Performance art or marketing ploy? The empty promise of South Korea’s ‘dopamine shops’

September 24, 2026 — 7:00pm

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What becomes of a desire that never materialises? And is there satisfaction to be had from the experience of yearning itself?

These are the questions posed by “dopamine shops”, a new breed of websites born out of South Korea, named after the neurotransmitter in our brains associated with pleasure and reward-seeking.

Bearing names such as “Food Never Arrives”, “FakeHaul” and the less imaginative “Dopamine Shop”, these are digital storefronts that mimic the look and feel of the real online stores with one crucial difference: no real money exchanges hands, and your order never arrives.

The idea is a silly but sticky one: it’s been making international headlines, entrepreneurs outside Asia are taking up the idea and many sites are boasting millions of users.

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Dopamine shops rest on the hypothesis that window shopping can be just as thrilling as consumption itself – that the dopamine rush we get from shopping is anticipatory in nature: Dopamine Shop’s tagline – “retail therapy without spending a cent” – says it all. It seems we’re so deep into consumer culture that merely the performance of it is enough.

Curious, I spend an afternoon poking around a few of these sites, adding ridiculous upon ridiculous product to cart with gleeful abandon.

A pair of rare, gold-foiled Nike Air Force 1s embossed with the Louis Vuitton logo ($3500) go in my shopping basket, as does a Rolex watch worth more than a year’s worth of rent ($34,500). Next, in goes a Carhartt jacket ($260) and Le Creuset Dutch oven that I’ve actually been coveting ($420).

I go to the checkout and fill in a fake name and address. Shipping is free, thankfully, but they do tack on an 8 per cent tax. Oh, what the hell, life is short.

I bite the bullet and type in the number for a fake credit card, connected to a bank account that doesn’t exist. Success! My order is on its way. I’m given a tracking number and told to expect regular updates on its status.

The whole ordeal has been fun, but I’m left wanting more. This is digital edging for the person who gets........

© The Sydney Morning Herald