Tết Is the New Black Friday: A Shopper's Guide to the Year's Most Underrated Sales Window
Ask any seasoned shopper in a Vietnamese American community and they'll tell you a secret the big-box retailers would rather you didn't know: the best deals of the year don't land in November. They land in the weeks surrounding Tết, the Lunar New Year.
The logic is economic, not sentimental. Tết is the single biggest spending season in Vietnamese culture — new clothes, gifts, food for family gatherings, beauty treatments before visiting relatives. Retailers know wallets are open, so they compete aggressively. And unlike Black Friday, where 'deals' are often manufactured from inflated list prices, Tết promotions tend to hit genuinely popular items because the competition is local and reputational.
The Tết Shopping Calendar
6–4 weeks before Lunar New Year (usually early-to-mid January): Pre-Tết sales begin at specialty grocers and beauty sellers. This is when retailers clear non-holiday inventory to make shelf space. Stock up on pantry staples, skincare, and household goods.
2–3 weeks before: Peak promotions at Vietnamese-owned e-commerce stores. Expect bundled gift sets, free-shipping thresholds that drop dramatically, and 'lì xì' style promos — small discounts or gifts added to orders, a nod to the red envelope tradition.
The week of Tết: Fresh food and holiday-specific items go on deep markdown as sellers try to move perishable stock before the holiday slowdown. Bánh chưng supplies, candied fruits (mứt), and premium teas see the steepest cuts.
1–2 weeks after: Post-Tết clearance. It's quieter, but beauty sellers in particular discount leftover gift sets hard.
Categories Worth Stocking Up On
- Skincare and beauty: Vietnamese and broader Asian beauty sellers treat Tết like Sephora treats the holidays. Gift sets routinely drop 30–40%.
- Pantry staples: Fish sauce, rice, noodles, and shelf-stable sauces get volume discounts at specialty grocers.
- Kitchenware: New-cookware-for-the-new-year is a real tradition, and retailers lean into it with discounts on rice cookers, hot pots, and tea sets.
- Clothing: New clothes for Tết is non-negotiable in Vietnamese culture, so fashion sellers compete hard in the two weeks before.
Red Flags: Spotting a Fake 'Tết Sale'
Not every banner screaming 'CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI SALE!' is your friend. Watch for these moves:
- The pre-inflated list price. Screenshot prices in early December and compare. If the '40% off' price matches the November price, walk away.
- Holiday-only SKUs. Some sellers package smaller quantities in festive wrapping and price them per-ounce above the regular product.
- Shipping games. A discount that evaporates the moment you reach checkout, via 'holiday shipping surcharges,' is not a discount.
- Fake urgency with no dates. Legitimate Tết promotions are tied to actual lunar calendar dates. If a sale 'ends soon' with no end date listed, it never began.
Set Your Alerts Now
The beauty of the Tết sales window is that it's predictable years in advance — the lunar calendar doesn't do surprise drops. Put a reminder on your phone for early January, follow your favorite Vietnamese-owned shops on Instagram and Facebook (that's where many announce promos first), and treat the season the way savvy shoppers treat Prime Day: with a list, a budget, and a screenshot habit.
Black Friday had its run. The new year — the lunar one — belongs to the shoppers who know.
