KIKIT INSIGHTS · GUIDES
Can Your Store Say “Counts Toward Hanteo”?
How Hanteo and Circle treat wholesale K-pop album orders—and what overseas retailers can safely tell customers.
When wholesale K-pop album orders count toward Hanteo and Circle, and what overseas retailers can safely tell their customers.
01. When does a Hanteo sale count?
Hanteo’s Physical Album Chart is based on completed album sales reported by its connected retailers.
For online orders, payment alone does not necessarily create a reported sale. Major Hanteo retailers explain that they transmit the quantity after the albums are packed and dispatched.
This also applies to preorders. An order placed before release is generally reported when the retailer begins shipping the album, rather than on the original payment date.
A genuine B2B order can also be reported. The buyer does not have to be an individual fan. If a connected Korean retailer directly sells and dispatches 100 albums to an overseas business, those 100 albums can be reported as the Korean retailer’s completed sale.
02. The overseas store does not need to report the same albums again
An overseas store does not necessarily have to be a Hanteo Family retailer for its inventory to have been reported.
If the Korean supplier already reported the B2B sale when the albums were dispatched, the albums entered the reporting chain at the Korean sourcing stage.
The overseas store’s later sales to individual customers do not automatically add the same albums to Hanteo again.
This is why the correct customer message should identify the Korean sourcing route instead of suggesting that every customer checkout creates a new Hanteo sale.
03. Circle measures a different stage
Circle’s main Album Chart measures wholesale album shipments, with returns deducted.
This usually occurs earlier, when an official distributor releases albums into the market. It is not based on the final overseas customer’s checkout.
Circle also operates a separate Retail Album Chart for sales reported by participating retailers.
In short:
Hanteo: Completed sales reported by connected retailers
Circle Album Chart: Wholesale shipments minus returns
04. KIKIT only sources albums through Hanteo-reporting retailers
For album orders, KIKIT purchases only through Korean retailers whose album sales are reported to Hanteo Chart.
Before purchasing, we check the retailer’s current Hanteo Family status or confirmed reporting route. We also retain the order, invoice and dispatch records behind the transaction.
This means overseas stores sourcing albums through KIKIT can identify where the albums were purchased and at which stage the sale was reported.
KIKIT does not operate Hanteo and cannot control its final chart data. Our role is to use a verifiable Korean sourcing route and keep the records supporting it.
05. What can your store tell customers?
For albums supplied through KIKIT, the clearest wording is:
These albums were sourced through a Korean retailer that reports its completed sales to Hanteo Chart.
If the Korean retailer has confirmed the reporting stage for the specific shipment:
This batch was reported to Hanteo by the Korean retailer when it was dispatched.
Avoid a blanket statement such as:
Every customer purchase on our store creates a new Hanteo sale.
The albums may already have been reported when they were purchased and dispatched in Korea.
Check the sourcing route before making the claim
“Counts toward Hanteo” should be supported by the actual purchasing route.
For album orders, KIKIT sources only through Hanteo-reporting retailers and keeps the Korean purchase and dispatch records.
If chart reporting matters for your next order, tell us before purchase. We will show you the sourcing route behind the albums.