Taiwanese clamber for Black Friday deals at Costco Taiwan today

Taiwanese eagerly line up at Costcos across Taiwan as it holds Black Friday promotion for second year in a row

Taiwanese waited in line with eager anticipation at Costcos across Taiwan as the membership-only, warehouse club holds its second annual Black Friday sale in Taiwan starting at 8 a.m. today (Nov. 23).

Inspired by Black Friday, the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S. which begins the day after Thanksgiving, Costco Taiwan, is launching its second annual “Black Buying Festival” (黑色購物節) from Nov. 23 to Nov. 25. Due to the promotion having set off a mad buying frenzy across Taiwan last year, the chain’s various branches have this time set up pre-arranged parking lanes in an attempt to minimize serious traffic jams.

Taiwanese Costco fanatics started lining up before dawn to get a head start, because stores will open at 8 a.m. each day during the promotion, two hours earlier than usual. As was the case last year, the special sales prices were not announced in advance. Rather, customers will need to enter the store before they will be able to find out.

Once inside, Taiwanese Costco fans will post photos of items on sale and discuss the deals to be had in the Facebook group COSTCO Consumer Experience Sharing Area (COSTCO 好市多 消費經驗分享區). In the forum, 3C products have been the most discussed, many expect a repeat of last year’s buy-one-get-one-free deal on TVs, others are hoping to see deals on iPhones, and some have a special preference for American beef.

Customer posts photo showing they are sixth in line at 5:50 a.m. (Image from COSTCO 好市多 消費經驗分享區)

However, some Costco cognoscenti were less enthusiastic about the promotion with one netizen writing, “The same things that people rushed to buy on Black Friday will be on the shelves with the same prices within half a year.” A grandmother was quoted by UDN as saying that, at last year’s sale, she wanted to help her grandson buy a bicycle. However, “the result was that [they] waited in line for more than two hours, and not even a single wheel was left by the time they got in, because there was no limit on how much one could buy.”

The elderly woman said that she did not think it was worth taking part in the buying frenzy and she said she also had acquaintances who did not feel the need to jump onto the shopping craze and are instead are planning to stay away from Costco over the next three days.

After the traffic chaos seen across cities in Taiwan during last year’s Black Friday special, Tainan police announced traffic control measures and parking information around Tainan branches of the chain several days ago. The Costco in Chiayi has hired four people to help direct vehicles near its store, while local police have also sent personnel to guide traffic, according to UDN.

In order to avoid the mad rush at 8 a.m., a netizen posted photos of lining up at 5:50 a.m. in front of the Costo in Taipei’s Neihu District where he was already the sixth customer in line.

Last year, Costco’s first “Black Buying Festival” caused many traffic jams, parking lines were long, and everything on sale was quickly snatched up. This year, the company is on high alert, and though it is eager to achieve optimal performance, it also wants every customer to leave satisfied.

Therefore, it is anticipated that the next three days will be a tough battle for many employees at Costco.