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[ARTICLE] Issue of Sajaegi suspicions clarified

[Pann] BTS and sajaegi suspicions clarified

Pann: Suspicions of BTS sajaegi

1st day sales: 7,999 copies

2nd day offline: 19,000 (sales exploded at night)

3rd day offline: 9,700 copies (7k copies sold at 7pm)

4th day offline: 9,300 copies (1,200 at 8pm -> 4,200 at 8:10 pm -> 9,300 at 8:20 pm)

Comparison to last year's first week sales of TVXQ (52k), SuJu (49k), B2ST (48k)... BTS is currently at 47k on their fourth day. 

BTS' previous album had 15k first week sales for a total of 78k sales along with 15 fan meets. This album, without any fan meets, sold 47k in 4 days. 

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1. [+237, -199] For sales to just randomly explode like that in the middle of the night is suspicious, the way most sajaegis work

2. [+227, -189] Honestly, no matter how popular they've gotten, they can't have the same numbers as SuJu and TVXQ... and why would their sales explode at set times like that? I think fans have every right to be suspicious. If they had group sales for fan signings, please show us proof of those receipts.

3. [+213, -176] Even if they have more fans this time than their last album, why would they all go out to buy the albums at the same time on a weekend night? 

4. [+89, -32] I don't know why every time a mid-tier agency group sells a lot, people immediately suspect them of sajaegi. First B1A4 and now BTS..

5. [+85, -52] Their sales number should mean that they have a similar fandom size to SHINee and B2ST but... does BTS have that big of a fandom?

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Pann: Regarding the suspicions of BTS sajaegi

Suspicion #1: BTS sales records show room for sajaegi suspicions. Why did their sales randomly spike during the night on a weekend? Please show receipts immediately for the 8,000 copies that were sold that night.

Answer: According to Hanteo admins, album sales made offline are entered in the chart system manually at once at a specific time. Sales graphs, therefore, are not accurate indiciations of the time every sale was made. That's why groups who showed minimal sales randomly spike when their offline orders are inputted into the system. 

In the case of BTS, notices for group orders came out late so many purchased their albums individually instead of participating in the group orders. And considering that exams were recently over, it's not weird at all that offline sales would spike over the weekend. 

Other idol groups with similar spikes were suspected of sajaegi but were later confirmed to be legitimate sales.

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Suspicion #2: Last year, big groups on the Hanteo chart recorded the following first week sales: TVXQ (52k), SuJu (49k), B2ST (48k). However, BTS sold (4.7k) in the first 4 days alone. They are not at the level of these big name groups yet, so how?

Answer: We admit that BTS is not at the same level of the above groups. However, the numbers mentioned above were the first week sales for their repackaged albums, which of course would reflect a lower number compared to their first releases. 

If you look at the actual first week sales for their first album releases, you will see that the numbers are actually TVXQ (73k) and SuJu (64k). B2ST has always been stronger digitally than physically.

BTS, on the other hand, has always maintained top physical album sales since their debut despite lower digital records. They won the Bonsang at the Seoul Gayo AWards and the World Rookie Award at the Gaon Charts for this same reason.

BTS' first week sales are also quite average and not that high compared to other similar groups. Last year, groups like TEEN TOP, B1A4, CNBLUE, and other mid-tier agencies recorded an average of 40~50k in first week sales. By comparison, BTS' is not that extreme or out of the ordinary. 

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Suspicion #3: Everyone is capable of sajaegi. 

Answer: Dispatch proved that barcode sajaegi is not possible. Hanteo does not reflect 'barcode' sales no matter how many times a company sticks a different barcode on the same CD. Sales are only input into the Hanteo system through purchase proof like tax invoices, etc.

It is also a bigger waste for the company to buy back their own albums because the record stores take a commission charge of double the amount. The record store takes a commission the first time the company buys back the album and once the albums are put back for regular sale, the record store takes another commission from those regular sales as well. 

Big Hit is also a small tier agency and Bang Shi Hyuk is a Seoul University graduate, he wouldn't be dumb enough to buy all of those albums at once. He would've bought a set amount consistently over a longer frame of time. 

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Lastly, BTS released two versions of their album and are currently recording their best digital sales in the history of their career. Their fancafe has also hit 100,000 members and has an ongoing album event. Fans, both domestic and international, are trying their hardest to win the group a #1 like they have been working towards. Moreover, official sales from Japan are also now being reflected on the Hanteo charts, which also reflect the increase in recent sales.

We have no intention of attacking VIPs but with a few VIPs being suspicious of BTS having bigger first week sales than Big Bang and attacking BTS with suspicions of sajaegi, we feel unfortunate that it has resorted to this.

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1. [+19, -1] (Long detailed description of how hard working the members of BTS are)... These kids are not greedy for money at all and work so hard for everything and you think they'd resort to this just to make money? Even if their agency did commit sajaegi, I bet the BTS members themselves would be mad and try to stop it ㅋㅋㅋ

2. [+13, -1] Thank you for explaining it so clearly ㅜㅜㅜ 

3. [+12, -2] I hope people who are claiming sajaegi will read this..

4. [+8, -1] This needs to be read by everyone claiming BTS is committing sajaegi. How can we prove that it's not sajaegi when sajaegi was never committed to begin with? If anything, everyone else should be the one coming in with proof trying to prove that it is sajaegi. All we're doing is trying our best to give our kids their #1 ㅜㅜ

5. [+6, -0] This is fact. I hope whoever first claimed the sajaegi suspicions gets hit with a boomerang.

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