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Money: prices, receipts and refunds

How Korean clinics quote prices: units, cc, shots and areas

Korean clinics quote a price in the unit that suits the treatment: an area or a block of units for Botox, a 1 cc syringe for filler, and a number of shots for Ultherapy, Shurink and Thermage. Each unit belongs to one product, so a price per unit, per cc or per shot is only comparable when the product, the area and the doctor are the same. One item often has several prices at one clinic, by product, by doctor and by VAT basis.

The unit depends on the treatment

A Korean price list does not use one unit for everything. The table shows what clinics in this directory usually count and what that unit means.

TreatmentWhat the price list usually countsWhat the unit is
Botulinum toxin ("Botox")One area, such as forehead, frown lines or crow's feet. The jaw is often priced per 50 units. Skin Botox is priced for the full face. Some clinics sell 100-unit packages.A unit measures the potency of one product. It is not a volume.
Hyaluronic-acid fillerA 1 cc syringe. Some clinics price by area (lips, nose, chin, under-eye) or sell 2 to 5 cc bundles at a lower price per cc.1 cc is the same as 1 mL.
UltherapyA number of shots, in packages. Eyes, neck and forehead are sold as smaller packages.Merz and the medical literature call the same thing "lines". A Korean journal paper calls it "shots".
ShurinkA number of shots.Shurink is the Korean name of the Ultraformer III HIFU device (Classys, Korea).
Thermage FLXA number of shots for the face tip or for the eye tip.FDA device records list the count as "REP", a term the sources do not define. Studies use "shots" or "pulses" for the same count.

Korean words you will see on price lists:

  • 부위 (buwi), 1부위 (ilbuwi): an area. One area is one billing unit.
  • 샷 (syat): a shot.
  • 국산 (guksan) and 수입 (suip): made in Korea, and imported.
  • 부가세 별도 (bugase byeoldo): VAT is charged on top of the listed price.
  • 원장 (wonjang): the head doctor.

Why one item has several prices

The same item can appear at several prices on one list. These are the patterns in the prices that clinics in this directory publish:

  • By product. Korean-made toxins are usually priced below Xeomin (Merz, Germany) and Dysport (Ipsen). Botox from Allergan (US) is usually priced highest, often several times the Korean-made price for the same area at the same clinic. For filler, imported brands are usually priced at about twice the Korean-made price or more. Shurink is priced far lower per shot than Ultherapy, but it is a different device.
  • By doctor. Some clinics charge more when the head doctor performs the treatment. This appears in Botox and Thermage prices.
  • By package size. For Ultherapy and Thermage, the price per shot usually falls as the shot count rises. Some clinics sell filler bundles at a lower price per cc.
  • By VAT basis. Most clinics list prices with VAT excluded, but not all. See VAT on cosmetic procedures and the ended tourist refund.
  • By price type. A clinic may show a regular price and a time-limited event price for the same item. See event price vs list price.

Why a price per unit is not a like-for-like number

Toxin units are not interchangeable. The US labels of Botox Cosmetic, Dysport, Xeomin, Jeuveau, Letybo and Daxxify each say their units cannot be compared with, or converted into, the units of another product. The Korean MFDS-approved label text for Tmvus says the same. For example, 50 Dysport units are not 2.5 times a Botox dose. No source we read gives a conversion, and this page does not give one.

A vial has a fixed size. A vial holds a fixed number of units that depends on the product. On the US labels, Botox Cosmetic comes in 50 and 100 units, and Dysport in 300 and 500 Dysport units. If a clinic prices by the vial or by a package, ask what it contains.

Not every filler syringe is 1 cc. In FDA device records, several Juvéderm and Restylane products come in 1.0 mL syringes. Others come in 0.5 mL or 2.0 mL. Ask the clinic for the size of the syringes it will use and how many it counts.

Shots from different devices are not equal. Shurink and Ultherapy are different devices, and no source we read equates one shot of one with one of the other. Thermage tips also differ. In FDA device records the Total Tip is listed at 4.0 cm² or 3.0 cm² and the Eye Tip at 0.25 cm², each with its own shot (REP) options. Ask which device or tip will be used.

How to compare two quotes

Check these five points before you compare two prices:

  1. Same product? Name the toxin, filler brand, device or tip.
  2. Same amount? Count areas, units, cc or shots, and ask what each includes.
  3. Same doctor? Ask who performs the treatment and whether that changes the price.
  4. Same VAT basis? Ask whether the total includes VAT.
  5. Same price type? Check whether the number is the regular price or an event price.

The price tables in our guides show regular published prices only. Each row shows the VAT basis and the date we checked it. Event prices are not in the tables.

Where to read more

FAQ

Why don't Korean clinics quote Botox per unit?

Most list Botox by area, with forehead, frown lines or crow's feet each counted as one area (1부위). The jaw is often priced per 50 units, and skin Botox per full face. A unit measures the potency of one product and cannot be converted into another product's units, so a price per unit compares poorly across brands. Ask which product is used and how many units go in.

What is a shot (샷) on a Korean price list?

A shot is the count clinics use for what an Ultherapy, Shurink or Thermage device delivers. Merz and the literature call Ultherapy shots "lines", and FDA device records list Thermage counts as "REP". A shot count only compares within the same device and tip, because no source we read equates one device's shot with another's. Ask which device and which tip the clinic uses.

What does 1 cc of filler mean?

1 cc is the same volume as 1 mL, which is the size of many filler syringes. FDA device records also list 0.5 mL and 2.0 mL syringes for some Restylane products, so not every syringe is 1 cc. Korean clinics usually price filler per 1 cc, split into Korean-made and imported brands. Ask how many syringes your area takes and which brand.

What does 부가세 별도 mean?

It means VAT excluded. The listed price is before Korea's 10% VAT, which is added to the bill, so you pay 1.1 times the listed price. Most clinics list prices this way, but not all, and some procedures may not carry VAT. Ask the clinic for the final total and whether it includes VAT.

Can I compare prices between Korean clinics?

Yes, when the product, the area, the amount, the doctor and the VAT basis match, and both numbers are regular prices rather than events. The tables in our four price guides group rows by product and show the VAT basis and check date for each clinic. They leave out event prices, which are time-limited.

Sources

Prices in the tables of our guides are the regular prices that clinics in this directory publish on their own price lists, checked at each update.