No Food but 'Delivery Completed'... Users Satisfied: "This Is a Revolution"

You open a delivery app and add "half seasoned, half fried" chicken to your cart.

You also add a cola.

To get it even a little faster, you select "rabbit delivery" instead of "turtle delivery" and complete the payment.

The rider's location moves across the map app.

Eight minutes after payment, a notification pops up saying the food has arrived.

However, when you open the front door, there is no food delivered.

This is because it was not a real delivery app in the first place.

But you haven't been scammed either.

That is because you didn't actually pay any money.

You have just experienced what is called "fake consumption."

Recently, these "fake websites" that allow people to satisfy various daily consumption desires—such as delivery, shopping, and concert ticketing—in a virtual space have become a hot topic on social media.

Users experience their desired consumption behavior exactly as if it were real, but they are not charged any money, nor do they receive any goods.

Nevertheless, people are responding positively, saying they feel a sense of vicarious satisfaction similar to actual consumption through this "fake experience" alone.

For example, when accessing the fake delivery app simulation site 'Eumsik-man***,' an introductory phrase pops up: "Delivery Addiction Treatment Demo (Simulation) App."

Users select items from a menu and add them to their shopping cart, just like on a real delivery app.

After a (virtual) payment, they can even track the delivery rider's location.

The site features more than 40 menu items from 15 virtual restaurants, including chicken, ramen, pasta, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and malatang (spicy hot pot).

Options such as flavor selection, size changes, and adding toppings are also available.

Half-fried, half-seasoned chicken is priced around 21,900 won, kimchi stew around 9,500 won, and rosé tteokbokki around 7,900 won.

After adding cheese to rosé tteokbokki and virtually paying 10,667 won, a delivery completion notification popped up in just six minutes.

This was followed by a message saying, "You saved 580 kcal."

This shows that "thanks" to not actually receiving the food, the user avoided consuming that amount of calories.

This site was born out of an X (formerly Twitter) user's experience with "delivery addiction."

In March, they introduced the site on X, writing, "My delivery addiction was so bad that I made a fake Baemin/Coupang. You can choose the menu, pay, and track the delivery, but only the food doesn't come." The post recorded 5 million views.

Netizens cheered with comments such as, "This is such a novel idea," "A fake Baemin is brilliant. As someone who just fills the cart and closes the app, this is a revolution," and "Is this like a zero-delivery of some sort?"

Shim, a 26-year-old graduate student, said on June 19, "I accessed it just for fun, but it felt like I was actually ordering, so my craving was satisfied. It saves money and helps with dieting, so it's killing two birds with one stone."

Shim recalled, "I used to open delivery apps out of habit every night, spending nearly 300,000 won a month just on delivery. I wasn't even hungry, but I ordered food just to get a dopamine hit."

Lee, a 25-year-old office worker, also said, "It was surprisingly rewarding when the app showed at the end that I saved calories. I think I will use this fake app usefully whenever I get the urge to order delivery."

Lee added, "Even on days when I had dinner at the company cafeteria, I would habitually order dessert when I got home after working overtime, and I often ended up leaving it unfinished once it arrived."

There are also virtual shopping malls that soothe the urge for impulsive shopping.

On "Saja**," created by another X user in April, users can add items to their cart, make (virtual) payments, and even leave product reviews, just like on a real online shopping mall.

However, the products sold there are far from ordinary.

In the home appliances category, a "space-time leap device (time machine)" priced at a whopping 10 million won is listed.

Witty reviews abound, such as: "Received a defective product. It only makes a buzzing sound. I set it to travel to the Joseon Dynasty, but now I'm in the dinosaur era and got hit by a Brachiosaurus," and "I bought it to stop Elon Musk from buying Twitter, but a warning window popped up. So now I just smack him on the back of the head every day and run away. Highly recommended."

Lee, a 26-year-old job seeker, said, "I had a habit of filling my shopping app cart whenever I felt stressed, and just as I was trying to break it, I happened to see 'Saja**' on Instagram. I laughed at the whimsical product list and ended up making a fake payment for a 5-million-won 'wish-granting pass.'"

Lee added with a laugh, "It helped me resist impulsive buying, and thanks to the quirky products and reviews, I had a big laugh and felt strangely healed."

There is also a simulation app called "Do*" where users can satisfy their desires by freely "splurging" with fake money.

On this app, users can shop for clothing, electronics, cosmetics, and household goods, as well as order food from more than 60 virtual restaurants.

They can also virtually book tickets for concerts, sports matches, and flights for overseas travel. In the case of concerts, users can search for their desired performance and even select the date and seats.

Of course, it does not cost a single penny of real money.

Kwak Geum-joo, an honorary professor of psychology at Seoul National University, explained, "Even if the actual food or goods do not arrive, the act of choosing from a menu and adding items to a cart itself provides vicarious satisfaction."

She analyzed, "While impulsive spending or overeating is usually followed by regret and a sense of burden, on these fake sites, users can enjoy the pleasure right up to the moment of payment without any such regret, thereby preventing impulsive consumption."

However, Professor Kwak advised, "Just as some people end up with vicarious satisfaction after watching 'mukbang' (eating shows) while others are led to have an actual meal, fake sites can be an alternative behavior that reduces impulses for some, but could lead to actual consumption for others. It is best to use them wisely as a tool to control one's impulsive behavior."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.