You will be happy to know dear readers that I have attended and survived a Gone In 21 Seconds flash sale organised by Forever 21 last year. With a combination of wit, cunning and sheer perseverance, I cracked the sale last year and came back home with my many wins. Don't make the mistakes {a few only} that I made and learn from my experience with these tips that will help you ace this year's sale. Go, go, go!
Rise And Shine
First things first. You will need to wake up at an ungodly hour {3-3.30am should be fine} this Sunday. This might deter you, but you have to convince yourself that this is going to be worth it and not slump back to sweet slumber. Get into your comfy clothes {PJs from last night works}, wake your friends up and make sure you reach the mall by 4am.
To Go Or Not To Go? That's The Question
There's going to be a huge line outside, and you're going to think "Wow, should I even bother?". But well, you must. Don't get intimidated — if you have a vehicle, go park in the basement, and if you don't, go to the basement anyway. From the basement, you can climb up a floor and walk to the Forever 21 store like a boss. Seriously, nobody's going to even ask you anything. That's what I did last year. While the crowd bayed outside, I walked to F 21 cool as a cucumber right from the basement.
Early Birds FTW!
Once you reach there, you'll realise you're one of the first to reach, giving all the people outside a run for their money {ha ha}. Not very many people know about the secret basement passage, so you're safe inside while the rest are standing in line outside waiting and just, waiting. This way, you also get the INR 1,000 voucher that Forever 21 is giving to the first 200 people in queue.
The Game Is On
The wait is going to be long — about two hours or so. Carry a book to keep your anxiety levels in check or keep a pair of earphones handy to listen to some music. Finally, around 5.45am, the Forever 21 crew is slowly going to start letting people in {from the outside} to let them join the queue inside. Now is the time you need to brace yourself. There's going to be a lot of pushing, shoving, screaming, falling — just hold on tight {the last time, cops had to be deployed after the ground floor escalator glass broke right outside the store}.
Prepare, Attack And Conquer
The first 200 people are the luckiest, because all the clothes are neatly stacked and sorted according to sizes. After that, nobody knows where's what. If you want to know exactly what to go pounce on once the doors open, go today in advance, do a recce and make a mental map of your favourites. Once you're in, grab a shopping bag, and blindly start dumping in it whatever you think you might like to buy. You can always exclude some later, but it would be sad if some faves vanished under your eyes after all that effort you made. The last time I was there, I bought a total of 21 items — all in under INR 9,000 {my year's wardrobe was sorted guys}, including a pair of tartan shorts, a denim playsuit, a bohemian crop top and even some underwear, where some of the stuff was for as low as INR 150.
Look, Peek And Strip
The trial rooms are going to be overflowing, so some are going to find nooks in the store itself to try out clothes, and then there are going to be others using the reflection of the store's glass walls as their mirror. Please feel free to pick any place to park yourself, and seriously, nobody's going to bother looking your way — everyone's going to be busy grabbing stuff. And well, if you want to skip the queue, you can fill up a pre-registration form which requires you to purchase a redeemable voucher for INR 2,100 {on the day of sale}. Happy shopping! Hope you win this madness!
When: Sunday, September 11
Where: 3, Ground Floor Garuda Mall, Magarath Road
Timings: 6am onwards
Find the event on Facebook here.
Fill up the pre-registration form here.
Featured photo source: Forever 21
