Korea Shopping Sale Calendar 2026: Olive Young Sale Weeks, Department-Store Seasonal Sales, Korea Sale Festa, Korea Grand Sale, Musinsa Black Friday, 11.11, Chuseok Gift Sets and Daiso — When to Buy What

Korean retail runs on a calendar that is nowhere written down in English: four beauty weeks, four department-store seasons, a government-backed national sale in November, a winter festival for tourists, two holidays that reprice the marts, and the online malls' 11th-of-the-month habit. This part is the 2026 calendar, month by month, with what each event is actually good for — and the events that are more noise than discount.

The year at a glance

When (2026)	Event	Best for
Dec 17, 2025 – Feb 22	Korea Grand Sale (tourists; passport)	Hotels, flights, attractions, duty-free, some shops
Jan	Department-store winter sales; post-Seollal gift-set markdowns (Seollal 2027 is Feb 5–7)	Coats, boots, gift sets
Mar 1–7	Olive Young sale	Skincare, sunscreen, masks
Late Mar	Department-store spring sales (March 25–27 start); Musinsa spring sale	Fashion 10–30% off
Apr–May	Family Month promotions (Children's Day May 5, Parents' Day May 8); Coupang and 11st events	Toys, electronics, gift cards
May 31 – Jun 6	Olive Young sale	Summer skincare, sunscreen
Late Jun – early Jul	Department-store summer sales; Musinsa summer sale	Fashion; the start of season-end clearance
Jul–Aug	Mart summer clearance; Costco seasonal	Fans, air-conditioners in July are not discounted — buy in September
Aug 30 – Sep 5	Olive Young sale	Autumn restock
Sep 24–26	Chuseok — gift-set season before, markdowns after	Spam, oil, fruit, hanwoo sets after the holiday
Early–mid Oct	Department-store autumn sales	Outerwear
Oct 29 – Nov 15	Korea Sale Festa (national, everyone)	Electronics, cars, fashion, marts — the biggest window
Nov 1–11 (and monthly)	11.11 — 11st's "Sipiljeol", Coupang, Gmarket events	Online: electronics, household
From mid-Nov	Musinsa Black Friday (winter edition; 2025 started Nov 16)	Streetwear, outerwear, sneakers
Late Nov	Coupang, Gmarket and department-store Black Friday imports	Overseas-brand electronics, Rocket Jikgu
Early Dec	Olive Young sale (date TBA)	Gift sets, winter skincare
Dec 17 →	Korea Grand Sale begins again	Winter visitors

Bold entries are the ones worth planning a trip or a purchase around. Dates for the three Olive Young weeks that have happened are confirmed; the December week, department-store dates beyond spring and the online events follow past patterns and are announced a few weeks ahead.

The events, explained

Olive Young's four weeks (Part 1) are brand deals plus stackable app coupons, Sunday to Saturday; the December week is the year's biggest and gift sets sell out by midweek. Between them, the app runs continuous brand weeks, so an off-week visit is not full price on everything.

Department-store seasonal sales — Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai and the smaller chains move together — run about ten days each in late March, late June, early-to-mid October and January, with 10–30% off fashion and shoes, extra point-card rebates, and none of the luxury floor. Their outlet malls (Lotte Premium Outlets Paju and Giheung, Shinsegae Simon Yeoju, Hyundai Premium Outlet Gimpo) run year-round at 30–70% off previous seasons and are the answer to "where are the bargains" for brand shoppers. Instant tax refund desks operate in all of them.

Korea Sale Festa (코리아세일페스타): the government-and-industry national sale, in 2026 from October 29 – November 15, with the marts, department stores, car makers (real discounts on Hyundai and Kia), electronics (Samsung and LG official stores), online malls and thousands of small shops. It is uneven — some "participation" is a banner — but for Korean-made electronics and cars it is the year's best window, and it coincides with everything else in November.

Korea Grand Sale (코리아그랜드세일): the winter festival for foreign visitors, December 17, 2025 – February 22, 2026 in its 2025–26 edition with about 1,750 businesses — airlines, hotels, duty-free, attractions, restaurants and shops offering passport-holder discounts, coupons through its site and app, and welcome events at the airports. Register online before or during the trip; the airline and hotel deals are the substance.

Musinsa Black Friday (무진장 블랙프라이데이): the fashion platform's twice-yearly clearance, summer (late June) and winter (from mid-November; 2025's ran from November 16), with daily drops and up to 80% on last season — the best fashion prices online in Korea, and the site ships abroad. 11.11 started as 11st's Sipiljeol on November 11 and is now a monthly 1st–11th event there, echoed by Coupang, Gmarket and Naver in November with electronics and household deals; Black Friday proper is an import that the online malls and department stores stage in late November with overseas brands.

Holidays: the two weeks before Chuseok (September 24–26) and Seollal are gift-set season — the marts' aisles fill with spam, cooking-oil, fruit, hanwoo and toiletry boxes at ₩20,000–300,000 — and the week after, unsold sets go to 30–50% off. Fresh produce spikes before and drops after. Most shops close on the holiday day; department stores close one or two days; Olive Young, convenience stores and cafés stay open.

Things that are not sales

Duty-free promotions (member tiers and "VIP" discounts) mostly bring luxury prices in line with Europe, not below; the mass K-beauty is cheaper at Olive Young in a sale week with the tax refund. Daiso never has sales — its prices are the sale: five tiers at ₩500, ₩1,000, ₩2,000, ₩3,000 and ₩5,000, and the cosmetics and kitchen lines are the tourist secret. Costco Korea runs weekly rotating discounts rather than events. Electronics discount in Korea Sale Festa and at model changeover (Galaxy S in February–March, iPhone in September–October, when the previous model drops 10–20%); Part 7 has the phone prices. And the "70% off" banners in Myeongdong shop windows are permanent.

Next: the phone and the laptop — what a Galaxy costs in Korea versus at home, unlocked phones and Korean SIM plans, and whether electronics get the tax refund.