Toys from the U.S. or European Union countries are sold here at prices up to 165.2 percent higher than in the countries of origin, the Korea Consumer Agency said on Tuesday.

According to the KCA’s research on 1,140 imported toys sold in 75 local department stores, discount marts, toy shops and online stores, most of the toys were sold at remarkably high prices to Korean consumers.

Toys from the U.S. showed the highest price gains with a minimum of 94 percent higher than U.S. prices, up to 165.2 percent at the highest. Little Tikes’ “Picnic House,” for example, is sold at an average price of 237,518 won ($213) in the U.S. but 630,000 won in Korea.

Toys from the EU were priced here from 10.3 percent up to 37.6 percent higher than in the country of origin. German company BRUDER’s “Man, Truck and Excavator” is sold at 81,000 won here but about at 22,134 won in Germany.

The KCA noted that distributors’ margins affect the price differences. Consumer prices jump 2.5 to three times higher than the import prices because importers add about a 45-50 percent margin to the imported prices, and discount marts and department stores add additional 35-50 percent and 20 percent margins, respectively, according to the KCA.

The KCA said that imported toys currently take up about 80 percent of the local toy market.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)