairy crabs, blue crabs, snow crabs that ordinary consumers most desire starts at 04:00.
As the crustaceans auction is so popular, before 04:30, most of the crabs and lobsters are sold out already swarmed by people.
Prepare Cash and if possible, plan to buy a lot of seafood at once
Having a purchase plan of a lot of seafood is not necessarily because the wholesale market deals quite the quantity of seafood at once.
The wholesale market at Noryangjin offers a variety of frozen seafood and other types of seafood that are rare and fresh that are incomparable with retail stores.
Most seafood could be kept for days and if well planned could be frozen or stored for a week.
Thus, buying a month or a week worth of seafood all at once could save time and money with high quality seafood as well.
Also, cash is kind of inevitable at Noryangjin Fish Market so consumers should prepare quite a lot of cash. This is recommended because the seafood market might have surprisingly great stock of seafood that was unexpected.
Have a plan B - Desired Fish might not be available at the Noryangjin Wholesale Market
The supply of seafood and fish is volatile. For example, there could be 4 tons of wild olive flounder in just one day while there could be 40 kgs in another.
The market can’t control such quantity or supply so consumers should have a back up plan just in case the desired fish isn’t available. Consumers could choose to go to the basement underground fish storage(Seoul Soosan, 서울수산) or the retail stores or choose another fish type at the whole sale market.
If the news announced seafood prices have gone down, it is already late
Many consumers visit the Noryangjin Fishfood Market after hearing news that the seafood prices has dropped.
However, it is already late when such news reach the media. Many consumers actually become disappointed after watching the news and visiting the fish market as everyone rushes to the market and the demand soars that even contribute to the price rise.
Especially when news that king crabs, snow crabs or lobster prices have dropped come out, consumers crowd the Noryangjin Fishfood market wholesale market and they become disappointed.
Crustacean auction is always fierce competitions.
The most popular auction is the crustacean auction for general visitors at the Noryangjin Fish Market because snowcrabs, kingcrabs and crustaceans often come out at surprisingly affordable prices.
Especially those that are imminent to death come out cheap and many consumers compete and visit the market at dawn for the crustaceans.
However, the crustaceans are so popular that all the good quality or good merchandise at affordable prices are all sold out within a 40 minute window right after the 04:00 AM auctions start.
It is wiser to visit next time if you’re already late at the crustacean auction.
Live Fish are offered at affordable prices
Consumers can’t participate in the auction, however they could ask an intermediate wholesaler to bid a price on fish enlisted. Also the intermediate wholesalers have their own fish stock and sell them to the general customers as well.
The intermediate wholesalers only sell a whole fish, however they are offered at very affordable prices of about 2,000~5,000 KRW per kg or 10% on the auction bid prices.
Nerve removal service(shinkejime) Bleeding service is provided
Consumers could buy a wholefish from intermediate wholesaler and they do offer nerve removal service that is called shinkejime(神経締め) that damages and removes the spinal cord so the fresh is preserved fresh.
Also intermediate wholesalers would cut off the gills and the tails to bleed out the fish to remove the blood.
This is a crucial process for preserving the quality. Consumers should bear in mind that bleeding may take 10~50 minutes depending on the fish species and size.
Slicing and gutting fish, Fileting and sashimi/hwe services are charged extra
The intermediate wholesalers don’t offer filtering or slicing and gutting services. However the retail stores that open early in the morning often offer fileting and slicing into sashimi services as well as gutting the fish bought at the wholesale market.
The usual cost is 3,000 KRW per kg for fileting a fish while slicing sashimi/hwe is 5,000 KRW per kg(this includes the gutting services). For little fish with large quantities, there might be extra charges.
However consumers could ask for details such as preserving the skin for fish that have a tasty skin or preparing the bones and head for soup.
